“Incense And Peppermints”

“Incense And Peppermints” is Strawberry Alarm Clock’s most famous song, the band’s only #1 hit, and one of the most well-known classics of the entire 1960s era. It was originally a b-side, was sung by a non-member, and isn’t all that similar to the rest of the band’s music.

“Incense And Peppermints” first saw the light as the b-side to “The Birdman Of Alkatrash” on the All American label. This was shortly after the band Thee Sixpence changed its name to Strawberry Alarm Clock. It was after that b-side started getting attention from radio DJs that Uni signed the band, re-released the single with the sides flipped, and the song went to #1.

The song’s first appearance on an album was the eponymous Incense And Peppermints, also in 1967.

Famous for its light, nonsensical lyrics (which even poke fun at the song’s title as “meaningless nouns”), catchy cowbell clops and piercing organ, “Incense And Peppermints” dares its listeners, in a fit of late 1960s Meaning™, to “turn your eyes around, look at yourself”.

The dark underbelly of “Incense And Peppermints”

Most intriguingly, and likely the reason for the song’s enormous appeal, is its dark underbelly. While the verses chug along amiably enough, there are several moments during the not-three-minute song where the edges curl up in a spooky minor key, sometimes mingling with a distracted, buzzy lead guitar tone. Like the band’s own “Lose To Live”, “Incense And Peppermints” goes through several musical changes, a mini-suite of ideas. The air of sensual decay is palpable, and comes across as very organic and real.

Despite the catchiness and weird appeal of the song, “Incense And Peppermints” is not even the best track on its namesake album, and its best ideas can be found elsewhere done more intriguingly. What makes the track a classic is the fact that it retains a sense of newness and wonder, and the fact that it happened to catch the culture at just the right time and seemed to say the right things.

“Incense And Peppermints” shows up on every 1960s compilation on Earth, and despite being vastly overplayed and lumped in with unworthy musical compatriots (Sonny And Cher, Scott MacKenzie), actually remains one of the freshest hit songs of the era.

“Incense And Peppermints” appears on…

Aside from every 1960s compilation known to man, “Incense And Peppermints” is on most official SAC compilations and several singles. Some of these include:

“The Birdman Of Alkatrash” b/w “Incense And Peppermints” (All American) (1967)
“Incense And Peppermints” b/w “The Birdman Of Alkatrash” (Uni) (1967)
Incense And Peppermints (1967)
Psych-Out soundtrack (1968)
The Best Of Strawberry Alarm Clock (1970)
Incense & Peppermints (1990)
Strawberries Mean Love (1992)
The Strawberry Alarm Clock Anthology (1993)
Step By Step (1998)