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Strawberry Alarm Clock


At the height of the Flower Power era of Psychedelic music in the mid-sixties,
Strawberry Alarm Clock gave us one of classic rock's most memorable songs,
1967's, "Incense and Peppermints". Formerly known as The Sixpence, this
California based group was originally made up of Ed King (lead guitar), Lee
Freeman (rhythm guitar), Gary Lovetro (bass), Mark Weitz (organ), and Randy Seol
(drums). The story of the song "Incense and Peppermints" is a fascinating one.
The recording was initially intended as a B-side and the lead vocal is actually
that of a friend of the band, 16-year-old Greg Munford, who was just hanging
around during the session. He was not even a regular band member, but ended up
singing a tune that would rocket to number one in the United States and sell
over a million copies. Despite this success, Munford never actually joined the
group in their prime.

Before recording their full-length debut album, the band added a second bass
guitarist, George Bunnell, an accomplished songwriter who's contributions
enhanced a style that coupled hippie trappings with enchanting melodies and some
imaginative instrumentation. In the Summer of 1967, The Strawberry Alarm Clock
contributed music to the film Psych-Out, as well as appearing in it. The band
toured the U.S. with some of the biggest acts of the day, but poor management
and dissention among the members started to tear it apart. Bassist Gary Lovetro
left the band before they recorded their second album, "Wake Up It's Tomorrow",
which also appeared in 1967. A second single release, "Tomorrow" made it to #23
in January, 1968. It would prove to be the band's last Billboard Top 40 hit.

Between 1968's album, "The World In A Seashell" and 1969's "Good Morning
Starshine" the group went through a number of line-up changes which undermined
their direction. To add to their problems, a manager who double-booked them on
several occasions brought on many lawsuits. In 1970, the band appeared in the
Russ Meyer film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, but by that time much of the
interest in their music had disappeared. They kept performing for some time,
touring the South later that same year and with Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1971. In the
latter part of '71, the group found themselves dropped from Uni Records and
conflict over musical direction caused them to disband. Ed King was invited to
join Lynyrd Skynyrd in November, 1972, where he stayed until 1975, then again
from 1987 to 1996.

Strawberry Alarm Clock reunited during the '80s for a succession of summer of
love revisited tours with such bands as Moby Grape and The Seeds. Their memory
would be brought to the forefront again in 1997 when "Incense And Peppermints"
was featured in the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. The entire
band who recorded "Incense and Peppermints", including Greg Munford, was set to
get together in December, 2004, for the first time since the recording session,
but last minute contract problems prevented it. Strawberry Alarm Clock did
however re-unite in April 2006 and continued to tour across the U.S., performing
new arrangements of their original songs as well as new material into '07, '08
and '09. In January 2010, Strawberry Alarm Clock began recording new material
under the guidance of producer Steve Bartek and engineer Chris Bartek. That
collection was slated for release in March, 2012. On February 14th, 2010,
founding member Lee Freeman died at the age of 60 from complications arising
from cancer. Continuing on as Strawberry Alarm Clock were Mark Weitz, Randy
Seol, George Bunnell, Gene Gunnels and Howie Anderson.

On April 1st, 2012, the group released "Wake Up Where You Are" on the Global
Recording Artists label. It was the band's fifth studio album and first since
1969. After film critic Roger Ebert died in 2013, his widow, Chaz Ebert, asked
Strawberry Alarm Clock to appear at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills as part
of a tribute to her late husband. The band performed a half-dozen songs,
followed by a screening of the film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. In the
months after the Saban Theater engagement, band members made plans to write and
record some new material for an EP. On October 21st, 2012, the group performed
at the 29th annual Love Ride benefit in Glendale, California, after which they
were awarded proclamations from the City of Los Angeles to commemorate the 45th
anniversary of "Incense and Peppermints" reaching #1. The band continued to make
sporadic appearances across America in 2014 and 2015.

Former guitarist Ed King passed away on August 22, 2018 at the age of 68.

Be sure to read Gary James' Interview with George Bunnell