DC Share Revival: Psychedelic Jukebox: [1967] Strawberry Alarm Clock

Incense and Peppermints by Strawberry Alarm Clock is one of the most instantly recognizable songs of the psychedelic era, yet the full scope of its creation, execution, and aftermath reveals a story far more layered than its kaleidoscopic surface might suggest. Released in May 1967 and peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 by November that year, the track became a defining symbol of late-60s counterculture. However, behind its success lies a tangled tale of industry maneuvering, accidental stardom, artistic discontent, and fractured identity.

Strawberry Alarm Clock emerged in Los Angeles from the fusion of two local garage outfits—Thee Sixpence and Waterfyrd Traene. This merger resulted in a lineup composed of Mark Weitz (keyboards), Ed King (guitar), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar), Randy Seol (drums, percussion), George Bunnell (bass, vocals), and later Steve Bartek (flute, arrangements). Each member arrived with an array of musical disciplines: Weitz had a classical background, King was steeped in R&B structures, Bunnell brought jazz sensitivity, and Freeman had immersed himself in blues and Eastern modalities. Their combined repertoire produced a swirling, patchwork sound defined by the incorporation of harpsichord, organ, sitar-like guitar tones, vibraphone, and even baroque counterpoints.

The origins of Incense and Peppermints lay in a studio improvisation. Weitz crafted the organ-heavy motif, and King followed with a midsection. These elements were brought to Original Sound Studio in Hollywood, where the band, under the guidance of producer Frank Slay and manager Bill Holmes, was expected to yield material quickly for the All-American label. Holmes, in pursuit of commercial viability, handed the instrumental to freelance songwriters John S. Carter and Tim Gilbert, who constructed the track's now-iconic surrealist lyrics. The content—free-associative, cryptic, and fragmentary—echoed Dadaist writing more than typical pop fare, with lines like "Beatniks and politics, nothing is new" and "Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns" providing a disorienting textual overlay.

The band, however, rejected the lyrics outright. None of the official vocalists wanted to sing them. In a twist that has since become legendary, 16-year-old Greg Munford, a high school friend of the producers and present at the session by coincidence, volunteered to record the vocal. His youthful detachment and slightly nasal delivery provided precisely the sound the producers sought. As a result, the lead voice on the band’s only number-one hit belongs to someone who was never officially part of the group. Munford would later join Thee Sixpence briefly for live performances but never again recorded with the band.

Initially released as a B-side to The Birdman of Alkatrash on All-American Records (catalog number 3345), Incense and Peppermints was flipped by DJs at Los Angeles radio stations such as KHJ, KRLA, and KFWB, who found the trippy B-side far more intriguing. When Uni Records acquired the distribution rights and re-released it under the newly minted name Strawberry Alarm Clock, the single took off nationally. It entered the Billboard chart in September and reached number one on November 25, 1967, displacing Lulu's To Sir With Love. It remained on the chart for 16 weeks, topped Cash Box for two consecutive weeks, and ultimately sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc from the RIAA in December 1967. According to a Rolling Stone retrospective from 1997, "Incense and Peppermints was the anthem of a generation that didn't know if it was being sold something or inventing it all on its own."

The song’s instrumental construction is a study in organized spontaneity. The Farfisa organ motif, paired with a sharp fuzz-tone guitar and syncopated cowbell, created a hypnotic cadence. The middle-eight, contributed by Ed King, introduced a jazz-influenced harmonic shift. According to later interviews, some of the track’s defining flourishes resulted from accidental key changes or experimental decisions made on the fly. One such instance was Weitz striking a minor chord unexpectedly—it sounded so dissonant and eerie that producer Slay insisted they keep it. In another take, session percussionist Gene Estes added tambourine overdubs to heighten the song's off-kilter rhythm.

Yet despite being the musical architects of the track, Weitz and King were not credited as songwriters. The official writing credit listed Carter and Gilbert, leading to royalty losses and years of frustration for the band members. Slay and Holmes, who owned the publishing rights through Trans-Tone Music, denied the band's contribution in writing, placing them in a powerless position. This breach of trust sowed early discord and would haunt the group in subsequent years. In a 2007 interview, Ed King lamented, "We were just kids in a studio making noise that turned into magic. They took our names off the credits and cashed the checks."

Their debut album, also titled Incense and Peppermints, was released in October 1967 via Uni Records and reached number 11 on the Billboard 200. While many expected a light collection of psychedelic singles, the album revealed more intricate ambitions. It opened with The World's on Fire, an 8-minute improvisational suite showcasing vibraphone solos, chaotic drum fills, and flute arrangements by a then-teenaged Steve Bartek. Bartek, though not officially listed in the album credits due to his age, was central to the band’s arrangements and would later gain fame as guitarist and arranger for Oingo Boingo. Tracks like Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow and Strawberries Mean Love incorporated unusual time signatures and instrumentation rarely heard in pop music of the era. Critics from Crawdaddy! and Mojo Navigator noted the band’s curious juxtaposition of nursery rhyme melodies with modal jazz harmonics.

Following their peak, the band attempted to maintain momentum with Tomorrow, which reached number 23 in early 1968. But as intra-band conflict escalated—exacerbated by the sudden departure of Gary Lovetro, legal disputes over the band name initiated by Holmes, and a revolving door of personnel—their cohesion fractured. The World in a Sea Shell, released in late 1968, saw the group pressured to record outside compositions, some penned again by Carter and Gilbert, which diluted the artistic autonomy they had fought to preserve. Although the album featured contributions from Carole King and Barry Mann, its orchestral polish alienated fans of the earlier, more improvisational style. The LP barely cracked the top 200.

By 1970, their sound had veered toward a gentler, more harmony-based format. The addition of new vocalist Jimmy Pitman nudged the band closer to folk-rock, but this incarnation failed to gain traction. Ed King, disillusioned, left and later joined Lynyrd Skynyrd, where he co-wrote Sweet Home Alabama and Saturday Night Special. By 1971, the original Strawberry Alarm Clock disbanded. Occasional reunions followed in the decades to come, with a version of the band appearing in the 1970 cult film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (directed by Russ Meyer with screenplay by Roger Ebert) and performing into the 2010s at festivals like Psychedelicatessen and Echoes West.

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Sunday, August 3, 2025

Psychedelic Jukebox: [1967] Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense & Peppermints

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