Thursday, July 16, 2009

album appreciation: strawberry alarm clock

current tune: "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow" by: Strawberry Alarm Clock

I think I was first introduced to Strawberry Alarm Clock was a late-night infomercial for a TIME retro collection of cd's. It was on really late and last almost an hour with two relatively famous celebrities acting it. They would talk about the bands, and "oh, how i loved them.." or "...you know what the kids in high school did this behind the gymnasium..."

They showed bits and pieces of the music videos or live footage from that time to go with the artist and song. I heard these guys and wanted to download them for myself. They were psychedelic and had an awesome sound!

The group, originally named Thee Sixpence, initially consisted of Ed King (lead guitarist), Mark Weitz (keyboard), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar), Gary Lovetro (bass), and Randy Seoldrums.

Their song "Incense and Peppermints" reached #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1967.

The album, "Incense and Peppermints," was the first album by the pyschedelic pop band. Released in late 1967, the album reached #11 on the Billboard 200 album charts and includes the band's #1. In addition to the six regular members of the band, the album also features the flute playing of Steve Bartek, who co-wrote four songs on the album with bass player George Bunnell.

Side A:

"The World's on Fire"

"Birds in My Tree"

"Lose to Live"

"Strawberries Mean Love"


Side B:

"Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow"

"Paxton's Back Street Carnival"

"Hummin' Happy"

"Pass Time with the SAC"

"Incense and Peppermits"

"Unwind with the Clock"

Bits and pieces of the band memebrs disbanded and joined other groups from the late '60's-90's. The original line up re-joined for one last time an approximately one-hour set at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL, on April 29, 2007.

Thankfully you can still listen to this great '60's band on vinyl in any classic record store or eBay.

party like it's 1969!


1 comment:

Unknown said...

looks like a nice album :)

xxr