The History of the STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK |
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- Опубліковано 8 кві 2024
- Few 1960s bands have been as marginalized as the Strawberry Alarm Clock in spite of having a catalog of well-written and well-crafted songs. Matt delves into their catalog and discusses the reasons why critical acclaim has eluded them.
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First time I heard the beginning of 'Incense & Peppermints 'in the summer of love I heard the line, 'Dead kings, many things I can't define', and my artistic lovin' life was never the same. Then at the end I heard, 'A Yard stick for lunatics, one point of view'. As a young lad, I found my yin and my yang in the same poem. Lord sweet home Alabama!
Ed King was one of the most underrated guitarists I can think of.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
What an odd transition@@philwright2480
A very underrated band! Groovy Los Angeles vibes! Much love and respect!❤❤
Incense and Peppermints was the first record I bought as a teenager with my babysitting money. 39¢
A great deal!
In today's money 39 cents equals to $3.64. So If she is talking single instead of album then that was too expensive for a single
@@luiscardenas930
I am not so sure..39 cents was a bad price..... I was 12 in 1967...and I remember paying anywhere from 49 cents to 69 cents per single... I started buying records around then with my paper route money.. that is how I remember.. and the average album.. cost any where from 3.99 to 4.99 depending where you went.... there were of course bargain deals and specials going on..
. most of my 45's.... I got before my paper route.. were given to me by the guys that changed out 45's in juke boxes and they.. free..
thrift stores often sold sleeveless singles for 10 cents.. but a lot of times those were scratched up... I think when I was 8.... I remember going to Woolworths with my mom.. and I got 5 singles out of their bargain bin/ With sleeves/ for a dollar..
it was a good deal if both sides of the 45's had great songs on them... I really appreciated "Paper back Writer/ Rain.... by the Beatles as well as
"Hello Goodbye/ I am the Walrus"....
good to get two great songs for the price of one..
I've got the Seashells album on my playlist. I really like their music!🙏
You got ripped off!
I remember listening to them on WLS radio out of Chicago in the 60s and 70s, what a time to grow up
I did, too.Where did you live?We lived right outside of Lake Bluff.
@@PeterMayer Gurnee IL!! Do you remember the Night Gallery in waukegan? So close lol
@@PeterMayer Hey are you around?
WLS. 60s baby!!! Bowen high
@@thegreatelfinko My girlfriend lived in lake Villa IL and I skied all over Fox lake.
Matt is one guy on the internet that really does a fantastic job. And he has the original LPs from the 60s to display during his presentation. A+
Thank you, Mark!
Absolutely. Lots of detailed information make this channel a must for anyone interested in the music of the '60s. I remember the song "Barefoot in Baltimore" and I liked it a lot mainly because I was an Oriole fan as a kid and Baltimore is their town.
@@popgoesthe60s52
Hey Matt my name is Jeff... I sure did appreciate your Strawberry Alarm Clock revue... years ago the cover band I was in used to play "Incense and peppermints"
do you think you could do a detailed review of the group called "BANG"...?...from like the late 60's.. to about 1972 or 1973... their second album.. I think had their commercial hit "QUESTIONS"......
@@jeffcarlson3269 Nice to meet you, Jeff. I have a very long list of 60s bands to do before I venture into the obscure bands of the 70s. I hope you understand, but some artists I probably won't get to, particularly the ones who only released material in the 70s.
@@popgoesthe60s52
ok thanks.....
What a great surprise. I never really knew that they lasted so long as a band. incense really dominated late 1967 and everyone took them seriously, and the album cover was really hip for two months but looked silly and dated not long after. Speak with the Guru really did them in. I do remember their Good Morning Starshine, but the theremin opening was an old sound and their singing of the nonsense word parts ("Gliddy Glip Gloopy") sounded like Bubblegum. Oliver Swofford's strong vocal and the typically elaborate arrangement by Bob Crewe made a much stronger single. One thing really true is how often bands got ripped off by managers, producers and owners of small labels. This was especially true with the garage bands, many of whose members were still in high school. "I'll take care of the publishing" was the usual offer and these kids never knew what that meant.
Thanks for commenting, John. I agree with the lyrics of Starshine, rather childish and not appropriate for them at the time.
