Strawberry Alarm Clock
Strawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 with origins in Glendale, California, a city about ten miles north of downtown Los Angeles. They are best known for their 1967 hit single “Incense and Peppermints”. Strawberry Alarm Clock, who have been also categorized as acid rock, psychedelic pop, and sunshine pop, charted five songs, including two Top 40 hits.
A history of the band written by George Bunnell stated that “The Strawberry Alarm Clock came about by parts of two bands, Thee Sixpence and Waterfyrd Traene, morphing into one.”[7] The group originally named Thee Sixpence initially consisted of Ed King (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Luciano (vocals), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals), Gary Lovetro (bass), Steve Rabe (guitar, vocals), and Gene Gunnels (drums). Randy Seol (drums, vibes, percussion, vocals) and Mark Weitz (keyboards, vocals) joined to replace the departing Gunnels, Rabe, and Luciano just as the name change to Strawberry Alarm Clock (SAC) was occurring. Seol eventually brought in songwriters Bunnell and Steve Bartek, who participated in the writing and recording of SAC’s first album.
The inception of Strawberry Alarm Clock aside from Thee Sixpence is not well documented, largely because none of the other band’s recordings (subsequently lost) were released. However, according to Bunnell, many SAC songs came from the band he had formed previously with Seol, Bartek, Randy Zacuto, Fred Schwartz, and Criss Jay, which performed under the names Waterfyrd Traene (pre-SAC), Public Bubble (during SAC), and Buffington Rhodes (post-SAC).
There were two recording sessions with some of these personnel, one with Dave Hassinger at the Recording Factory and one with Bill Lazarus at Sunset Sound. There were probably 10 songs in all that were recorded but Bunnell stated that both masters were stolen. The post-SAC incarnation broke up before any success was realized.
The first and most famous SAC single was “Incense and Peppermints”, produced by Frank Slay and initially released by Thee Sixpence on All American Records, owned by Bill Holmes, the band’s manager and producer. The band was not impressed by songwriter John Carter’s singing, so Slay chose Greg Munford, a 16-year-old friend of the band who was from another group called Shapes of Sound, to sing lead on the track. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week ending November 25, 1967. The band made a cameo appearance performing the song in the Richard Rush film Psych-Out.
Weitz and King (also a member of Hunger) were denied songwriting credits by Slay because (according to him) they did not write the melody line or the lyrics, although the song was built on an instrumental by Weitz with a bridge by King. This instrumental was originally intended as a B-side to “The Birdman of Alkatrash”, which ultimately became the B-side to “Incense and Peppermints”.[9] The single stayed at No. 1 for one week, with 16 weeks in total on the charts. A gold disc was awarded for 500,000 sales by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 19, 1967.
Shortly after recording “Incense and Peppermints”, the band added Bunnell (on bass, rhythm guitar, and vocals) before making their first album. Also titled Incense and Peppermints, it hit No. 11 on the US album chart in late 1967. Bunnell would also become their main songwriter. Some early Strawberry Alarm Clock songs were penned by Bunnell with Bartek. The latter played flute on the first two SAC albums and would continue to be involved with the band’s later incarnations. Bartek later joined The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo and orchestrated Boingo frontman Danny Elfman’s film scores.
In November 1967, and then again in April 1968, SAC toured on a bill with the Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield. During the April leg of the tour, several dates in the South were canceled following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. Ed King said that the band all acquired handguns after King’s death for the remaining shows in the South, and that he carried his in his waistband onstage.
In their early days of touring, the band members would often sit on “magic carpets” as their roadies carried them to the stage. Drummer Seol would rig up wrist gas jets to give the illusion that he was playing the bongos and vibes with his hands on fire, until the gimmick became too dangerous.
Band members
Current
Gene Gunnels – drums, percussion, vocals (1967, 1969–1971, 1982–1983, 2006–present)
Randy Seol – drums, vibes, percussion, vocals (1967–1968, 1974–1975, 1983–1984, 2001–present)
Mark Weitz – keyboard, vocals (1967–1969, 1982–1983, 2006–present)
George Bunnell – bass, rhythm guitars, vocals (1967–1968, 1974–1975, 1982–present)
Steve Bartek – guitars, flute, producer (1967–1968, 1974–1975, 1983, 2003, 2006–present)
Howie Anderson – lead guitar, vocals (1986–present)
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