Incense and Peppermints

This article is about the song. For the album, see Incense and Peppermints (album).

"Incense and Peppermints" is a 1967 song by the American psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. The song is officially credited as having been written by John S. Carter and Tim Gilbert, although it was based on an instrumental idea by band members Mark Weitz and Ed King.^[5] It was released as a single in May 1967 by Uni Records and reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in November of that year.^[6][7] Although the single was released in the United Kingdom, it failed to break into the UK Singles Chart.^[8] The song was featured in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery^[9] and the television series Daisy Jones and the Six.^{[citation needed]}

"Incense and Peppermints"
Side A of the 1967 US single
Single by Strawberry Alarm Clock
from the album Incense and Peppermints
B-side	"The Birdman of Alkatrash"
Released	May 19, 1967[1]
Recorded	1967
Genre	Psychedelic pop[2] psychedelic rock[3] acid rock[4]
Length	2:47
Label	UNI
Songwriter(s)	John S. Carter Tim Gilbert (uncredited: Mark Weitz, Ed King)
Producer(s)	Frank Slay
Strawberry Alarm Clock singles chronology
"Incense and Peppermints" (1967) "Tomorrow" (1967)
Official audio
"Incense And Peppermints" on YouTube

History

Prior to the release of "Incense and Peppermints," the band had already issued four singles ("Long Day's Care" / "Can't Explain", "My Flash on You" / "Fortune Teller", "In the Building" / "Hey Joe", and "Heart Full of Rain" / "First Plane Home") on All-American Records as Thee Sixpence.^[6][10] During the recording sessions for "Incense and Peppermints," the band members expressed a dislike for the song's lyrics, which John S. Carter had written using a rhyming dictionary,^{[citation needed]} so the lead vocals were sung by a friend of the band, Greg Munford, who was present at the recording session. The regular vocalists in the band were relegated to providing background and harmony vocals on the record.^[11][12] Band members Mark Weitz and Ed King were both denied songwriting credits by producer Frank Slay despite the fact that they contributed to the song.^[5] The songwriting credits instead went to Carter and his songwriting partner Tim Gilbert, despite the latter not participating in the song's writing. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"Incense and Peppermints" initially appeared on the B-side of Thee Sixpence's fifth single, "The Birdman of Alkatrash," released on All-American in April 1967.^[13] However, local radio stations began playing "Incense and Peppermints" instead of the A-side, and the song began to gain in popularity in and around Los Angeles. Sensing the possibility of a national hit, Uni Records picked up the record for national distribution, and the single was re-released in May with the sides reversed. By the time of this second pressing, the band had changed its name to "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" to avoid confusion with another local band.^[6]

"Incense and Peppermints" spent 16 weeks on the Billboard chart, reaching the #1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967.^[7] The single earned a gold disc from the RIAA on December 7 for sales of one million copies.^[14]

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts Chart (1967) Peak position Australia Go-Set[15] 35 Canada RPM Top Singles[16] 20 Canada CHUM Hit Parade[17] 1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[18] 1 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 1

Year-end charts Chart (1967) Rank Canada[19] 43 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[20] 23 U.S. Cash Box[21] 27

References

1. "Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints".
2. Mark Kemp (1 November 2007). Dixie Lullaby. Simon and Schuster. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-4165-9046-0. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
3. Doyle Greene (10 March 2014). The Rock Cover Song: Culture, History, Politics. McFarland. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-4766-1507-3. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
4. Breihan, Tom (October 23, 2018). "The Number Ones: The Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 14, 2023. ...it's plenty possible to hear "Incense And Peppermints" as a...version of the acid rock that was blossoming in San Francisco during that moment. And maybe "Incense And Peppermints" is that.
5. "Mark Weitz Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
6. Hogg, Brian. (1992). Strawberries Mean Love (1992 CD liner notes).
7. Whitburn, Joel. (2008). Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Record Research Inc. p. 814. ISBN 978-0-89820-172-7.
8. Brown, Tony. (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 861. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
9. "Austin Powers soundtrack". Imdb.com. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
10. "USA single's list S from 1966-72". Psychlists. Archived from the original on September 2, 2000. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
11. "Incense and Peppermints album review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
12. Weitz, Mark (19 June 2011). "Mark: 'We had no idea what we were in for'". The Strawberry Alarm Clock - official band website. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
13. Stax, Mike. (1998). Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 (1998 CD box set liner notes).
14. Murrells, Joseph. (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 231. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
15. "Go-Set National Top 40, 31 January 1968)". Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
16. "RPM Top 100 Singles - November 18, 1967" (PDF).
17. "CHUM Hit Parade - October 23, 1967".
18. [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
19. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
20. "Top 100 Hits of 1967/Top 100 Songs of 1967". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
21. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1967". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2020-05-23.

External links

• Lyrics of this song
• Incense and Peppermints at Discogs (list of releases)
• Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints on YouTube