The fashion they wore were Neru shirts/ jackets. I wore a couple ( made by my Mom ) in my band circa 68.
Great info on this underrated band 👍🏻👏
When "Incense and Peppermint" hit it big I was a young boy who was buying singles and just starting to progress into buying albums, but with a very limited budget. So, I did buy the single and it was one of my favorite songs from that era. What I remember about this band was they literally received no airplay in the upper Midwest city where I grew up so I never really heard anything from them again after their big hit. After watching this history I think its time for me to catch up with the rest of their output.
I've never met or spoken with Greg Munford, but I love the man like a brother. Amazing how the vocalist to a lifelong favorite song can create such a strong connection with the listener.
that line : "Occasion, Persuasion, Busted your Mind" and Chorus : "Young Girl... Yeah!" 😍
Been so excited to see this!!! The Strawberry Alarm Clock are one of my favorite bands ever! Wake up, its tomorrow is psych pop perfection.
Jimmy Pitman was a member of The Nightcrawlers prior to joing Strawberry Alarm Clock. Also, the last version of the band (King, Marshall, Freeman and Gunnels) was also the longest running version of the band.
It's just your strength when you can give a band with 1 real hit 38:55 in coverage. This is why I love your mini-docs. Though I woulda liked to have heard a little "Good Morning Starshine" so I could compare it with Oliver's recording. R.I.P. Ed King. A guitarist who never got the notoriety he deserved.
Thank you, Michael!
I love that one too
They had 2 big hits. Incense and Peppermints which went to #1 nationally and Tomorrow (which was top 10 in many markets) which went to #23 nationally.
I agree!! Ed King really was the heart and soul of the alarm clock and later with Skynrd he had some iconic contributions to the band. Too bad Ronnie Van Sant was such a dick of a leader that he didn't appreciate what he had. So after 1 too many insults and put downs Ed said screw this and left. This is not to say i didn't like Skynrd, I thought they were one of the best 70s southern rock bands period. Free bird, ahem! Nothing more needs said!
The album sound and cover artwork has an Arthur Lee LOVE feel. Definitely of an era.
Arthur Lee was under valued, aside the Love Albums his solo work ( is it eliminator or vindicator - my albums are boxed) good stuff. Hamburger Breath Stinkfinger, I wonder what Lee and Zappa could have come up with. Thanks appreciated.
I bought their first album when it was released, and it's been one of my favourite albums ever since. Thanks for all the info
Me, too. Not only does it remind me of those heady days more than any other album, but it's still in my all-time top 50.
The Carrie Nations, sexiest band of all time!
Actually the music was by Lynn Carrey and her band Mama Lion. They did an album and she was featured in Penthouse.
Thank you!
One of the Alarm Clock was interviewed in the 80's saying the played in jeans and t shirts until their manager convinced them to wear psychedelic pajamas. Greg Mumfords group put out their only album which i love. The Alarm clocks album from ten years ago is really good.
Thanks for another fun show. Your historic coverage of the Strawberry Alarm Clock was very informative and entertaining. Great stuff!
Thank you, Terry!
their was a band called CAN, in the 1960s,;and 1970s, , they got over looked ,CAN would be Cool to do a review on them
One thing you can say about The Strawberry Alarm Clock. their songs and arrangements (especially The Pretty Song) really captures that moment in time and sounds from that period. Very nostalgic and in a way very wistful and sad to the times and sounds that has gone by and is gone forever.😩
Wow.. best pop historian I have seen on YT. The Paul Revere and Love videos were fantastic. 3 minutes into this SAC video and I’m already taking notes. Please think about doing an Electric Prunes and Iron Butterfly. Big Brother and Seeds would be essential as well.. 13 Floor…
All of those are on my long list, so stay tuned!
Hey Matt nice choice
In 1971, in a college dorm on Maui, after Viet Nam, my future wife turned me on to their first album. I was impressed that they were so much more than the one hit, Incense and Peppermint. We spent the night flipping the album over while we got to know each other. Magical album, magical time
Thank you
My pleasure - thanks for watching.
I remember watching beyond the valley of the dolls, back when I was in high school in the early 90s, and thinking the band that played at that party was cool, and of course has heard their one hit plenty of times, but after realizing their guitar player was part of one of the biggest southern rock bands, I delved deeper into their music. Ed king was Skynyrd’s secret weapon in my book. His tasty licks are all over those first few albums. So I came across some live recording of strawberry alarm clock from ‘68, and it was awesome. Not the stuff you hear on the radio from them, it was real heavy psych. Def opened my eyes to their sound. Thanks for making these vids Matt, this music is starting to disappear from the consciousness of our lives, and I’m depending on you to keep it alive! Thanks man
Hey Joel, I enjoy doing these video so thank you for watching and commenting.
How can we get their old live stuff? Thanks.
@@jerryweber1768 there’s some stuff on UA-cam, you gotta search for it
I hope YOU have seen Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ! @@popgoesthe60s52
Thanks Matt, like many I only knew the hit. A quick listen shows Tomorrow and Rainy Day Mushroom as goodies!
You are doing a wonderful job filling in all these missing prices of my music history. I was 15-18 during their hit years. I do like their sound.
I had no idea that they wrote so much good music-they were really good-much overlooked-thanks Matt!
Randomly ended up here. I noticed The Corporation in your record rack. Hadn't thought of them in years. Thanks, subscribed. 🙂
Welcome, Bob! Glad to have you aboard.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is a fantastically bizarre movie.
strawberry alarm clock and iron butterfly were great bands .i wish these guys sitting on these live bootleg shows would put some of it out.would be nice
Now we're talking. Keep up the fantastic work.
I definitely learned a lot from this video! I was listening to the (AM) radio and buying 45s when "Incense And Peppermints" was a huge hit, so, I knew and loved that song .... and I also knew that Ed King went on to join Lynyrd Skynyrd .... but all of the other content was new to me. Thank you, Matt !!
Thanks for the comments, Mike!
I had no idea this one hit wonder had so many releases. Great job, Matt!
I love the Strawberry Alarm Clock. It's such a cool name for the band. I do think of them as a psychedelic band rather than bubblegum pop with their first two albums being evident of the image they created for themselves and unable to shake that image once the music tides began to change. I'll have to come to the defense of "Sit With The Guru" as I think of that as my favorite song by them. While it may not have charted very high on Billboard and Cashbox, it actually did reach the Top 40 on Record World's Top 100 chart at #36 with only 4 weeks of chart action during it's run. I do think that Record World rated psychedelic songs a bit higher than the other two charts, but I'm not complaining when it comes to that.
Thanks for that chart info from Record World - much appreciated.
Another excellent piece of music journalism. Good job!
A most awesome documentary on a most awesome group. There should have been a CD release of "The Complete Uni Singles" which would consist of 22 tracks
Wow! A huge favourite and a great job compiling & presenting this. The first LP I love still and it has no mediocre tracks. The first three LPs are best and it is a band that really gets better the more you listen...even World in a Seashell. There is a lot to these three. I have the 4 LP albums and also the Japan released CDs I got in mid 1990s of the 4 LPs and the reproduction is so good it is equal to the vinyl if anyone is looking.
As a kid in the 1960's the band had my favorite name and I really liked the hit. We lived in inner-city Cincinnati Ohio over-top a candy store (w/milk, pop and bread) - the owner lived in the building on the first floor. On the weekends her daughter and son-in-law brought the grandchildren to visit. The two boys were my age and older. I had seen SAClock on TV and I thought the older brother who played a bass in a little warehouse behind the bldg. (Mike Brauer) looked just like (I knew as the chubby one) Ed King. I was about 11 and spent year telling kids at school that a member of the band was my landlords grand-son (LOL, bad boy) - Just a silly, but MAJOR rock-n-roll kid's imagination! Another great show.
I appreciate the comments - thank you for watching!
Glad to see this! George Bunnell is a friend of mine! I grew up in Glendale and I use to see them all the time. Most of them use to go to Hoover High. I saw them at Hoover opening for The Box Tops. They blew the Box Tops away. I asked Ed (King) how that was and he said strange cause he’d just quit school 2 weeks before…I worked with Steve Rabe for years and we were roommates for awhile!
Dick Clark's American Bandstand featured a segment on the show called "Rate a Record". On this segment from the August 1967 show where a songs was rated by random kids from their show. I couldn't believe that it bombed. I thought it was one of the coolest song of that era. Later, however, it charted No. 1 in SoCal for four weeks!--and that other song from AB. . . well, who knows.
Delightful. Well-researched and written. Roger Ebert wrote for Russ Meyers? Wild!
Thank you Darrell! What a pair - Meyers and Ebert .
Thank you! I loved growing up with this kind of music. I'm still trying to figure out the meaning of most psychedelic lyrics, although they seemed quite profound at the time.
I can recall listening to this 1st album with a couple of friends of mine, it was an absolute down pour of a rainy day. We decided to do some LSD and it was the most magical trip I had ever been on. It seemed like we'd been hanging out tripping together for like a week. We had a great time, and every song seemed to be perfect for the moment....
They played along with Love at the 'Blue Law' in Torrance CA. My friends and I took lsd tripped our mnds out to the music of both of those bands.
Used to think they were a run of the mill band, until I realized that Ed King was in the band (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Wonderful band! Got their first album for about a year. Finally Listened to the album and kept it on my record changer for about two months straight. Highly underrated! Hope the band members appreciate the video package you put together! Thanks for another great one Matt!
Thank you, this was a satisfying band to cover!
I really enjoy these videos, Matt! I think the Strawberry Alarm Clock were a very good band. As you mention, their outdated 60's look and name didn't help them, but I think they have gotten more respect throughout the years, especially with Ed King being one of the members. Hope to see an episode on The Buckinghams one of these days! 🙂
I've just been listening to the Buckinghams to sort of prepare myself to do their history. I will move it up on the list! Thanks Larry!
@@popgoesthe60s52 Awesome! 🙂
One of my absolute favourite acts of the 60s, period! They really caught the psychedelic dream in their music; something that could only be written at that point in time. Nice one Matt!
long live Ed King. Surprising depth of catalog. Just a great post.
Thank you, Darrell.
Thank you for a fantastic insight into Strawberry Alarm Clock,
the movie, and song clips and the way they evolved in the story.
I have some songs I also like from a group that it is said got their
band name idea from SAC, "The Chocolate Watch Band." 😃
I was 14 in 1967 and what a year for music. Of course Incense and
Peppermints, also Donovan was out, Lovin Spoonful, Grateful Dead,
Jefferson Airplane, and the whole Haight Ashbury music scene was
being born with many early psychedelic sounds of fused folk, pop
and rock. And so the evolution of music went on, but truly those times
will never be repeated.
Thanks for the comments!
Chocolate Watchband formed in 1965, so they pre-dated Strawberry Alarm Clock by at least a couple of years. They were a GREAT band. So if anyone copped anyone name-wise, it was the other way around.
Thanks for the correction (I must have read that misinformation somewhere). Wikipedia shows in their biography of them that the name was: "a name that was originally meant to be taken as a joke." Differently
a GREAT band, I had a girlfriend in the 90's that had their albums and I made a compilation cassette of 90 minutes of their songs. Sometimes I play that cassette for background work music for days straight. I even liked the songs when the vocalist came in after David Aguilar left. And I think I have a "Reunion" CD of them that Rhino put out. We have a group from the Rochester, NY area that have a history called "The Chesterfield Kings," if you get a chance, look them up. I've been listening straight lately to a 1965-66 group called the "Squires" (No relation) Not the Neil Young early band, this one from the US. Another group I luckily transferred their music from my Vinyl to cassette. Maybe CD someday... But taking less than 10 seconds to flip it over's fine with me. Take Care... Love those early "Stone-ish" sounding bands. I had band in high school, Fox in 1971, still a bunch of my videos here. Here's a bit of the Kings, I think you'll like em... ua-cam.com/video/qjmAy8Mn6PU/v-deo.html
@@lensquires6580 Appreciate your comments. I agree that CWB were great. Paradoxically, I even like most of the tracks on their three original albums that weren't done by the band at all. If you can find it, check out the movie "Riot on Sunset Strip." It shows them (plus The Standells) performing in a club. Of course, they're lip-synching, but the recordings they're playing to are different from the ones that appear on the soundtrack album. Aguilar is truly a force of nature in those performances!
I'm very familiar with The Chesterfield Kings. They did a great job of bringing that 60s garage rock ethos forward into a new era. And I've loved The Squires' "Go Ahead" for decades now.
The Sixpence. Quite an English name for an LA band on the All-American label.
Oh my gosh, what did I even do before I found your channel?? So jazzed about every single video, so interesting and well done!
That is very nice of you to say. Welcome Jennie!
Back in Nov. 2022 I made a CDR collection which is mostly the "Strawberries Mean Love" compilation but I was able to add 6 more tracks to it. Such a great music period. Thanks for this overview of the band, they deserve it.
I always enjoy your in deep dive on 60's music, Matt. Thanks so much!
I didn't know they had that many albums.i was never fond of the song Incense and Peppermint.But the other tunes they did weren't half bad even if they didn't chart. Thanks Matt.
Excellent post, informative and entertaining. Incense and Peppermints caught my attention as a 60s music enthusiast (c. 1980s) and I was happily surprised at the quality of their catalog. I've travelled to LA twice to see them (2018 and this past January) and they're superb live. Thank you for this concise, well-informed history! 🍓⏰
I dig this LP. I haven’t listened to it in a while, but every now and then, it hits the spot.
The vibraphone sound makes it stand out as truly groovy music. Tim Buckley is the only other artist I can think of from that time who used vibes on more than one song on their record (Happy Sad). It’s interesting to hear the back stories about the band, its members, and their songs.
Good call. "Happy/Sad" is one of my all-time favorite albums. I agree that the vibraphone adds so much to it, and SAC's use of it is very cool as well.
@@BigStar303 I love Tim Buckley’s music. Some deep, powerful stuff there. Goodbye & Hello is such a masterpiece. Especially for someone his age. Have you ever heard the Blue Afternoon LP? Another favorite of mine. Lots of great vibes on that record. Much more than Happy Sad.
@@4Naturalgreen "Blue Afternoon" is right up there with "Happy/Sad" in my estimation. Most of its songs are a natural continuation of what Tim was doing on the previous album. Truly magical, beautiful stuff. It's a shame Tim kind of went off the rails on the albums that followed it.
@@BigStar303 Yeah, I know what you mean. It started with Lorca and ended with Star Sailor. So odd because Lorca was before Blue Afternoon. The guy was all over the place. Look At The Fool is also odd, but in a more funky way, not avant-garde jazz/rock.
Greetings From L.A. is not a great studio LP, but does have some good material. I do like Sefronia a lot. That’s actually a great LP. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s worth checking out.
For me, his first few records were his best. The ones he did with Larry Beckett. People at the time wanted and expected him to stay in the Goodbye & Hello / Happy Sad style.
No matter what, Tim was right. He and his music had to evolve. He couldn’t allow his music to be pigeon holed into being hippie cheese of the day. There was a huge difference between the vibes of ‘65 through ‘69 vs ‘70 through ‘75. The “flower children” were a bit different than the post Woodstock pseudo hippies. The optimism had been dampened quite a bit by then.
Very Comprehensive, love the music history in this video. Big Steve Bartek fan. Thanks for the work put into this segment!
Thank you, Jack!
I was lucky in that I grew up and went to High School in Glendale CA and got to see Strawberry Alarm Clock play a concert at my High School in '68. That was the first Rock Concert I ever saw, and I still remember it to this day, trippy.
Very cool! I love the fact that 60s bands played high school gigs back then.
I really enjoyed this one. I started playing guitar in 1966. By the time I got on my feet a little Hendrix and Clapton were happening. Initially I was dismissive of Incense and Peppermints but I’ve turned around. I think that song defines the psychedelic/pop genera. What a great arrangement too.
In doing some reading on Lynyrd Skynyrd it came out that Ronnie Van Zant thought Ed King was the best guitarist in the band. That’s saying something when King wasn’t the Free Bird guy(Allen Collins)...Anyway thank you!
My pleasure, Jon.
The reason you've "turned around" is because you're now an old man, like the rest of us and you're suffering from that old age disease called nostalgia.
Not true at all.....I’ve just realized that this is my happening and it freaks me out!
A true naysayer..how original...
But Van Sant was such a controlling prick, his insults and put downs of Ed, drove him to leave the band. Ronnie made a grievous error about Ed and worse, about telling his band mates to get on a plane that they were scared was not safe. The rest they say is history.
They played at the Blue Law in Torrance CA way back in the day. Quicksilver Meesenger Service was on the bill, too. Tripping on lsd, it was a good show.
Thanks Matt. Although very young I do remember these guys on free form radio "hippie station" tuned around Drake University and the Des Moines, Iowa hip crowd. (Someone out there probably remembers the call sign). I was under the covers listening on my mono earplug transistor. Good memories. Thanks again brother, you're appreciated.
Thanks so much, Matt...you really took me back with this one, although I always loved the music of the 13th Floor Elevator more...I am sure they are too obscure to rate a video but you should check some of their tunes out. Thanks as always for the great content. If I wasn't on such a fixed budget as an aging man in worse health every day it seems, I would support you more than I do. You deserve it!
The Elevators are on my list so you will see a vid on them in the future!
Saw them in Santa Barbara at Earl Warren Showgrounds in the late sixties. Had one of their albums also. Good band for the times.
YES!!! Saving this for later today. Thanks, Matt!
Matt doing a labor of love, so well done, great graphics and band history work. Professional stuff for YT. Love to see more.
Thank you, Scott! More to come.
Another awesome job!! Thank you Matt!! 🎉🎉🥳🥳🥳
Another history video and you hit right out of the park. Learned so much and was a great watch.
Great vid! Thx! Going to listen to the whole album now…after your vid!
Thanks! I love your vids. So happy I found your channel!
Welcome! There is plenty more to come.
You nailed this one Matt! Thoroughly enjoyed.
“This is my happening and it freaks me out!” Boy, that would make a great tee shirt for your on line store.
I like that idea!
I’d buy one....
You’ve got two sold already Matt
Thanks Matt, very enjoyable. I only knew of the first 3 and the reunion album. Good to learn more about them. Great instrumentation on those first albums, they're a delight to listen to.
This was really cool. Thanks for your post!
Great video! I love the Strawberry Alarm Clock, so very glad to see you've done one on them. 🍓🍓
I’ve seen Strawberry Alarm Clock twice at the Whiskey a Go Go. It’s an amazing show with most of the original guys which is crazy.
Also there are always cool young people there that know all the songs. Best atmosphere I’ve experienced at that place.
Walla Walla, WA? Home of the ACME corp. poor Wile E Coyote. lol. Great history here. I thought I knew my stuff but I learned a lot. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure - thanks for watching!
Hi Matt, would you consider doing a show on The Collectors from Vancouver?
Yes. I have a very good collection of their material... it's just a matter of crossing off the many bands on my long list!
Awesome! They were a great band of very talented musicians. If I remember correctly, they worked with the same producer or at the same studio as Strawberry Alarm Clock. Bill Henderson is a well liked local musician here and went on to form the successful band, Chilliwack.
First time watching this channel and must say how much I enjoyed not only the subject matter but also the presentation.
Thank you, Henry!
I keep looking at that drink you never drink. Hmm...
Along about Good Morning Starshine, it sounds like they were aiming at being Steppenwolf. Unfortunately, there already was a Steppenwolf, with better songs. BTW, I like that Oliver version.
Yeah, that was straight bourbon and I was only whetting my whistle on this one. 🙂
Thanks Matt. I too discovered them as a teenager in the 80's. I did not know about their late singles and reunion LP. I will get them.
Are you a fan of The Blue Magoos? That would be a fun band to know its history. Just a suggestion.
Yes. I will certainly do a video on them as they have some very interesting material.
@@popgoesthe60s52 you know there is a connection to the band kiss and The Blues Magoos because of Pepe Castro and his friendship with Ace Frehley
I have a Blues Magoos best-of on Mercury. I LOVE the whole thing. It is waaaay psych and great! ❤
Psychedelic Lollipop 😎
They did a great arrangement of Tobacco Road....
Damn, those early Thee Sixpence cuts are awesome!
I just came here to say that, must find more!
They sound A LOT like The Association ! Thanks for going into depth on this band. They probably deserved better, but at least they got glimpses of the big time (a #1 hit, TV & movie exposure) that other bands never did. The late 60s was a congested time on the charts & airwaves -- lots of groups vying for exposure.
