Thee Sixpence was a garage rock/psych band that released a few singles in 1966-7 before recording "Incense And Peppermints", changing their name to Strawberry Alarm Clock, and achieving a fluke #1 hit. Most of the key musicians in the latter band were members at least part of the time in Thee Sixpence.
Their short musical journey
Beginning with "Long Days Care" b/w "Can't Explain" in the summer of 1966, Thee Sixpence went on to release a total of ten songs in roughly as many months. The last two of these, "The Birdman Of Alkatrash" b/w "Incense And Pepermints", were re-released by Uni after the band had changed their name to Strawberry Alarm Clock; the a- and b-sides of the record were also reversed, reflecting the rapidly growing popularity of the original single's b-side. All of Thee Sixpence's 45s were released on the small All American label, though at least one, "Fortune Teller" b/w "My Flash On You", was also released on Dot.
Musically, Thee Sixpence was a rambunctious garage/punk band in the mold of the Leaves, the Standells, and early Love. In fact, the band recorded two of Arthur Lee's songs from Love's eponymous 1966 debut LP, "Can't Explain" and "My Flash On You". (Another Thee Sixpence recording, of "Hey Joe", may be seen as a de facto third Love cover.) The ten songs available by Thee Sixpence show obvious and remarkable progress over the band's short career; where their first single is exciting but just manages to hold things together, by the end Thee Sixpence was experimenting with daring arrangements, varied song structures, and much more assured playing.
Along the way, Thee Sixpence also released a real lost psychedelic classic, the haunting, horrifying "In The Building". Strawberry Alarm Clock themselves rarely exceeded the weirdness of this piece, and although the recording is somewhat crude in a late-66 kind of way, "In The Building" benefits from its earnest, untutored performance.
Thee Sixpence eventually added Mark Weitz on keyboards, and the Strawberry Alarm Clock sound proper was borne. The band brought in Randy Seol on drums, and along with long-time members Ed King, Lee Freeman, and Gary Lovetro, the Clock was set and worldwide fame, not to mention further audacious musical explorations, were continued right under the noses of listeners everywhere.
Bio from the SAC website Redid this post added new tracks and more color to posts
Tracks
Thee Sixpence.....
1 Long Days Care
2 Can't Explain
3 Fortune Teller
4 My Flash On You
5 In The Building
6 Hey Joe
7 Heart Full Of Rain
8 First Plane Home
Strawberry Alarm Clock
9 Incense And Peppermints
10 Birdman Of Alkatrash
11 The World On Fire
Bonus Tracks
Very rare recording of SAC in Miami 1969
B1 Unknown Title
B2 Miss Attraction
B3 Drums>Incense And Pepperments
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