"Incense and Peppermints" is a 1967 song by the American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band Strawberry Alarm Clock. The song is officially credited as having been written by John S. Carter and Tim Gilbert, although it was based on an instrumental idea by band members Mark Weitz and Ed King. It was released as a single in May 1967 by

Uni Records Uni Records (short for the label's legal name Universal City Records and rendered as UNI) was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinctive UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and develop ...

and reached the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for one week in November of that year. Although the single was released in the United Kingdom, it failed to break into the UK Singles Chart. The song was featured in the film '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' and the television series ''Daisy Jones and the Six''.

History

Prior to the release of "Incense and Peppermints," the band had already issued four singles ("Long Day's Care" / "Can't Explain", "My Flash on You" / " Fortune Teller", "In the Building" / "

Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is a song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics are from the point of view of a man on the run and planning to escape to Mexico after sho ...

", and "Heart Full of Rain" / "First Plane Home") on All-American Records as Thee Sixpence. During the recording sessions for "Incense and Peppermints," the band members were not considered a right fit for the lead vocal track, which John S. Carter had written using a rhyming dictionary, so the lead vocals were sung by Greg Munford, a friend of the band who was present at the recording session. The regular vocalists in the band provided background and harmony vocals on the record. Band members Mark Weitz and Ed King were both denied songwriting credits by producer Frank Slay despite the fact that they contributed to the song. The songwriting credits instead went to Carter and his songwriting partner Tim Gilbert, despite the latter not participating in the song's writing. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...

. "Incense and Peppermints" initially appeared on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Thee Sixpence's fifth single, "The Birdman of Alkatrash," released on All-American in April 1967. However, local radio stations began playing "Incense and Peppermints" instead of the A-side, and the song began to gain in popularity in and around Los Angeles. Sensing the possibility of a national hit,

picked up the record for national distribution, and the single was re-released in May with the sides reversed. By the time of this second pressing, the band had changed its name to "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" to avoid confusion with another local band. "Incense and Peppermints" spent 16 weeks on the ''Billboard'' chart, reaching the #1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967. The single earned a gold disc from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on December 7 for sales of one million copies.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* * {{authority control 1967 debut singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles 1967 songs American psychedelic rock songs Strawberry Alarm Clock songs Uni Records singles MCA Records singles Songs written by Ed King