Incense and Peppermints

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title: "Incense and Peppermints" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense_and_Peppermints" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Incense and Peppermints
cover	Incense and peppermints by strawberry alarm clock US single side-A.png
alt	Side-A vinyl label
caption	Side A of the 1967 US single
type	single
artist	Strawberry Alarm Clock
album	Incense and Peppermints
B-side	The Birdman of Alkatrash
released	May 19, 1967
recorded	1967
genre
length
label	UNI
writer
producer	Frank Slay, Bill Holmes
next_title	Tomorrow
next_year	1967
misc
::

"Incense and Peppermints" is a 1967 song by the American 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 as a single in May 1967 by Uni Records 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", 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. King would go on to greater fame as a member of the 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 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, Uni Records 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 number 1 spot for the week ending November 25, 1967. The single earned a gold disc from the RIAA on December 7 for sales of one million copies.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1967) | Peak position | |---|---| | Australia Go-Set | 35 | | Canada RPM Top Singles | 20 | | Canada CHUM Hit Parade | 1 | | New Zealand (Listener) | 13 | | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 | | U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 1 | ::

Year-end charts

::data[format=table]

Chart (1967)	Rank
Canada	43
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	23
U.S. Cash Box	27
::

References

"Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints".
Mark Kemp. (1 November 2007). "Dixie Lullaby". Simon and Schuster.
Doyle Greene. (10 March 2014). "The Rock Cover Song: Culture, History, Politics". McFarland.
Breihan, Tom. (October 23, 2018). "The Number Ones: The Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints"".
"Mark Weitz Biography". [[AllMusic]].
Hogg, Brian.. (1992). "Strawberries Mean Love (1992 CD liner notes)".
Whitburn, Joel.. (2008). "Top Pop Singles 1955-2006". Record Research Inc.
Brown, Tony.. (2000). "The Complete Book of the British Charts". Omnibus Press.
"Austin Powers soundtrack". Imdb.com.
(2023-03-04). "This 1 Addictive Song Is In Every 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Episode".
(2023-03-24). "The 'Daisy Jones & the Six' Soundtrack Finally Included a Fleetwood Mac Song".
"USA single's list S from 1966-72". Psychlists.
Professor of Rock. (2023-11-10). "Band COULDN'T Nail Down TOUGH Vocal...Finally LET Random Kid at Studio TRY...It Hit #1—Professor of Rock".
"Incense and Peppermints album review". [[AllMusic]].
(19 June 2011). "Mark: 'We had no idea what we were in for'".
Stax, Mike.. (1998). "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 (1998 CD box set liner notes)".
Murrells, Joseph.. (1978). "The Book of Golden Discs". Barrie and Jenkins Ltd.
"Go-Set National Top 40, 31 January 1968)".
"RPM Top 100 Singles - November 18, 1967".
"CHUM Hit Parade - October 23, 1967".
https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=665#n_view_location Search Listener
[Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".
"Top 100 Hits of 1967/Top 100 Songs of 1967".
"Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1967".

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