Song Of The Week: 7/14/13

Song: "Get This Party Started"

Artist: Stretch Arm Strong

Album: "Punk Goes Pop"

Year: 2002



"Get This Party Started" was originally performed and recorded by pop artist Pink and released on her 2001 album "Missundaztood". The song was her highest selling single at the time and really is her signature song. It was actually written for Pink by Linda Perry, who was the former frontwoman of the band 4 Non Blondes. The song's meaning is pretty straight forward. She's getting ready to tear up the town with her friends on a Saturday night. The clubs will be partying hard, and they will be partying hard because of her new song. My song of the week is a punked out cover of the song done by the melodic hardcore band Stretch Arm Strong that was part of Fearless Records compilation, "Punk Goes Pop". Fearless put several of these "Punk Goes" compilations out over the years such as "Punk Goes Metal", "Punk Goes Acoustic" and "Punk Goes 80's". Stretch Arm Strong formed as a band back in 1992. They are from South Carolina. Though the band members are all active Christians and value their faith immensely, they do not want to be considered a Christian band, in that they don't preach to their audience about their beliefs. The band's first released material was an EP in 1995 entitled "Not Without Resistance". This was followed in 1998 by another EP called "It Burns Clean". In '98 the band caught the ear of Uprising Records who released the band's first full length album "Compassion Fills The Void". After this album was released, the band began a four year relationship with Solid State Records. Their first release under that label was 1999's "Rituals Of Life". This was followed by 2001's "A Revolution Transmission" and 2003's "Engage". After their deal with Solid State was up, the band partnered with We Put Out Records, which was a branch of the Warner Music Group. The band's first and only release under that label was "Free At Last". After releasing that album and doing a small tour to promote it, Stretch Arm Strong became mostly inactive for the next five years. In 2010, the band played two shows in January. According to the band's MySpace page, these two shows were going to basically be the last time you would be able to see the band as they had no intentions of playing any more tours nor recording any new material. In their MySpace message, the band did not say they were breaking up, but due to their being so inactive over the years, the writing is basically on the wall. In the years they were active, Stretch Arm Strong wasn't afraid to show their support for various groups, including Women's Rights, Animal's Rights and the rights of disabled persons. Currently, it's been over three years since the band played those two shows in 2010 and they remain inactive. Safe to say the book is most likely closed on Stretch Arm Strong.