![]() In part one of the song, listeners hear a funky intro that breezily leads into self-aware lyrics. “Lose to Live” is one of those examples, where several musical changes occur and essentially make the one song feel more like three. In much of the same way as The Beatles, the Alarm Clock would follow a similar structuring of songs where a single track would contain multiple breakdowns. For instance, on “Lose to Live,” the elaborate drum solo exudes a sense of frenzied urgency that is reminiscent of Keith Moon, while the guitar and keyboards play a Stones-esque riff that mirrors “Satisfaction.” ![]() So when we threw it all together it was Strawberry Alarm Clock.” It’s in their debut offering that you can hear each of the members’ artistry seep through. We all had other influences that crept in as well. His training was in soul, jazz and rhythm and blues. Lee was a street blues player on guitar and harmonica. Randy had extensive jazz training on drums and vibes as well as a vocal coach. “We all had learned to play our instruments individually,” Bunnell states. And we looked at that, and decided ‘alarm clock.’ So, we called up our record company, and told them we were going to use the name the Strawberry Alarm Clock.”ĭrawing from their amalgamation of influences, from Ravi Shankar to Chopin, the Alarm Clock would harness their skills in the studio during the process of making of their first album as a cohesive group. And we were over at Mark Weitz’s house one day, and his alarm clock suddenly fell down and broke. Peace, love and strawberries! So, that was already picked out. ![]() They wanted to use ‘strawberry,’ because I guess it was just a sign of the times. As for the inspiration behind their stand-out name, George Bunnell, the group’s bassist, explains how it manifested into being: “Our record company kind of picked our name for us. Having formed in 1967, Strawberry Alarm Clock was a merging of two bands that united the numerous members of Thee Sixpence and Waterfryd Traene together. To understand the intricacies that went into the song’s composition, one must first have a sturdy grasp of the band’s origins. Beneath the mind-bending psychedelic front, however, was a much more complex story of bringing the iconic radio hit to life. On the surface, their defining song boasted the mesmerizing use of instrumentation, such as piercing keyboards and a hypnotic cowbell, while possessing infectious lyricism - the kind of hooks that stick in your mind like molted peppermint candies on a hot summer sidewalk. The record’s most famous song would prove to be its eponymous single, “Incense and Peppermints,” charting at number one for sixteen consecutive weeks. It was an album that would put them on the charts and catapult them out of their local indie status into worldwide recognition. Within just over thirty minutes, and over the course of ten songs, the California natives blur the lines between acid rock, psychedelia, and luminous sunshine pop. Clashing vibrant patterns and six spaced-out faces make up Strawberry Alarm Clock’s 1967 debut album cover.
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