THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,834) The Strawberry Alarm Clock — “Barefoot in Baltimore”
While I would not recommend walking barefoot in Baltimore, this ’68 A-side by the Strawberry Alarm Clock (see #127, 272, 901, 1,111, 1,700) is “truly magical”, which I “can imagine . . . being played at some late-60s beach party as the sun is setting, ahhhhhhhhhhh……..” (T Moss, https://www.45cat.com/record/55076). It reached #67 (#39 adult contemporary) (https://www.musicvf.com/Strawberry+Alarm+Clock.songs#gsc.tab=0) It also appeared on The World In a Sea Shell LP.
Millie Zeiler declares “BiB” the SAC’s 8th best song ever, writing:
[It] stands out as one of the heartfelt offerings from [the LP], yet it retains the gentle and playful essence pervasive throughout the album. . . . “Barefoot” is portrayed as someone meandering through Baltimore and along the shores of Chesapeake Bay, soaking in the vibrant street-party atmosphere. The song is distinctively light and engaging, characterized by its brief yet intriguing verses filled with quirky descriptions and occasionally disjointed scenes.
https://www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-strawberry-alarm-clock-songs/
Coldsore78 writes:
The highlights of this album are so fantastic that you forget the album as a whole is not as good as it could be. “Barefoot in Baltimore” is definitely my favorite on this album. This song is so beautiful!! (both lyrics and the melody) It’s so easy on the ears, but has crazy chord changes, it actually will take you quite a bit to even be able to hum it properly. The lyrics go so well with the melody, I just have to say that this is one of the greatest love songs written up to date. Seriously!!!
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/strawberry-alarm-clock/the-world-in-a-sea-shell/reviews/2/
As to SAC, Bruce Eder tells us that:
Strawberry Alarm Clock occupies a peculiar niche in the history of ’60s rock. Their name is as well known to anyone who lived through the late-’60s psychedelic era as that of almost any group one would care to mention, mostly out of its sheer, silly trippiness as a name and their one major hit, “Incense and Peppermints,” which today is virtually the tonal equivalent of a Summer of Love flashback. But there was a real group there, with members who had played for a long time on the Southern California band scene, who were proficient on their instruments and who sang well and generated four whole LPs . . . . The band’s origins go back to Glendale, CA, in the mid-’60s, and a group then known as the Sixpence. It was 1965 and all things British were still a selling point, so the name made as much sense as anything else. . . . They mostly did covers of then-popular hits and developed a considerable following in Glendale and also in Santa Barbara, playing there so often that a lot of histories have them coming out of Santa Barbara.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/strawberry-alarm-clock-mn0000633079/biography
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
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