SPILL FEATURE: WHERE’S ONE? – A CONVERSATION WITH STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK

WHERE’S ONE?

A CONVERSATION WITH STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK

Strawberry Alarm Clock is back with a new single, their first new music in quite some time. The single “Monsters” features five of the original members: Gene Gunnels (drums, percussion, vocals), Randy Seol (drums, vibes, percussion, vocals), Mark Weitz (keyboard, vocals), George Bunnell (bass, rhythm guitars) and Steve Bartek (guitars, flute, producer), all of whom played on their first hit “Incense And Peppermints” from 1967. Howie Anderson rounds out the band, who provides lead guitar and vocals. Although this is their first single in years, do not call it a reunion, because this band never really disbanded. There may have been changes throughout the years, but the band comes together and performs live and has recorded two new songs.T

Strawberry Alarm Clock formed in Glendale, which is not far from Los Angeles, and although their debut single, “Incense and Peppermints” was a number one hit in the US, they were not an overnight sensation. They paid their dues, in different bands before coming together, and were a very hard-working band. They had many other hits in the 1960s (“Tomorrow,” “Sit With Your Guru,” “Barefoot In Baltimore”) but by the 1970s they were more of a touring band rather than one relying on studio recordings. And their loyal fan base never went away.

The new single “Monsters” with the B-side “White Light” is a single now, but they promised a new album is on its way. The song “Monsters” also appears on the wonderful Big Stir (the label they are currently signed) Halloween compilation album, Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies: The Big Stir Records Halloween Grimoire. It is an excellent song and is not typical Strawberry Alarm Clock, but then again, this is a band that was never afraid to try new things. I had the opportunity to chat with the band recently, and not only were the nicest and funniest group of guys, they were more than happy to talk about their music from 1967 to now.

“We never fell apart, George Bunnell  has been keeping it alive for years,” said Steve Bartek.

“We’ve been there all this time,” agreed George. “I just kept getting calls and asking…because people knew I was from the original band. So, I would get a bunch of calls, and once in a while it was an agent. They would say, ‘Do you want to do this or that?’ And we would say ok.”

As mentioned, this is not something that is new. As Bunnell notes, the band has always been in demand. “It started back in 1974, and it was Steve Crosby [son of Bob Crosby of Bob Crosby and The Bobcats and nephew of Bing Crosby]…actually Randy bumped into Steve Crosby and he said ‘hey, you’re the guy from The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Your band screwed me over at the Concourse in San Diego, so you owe me three thousand dollars, and you can work it off by remodeling my house. So, Randy started working on the guy’s house and he asked me to come and help. So, I was going with Randy to Steve Crosby’s house. I was helping Randy work off this debt the band ensued.

CHILLING, THRILLING HOOKS AND HAUNTED MELODIES ALBUM REVIEW

“The manager ensued it,” corrected Randy Seol. “He told us to go to another gig.”

“Right,” agreed Bunnell. “It was a gig that we didn’t show up at. I remember why. There was this show in 1968 that was the Cheetah Club, with The Turtles, and a bunch of bands, like Buffalo Springfield. We were offered that gig, the same night we were supposed to play at the San Diego Concourse, for Steve Crosby’s show. He was producing the show. Our manager said, ‘It’s all cleared, you guys get to do the show at The Cheetah.’ We do it and find out years later that we didn’t show up, we didn’t know…the manager had all these lawsuits for doing that kind of thing for us to not show up at gigs. He was double booking and getting the money, the advances.  But that was how it came about, in 1974, and then we started doing things as Strawberry Alarm Clock. After that it was just sporadic.”

Some of the shows on which the band appeared featured different lineups and some very creative billing. As in 1982, when the band did some shows at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe. “Randy, Lee Friedman, who was an original member, and I and Pete Wasner, who was from Little Feat, and James Harrah went on to perform with Madonna. We did the one-week thing, but the billings were still whack,” said Bunnell. “It was us and Sammy Davis Jr. and Loretta Lynn. It couldn’t be weirder, you know. The weirdest lineup ever. We weren’t on the same bill, but we were performing in the same building, and the marquee had those three names on it.”

““White Light” I did in 2006 with Steve and George,” recalled Randy Seol. “And we brought the band in on it just lately. We did that way back then. “Monsters” could have been written before then but the group really put it together.”

Mark Weitz added “We actually did a demo of “Monsters” and recorded it over at Cherry Brown Studio.”

“That was during the Billy Corgan phase,” added Bunnell.

“Right, and that was 2011? It is pretty old. Then we re-recorded it. We can thank Steve Bartek for implementing all of his talent and getting the band to where it is today and finishing the album. Steve is used to working under pressure, and he got everybody together and arranged Zoom meetings every Monday to talk about what we had to do and really accelerate the process. This band doesn’t have a great history of starting things and finishing them,” laughed Weitz. “But Steve was the catalyst, and we can thank him for all his expertise in mixing and keeping us on the straight and narrow and pushing ahead. Otherwise, I don’t think we would have gotten here today.

“There is another big thank you,” Steve Bartek added. “That is to Kevin Wax and Mare Wax. Kevin donated his studio for us to rehearse and record in and Mare donated their guest house for our drummers to stay in and that is a Godsend. It brought everything together, and we brought Michael Stern, the engineer from that studio and he has helped a lot too.”

“We try to record live as much as we can, everybody playing at the same time, but there are always tweaks, guitar overdubs, keyboard overdubs, but the basic track is everyone playing.”

The new album is titled Where’s One, which is an inside joke for the band. It is due out in 2026 and if their current single is any indication, it is going to be a brilliant album.

“It is an inside joke for musicians. When you start playing and you get into what you are doing and you kind of miss what that band is doing, and you have to think, where is the downbeat, where’s one? Where am I? You have to get back on track. And a lot of this album is in odd time signatures, so ‘one’ is not where you expect it. The songs lead you to some place you are not expecting. We get paid by the chord.”

The entire band was talking, so it is hard to note who said what, but they were all in agreement about the new album and the title.

Strawberry Alarm Clock are a fun bunch of guys, and given their unique brand of rock ‘n’ roll, I suspected that the interview may be difficult to follow at times. They could not have been more energetic, funny, and just lovely to hang around with. Their stories about their second album (the record company really dropped the ball with that one) and the 1960s were legendary. It seems that the band has no intention of slowing down, with a record launch at The Whiskey A Go-Go in Los Angeles in 2026 when the album is being released.

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Photo Credits: Laura Calcaterra Photo