Album Description
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INCENSE & PEPPERMINTS is a Strawberry Alarm Clock compilation originally released in the mid-'90s, not their LP with the same title from 1967.
Personnel: Ed King (vocals, guitar); Lee Freeman (vocals, drums, wind); Randy Seol (vocals, drums); Gary Lovetro (vocals); Mark Weitz (keyboards).
A brief budget compilation--named, naturally, after the Strawberry Alarm Clock's only hit--INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS is geared more toward the casual fan or the curious neophyte who might be put off by the import price tag or the much bigger track selection of the other Strawberry Alarm Clock compilations available.
Like all Universal Special Products compilations, the packaging and sound are functional and adequate, but unlike many, the nine other songs on this compilation are an interesting cross-section of the Strawberry Alarm Clock's career, picking non-charting singles, b-sides (the punky "The Birdman of Alkatrash"), and interesting album tracks ("Strawberries Mean Love") from all four of the group's original albums. Serious psych-pop fans may do better with Ace/Big Beat's excellent STRAWBERRIES MEAN LOVE or One Way's ANTHOLOGY, but this is a perfectly reasonable alternative for everyone else.
