‘Incense and Peppermints’ is a song by the Los Angeles–based psychedelic rock 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 in May 1967 and reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for one week before beginning its fall down the charts. 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 fictional biopic Daisy Jones and the Six.
During recording sessions for ‘Incense and Peppermints,’ the original band members expressed a dislike for the song lyrics (which John S. Carter wrote, relying on a rhyming dictionary, so the lead vocals were sung by a friend of the band, Greg Munford, who was attending the recording session as a visitor. The regular vocalists in the band were relegated to providing 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 the song was, at least partially, built on an instrumental idea by Weitz and King. The songwriting credits went to Carter and to his songwriting partner Tim Gilbert, despite the latter neither writing nor helping to write the song. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the 1970s Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
‘Incense and Peppermints’ initially appeared on the B-side of Thee Sixpence's fifth single, ‘The Birdman of Alkatrash,’ released 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, the Uni Records subsidiary of MCA (now called Universal Music Group) picked up the record for national distribution and the single was re-released in May 1967: this time with ‘Incense and Peppermints’ on the A-side and ‘The Birdman of Alkatrash’ as the B-side. By the time of this second pressing, the band had changed its name to "The Strawberry Alarm Clock" due to the existence of a local group with a name somewhat similar to Thee Sixpence.
‘Incense and Peppermints’ spent 16 weeks on the Billboard chart, finally reaching the #1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967. The single earned a gold disc from the RIAA on December 7, 1967, for sales of one million copies.
Label – UNI
Songwriters – John S. Carter, Tim Gilbert, (uncredited: Mark Weitz, Ed King)
Producer – Frank Slay
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Ba-ba, ba-ba
Ba-ba, ba-ba
[Verse 1]
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
[Chorus]
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
[Bridge]
Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, girl
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, girl, yeah, yeah
[Verse 2]
To divide the cockeyed world in two
Throw your pride to one side, it's the least you can do
Beatniks and politics, nothin' is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
[Chorus]
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
[Verse 3]
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
[Chorus]
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win, but nothin' to lose
[Outro]
Incense, peppermints
Incense, peppermints
Sha-la-la
Sha-la-la
Sha-la-la
Sha-la-la
Sha-la-la
Sha-la-la