Incense and Peppermints

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“Incense and Peppermints”
Single by Strawberry Alarm Clock from the album Incense and Peppermints
Released	1967
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	1966
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Writer(s)	John Carter Tim Gilbert Ed King (uncredited) Mark Weitz (uncredited)
Producer	Frank Slay
Strawberry Alarm Clock singles chronology
- "Incense and Peppermints" (1967) "Tomorrow" (1967)

"Incense and Peppermints" is a song and album by Strawberry Alarm Clock. The single was released in 1967 and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Although the Strawberry Alarm Clock are considered a prototypical "one hit wonder," for this song, they don't fit the strict definition; follow-up single "Tomorrow" reached #23 on the Billboard chart in January 1968, as well as three minor hits, "Sit with the Guru" (#65), "Barefoot in Baltimore" (#67), and "Good Morning Starshine" (#87). All three of these, like "Incense and Peppermints" had lyrics that were foisted onto their music that the band cared little for. According to the liner notes of the CD release of the second album Strawberry Alarm Clock album, Wake Up... It's Tomorrow, Mark Weitz and Ed King wrote the music to "Incense and Peppermints" as an instrumental, Weitz writing the bulk of it and King writing the bridge, and songwriter John Carter surreptitiously sang his own vocal line and lyrics over his own performance of their music in a demo, and producer Frank Slay considered the song to have been written by Carter and Tim Gilbert. According to King, Slay denied King credit because King did not write the melody line, and because, he alleged, no more than two names would fit on the label. As such, the band recorded no more music by Carter until their third album. Carter laid low during the recording of the band's second album, but Slay put more of his music into the band's repertoire on the third.

The band members cared so little for the lyrics that neither of the band's two singers, Lee Freeman and Mark Weitz, wanted to sing the lead vocal. This recalcitrance was due in large part to the lyrics, which had been written by a songwriter named John Carter, who was under contract to the song's producer Frank Slay. The band did not care for Carter's pseudo-psychedelic lyrics and were miffed that he—and therefore Slay—would get a share of the song's royalties. As a result, the band impulsively drafted a 16-year-old named Greg Munford, a friend of the band who happened to be at the recording session to add percussion, to sing lead. Munford was never officially a member of the Strawberry Alarm Clock and appears only on this recording; he was not even present for the single's B-side, "Birdman of Alkatrash". "Birdman of Alkatrash" was intended by the band to be the A-side, with Weitz and King's instrumental, "The Happy Whistler," which became "Incense and Peppermints," as the B-side.

Contents 1 Album 1.1 Track listing 2 Pop culture occurrences 3 External links

[edit] Album

Incense and Peppermints is also the name of the first album by Strawberry Alarm Clock. It is currently unavailable on CD in the United States. A compilation album of the same title (albeit spelled with an ampersand) was released by MCA Special Products in 1990 and reissued by oldies.com in 1997. It features the five Strawberry Alarm Clock songs that charted along with several other tracks. The only tracks from the first album contained on the compilation are "Birds in My Tree," "Strawberries Mean Love," "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow," and "Incense and Peppermints," and not in that order. The Japanese release also includes the aforementioned non-album B-side, "Birdman of Alkatrash," which is also on the compilation. The album charted at #11. "The World's on Fire", "Lose to Live", "Paxton's Back Street Carnival", "Hummin' Happy", "Pass Time With the SAC", and "Unwind with the Clock" remain unreleased on CD in the United States. "The World's on Fire", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow", and "Incense and Peppermints" are all featured in the motion picture Psych-Out, along with a new title song, also by the band.

[edit] Track listing

1. "The World's on Fire"
2. "Birds in My Tree"
3. "Lose to Live"
4. "Strawberries Mean Love"
5. "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow"
6. "Paxton's Back Street Carnival"
7. "Hummin' Happy"
8. "Pass Time With the SAC"
9. "Incense and Peppermints"
10. "Unwind with the Clock"

[edit] Pop culture occurrences

The song has appeared in numerous places:

• The motion picture Psych-Out
• The motion picture Riding the Bullet
• The motion picture Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
• The motion picture Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• The animated movie Recess: School's Out
• The Simpsons episodes "Weekend at Burnsie's," "Future-Drama," "D'oh-in in the Wind," and "Fraudcast News".
• The title is mentioned in the lyrics of Pretty Baby by Blondie
• The front page of YTMND as a prank.
• Clone High Episode 8: Raisin the Stakes.

[edit] External links

• Song information at MPL Communications website

Preceded by "To Sir, with Love" by Lulu

Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 25, 1967

Succeeded by "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees