Strawberry Alarm Clock

• Genre: Psychedelic
• Hometown: Los Angeles
• Strawberry Alarm Clock Website

About

Strawberry Alarm Clock, like the Association, were a Los Angeles band that fell somewhere between folk-rock, psychedelia and goofy AM pop. They're generally considered a one-hit wonder, and their 1967 smash "Incense and Peppermints" virtually defines popular -- if utterly frivolous -- notions about the Summer of Love: it's all rose-tinted granny glasses, trippy lights and sitars, man. Believe it or not, Strawberry Alarm Clock cooked up a batch of far sillier-sounding tunes, including "Sit With the Guru" and, get this, "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow." Despite a penchant for Cheez Whiz, the group created some wonderfully trippy ear candy that would go a long way to define the cheap but intoxicating wonder that is bubblegum pop. "Black Butter Present," for example, is no "Crimson and Clover," but it does boast some of the most over-the-top and unwieldy sound effects this side of Magical Mystery Tour. Obviously, the group didn't last long; after a handful of albums, including an excellent soundtrack for the Russ Meyer flick Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Strawberry Alarm Clock called it a day. The only subsequent activity has been a smattering of oldies tours and one-off reunion gigs.

- Justin Farrar