I can't wait to watch this tonight! Thanks matt!
Great choice ! Like you said they got lumped in with a lot of twerpy bands like the Lemon Pipers or Sopwith Camel but those albums did indeed show a lot of talent. One problem is bands with names like that had a brief flash of fame and then got dismissed and the names were a big part of the problem. I recently heard a great album by a band named Ultimate Spinach who I’m sure you’ve heard but with a name like that everyone is going to expect bubblegum-psych - just like the Strawberry Alarm Clock. This is a very deserving group for one of your uploads. Amazing that one of them wound up in Lynyrd Skynyrd or so a psych fanatic friend of mine tells me.
Those outfits really didn’t help either, did they ? Great look in 67 but by 68 a much grungier look was taking over. Love the episode as always. Great work ! 👍
Thank you, Teddy!
I remember reading something, somewhere, about "short-lived but illustrious Ultimate Spinach" which one of the members of Steely Dan had played in or founded.
Good call "Twerpy bands". LOL. I think they call it "Popcorn rock" now.
@@jonvought700 Jeff "Skunk" Baxter was a member of Ultimate Spinach for their third album only, so he did not found the band.
BTW, there are some good tracks (as well as some dire ones) on Ultimate Spinach's first two albums, but that third album is uniformly AWFUL! It was so bad that I actually sold it back in the day, something I rarely did. In retrospect, probably a mistake; if I had held on to it, it would have fetched a bit more once Skunk got well-known.
Very cool video! I was eager to hear about their history as I was familiar with them.
Great job on this one, Matt. I must admit I never really gave these guys much of a listen but thanks to you I'll have to pursue them further.
Feels like Strawberry Alarm Clock built harmonies around the assumption that 1967, which had been on the cards since 1965, was here to stay. Take a tab & there's no turning back for your change of consciousness, so there's no turning back for the culture either. The momentum of the young generation must have felt inevitable.
But it wobbled in 1968 & took a nose-dive in '69. The Establishment, drawing on its capital reserves, defined what reality was in the end, so the Summer of Love failed the loaded reality-test. Within a year, the same ecstatic sound was reminiscent of delusion & failure, a vibe that didn't make it. That had to be a bitter reminder by 1969, the bliss & pointers to 'another way' on a record overtaken by counterculture cynicism.
That's my best guess - - that Strawberry Alarm Clock didn't get the wake-up call.
We really enjoyed your thorough and well done explanation of the band over the years. You captured so much of the history of the band. Great job Matt.
Thank you, Claire - much appreciated.
@@popgoesthe60s52 interested in a chat with the lads about their upcoming new album? It is in the works.
Ironic you should say they avoided extended psychedelic jams, as that was the only reason I bought their debut album - 'The world is on fire' runs to 8 mins +, which intrigued me. In my humble opinion they were definitely a cut above the average psyche band of the day, &, image apart, they've stood the test of time well. ('Birds in my tree' still takes me back to those heady days).
Matt, your show is such a godsend! Thank you for doing what you do. You and Abigail Devoe are the best at this. 👍🏻
Thank you, Michael.
Matt, any band that actually played in the movie "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" will always have some serious street cred in my book.😆 Cheers!
"Tomorrow" is my favorite song of theirs. Still listen to it frequently.
Tomorrow is definitely a great song.
Saw them, early 68 with B. Springfield and The Beach Boys. They opened with Tomorrow.
"Can't Explain"/ Thee Sixpence...I can hear where Townsend got "Kids Are Alright" !!!
I would like to see blue cheer and frigit pink as a group for you to talk about
Love this. Great choice Matt!
Would love to see you do a history of Steppenwolf 1968-1976. Their early albums were very innovative.
I'm glad you said through 1976, the album they had that year Skullduggery is so underrated.
@@Skycladatdusk78 Steppenwolf did reform 1982-1990 releasing 4 albums, John Kay being the only original member. The new band did retain the signature sound though.
Excellent review. Such an underrated band.Definitely gotta check out some of their later albums.
Congratulations. Great presentation & very interesting.
Incense and Peppermints has an incredible vibe and tone. Awesome tune simply timeless ! Thanks
Excellent video Matt. I didn't know much about the band.
Thanks man this was great.