In my opinion, there is no song that epitomizes the psychedelic period of music in the late Sixties than “Incense and Peppermints.” Strawberry Alarm Clock (known as SAC) evolved from two other bands, Thee Sixpence and Waterfyrd Traene, bands who were trying to hit it big in California. SAC has had so many different members, that it’s hard to nail down exactly who was singing on “Incense and Peppermints.”

The original six members of SAC seem to be Randy Seol (drums, vibes, percussion, vocals,) Mark Weitz (keyboards, vocals), Ed King (guitar), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals), Gary Lovetro (bass), and Mark Weitz (keyboards, vocals), although it’s difficult to be sure.

When it came time to name this new band that was the combination of two previous bands, they thought about what to call it. They looked at the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine and the Beatles were there with “Strawberry Fields Forever.” (That song hit number eight in March of 1967.) So, after playing with the word “Strawberry” for awhile, the band decided to name themselves Strawberry Alarm Clock, a very psychedelic name.

“Incense and Peppermints” was written by John Carter and Tim Gilbert and when the band came into the studio to record the song, Carter was scheduled to sing lead on the song. The group did not like his voice for the song, so they pulled in a friend Greg Munford, who just happened to be in the studio that day and he sang the lead on the recording. That was Munford’s one and only time to sing with the band. They didn’t even give him credit on the record. “Incense and Peppermints” was meant to be a B-side of a single and like has happened before, the disc jockeys played the B-side instead of the song that was meant to be the hit and “Incense and Peppermints” went to the top of the charts.

When SAC played in concert, drummer Randy Seol sang the lead on the song because his voice was the closest to Munford’s who was, by now, long gone. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. The band didn’t feel comfortable playing gigs in the south, so they all took to wearing pistols in their waistbands while performing. The guns were in full view of the audience.

Strawberry Alarm Clock broke up in 1970 as the psychedelic period disappeared. They reunited in the Eighties and some version of the band has been playing ever since. In 1972, Ed King joined the band Lynyrd Skynyrd and stayed with them for a number of years, There is a strawberryalarmclock.com web site online and according it it, they are still playing at clubs in California, most notably the Whiskey A Go Go.

“Incense and Peppermints” debuted on the pop charts on October 14, 1967 and stayed at the top for just one week. They had one follow up hit called “Tomorrow” (#23) and then Strawberry Alarm Clock faded away.