Strawberries Mean Love

Strawberries Mean Love is the title of a compilation album originally released as a vinyl LP in 1987. It was later released on CD in 1992 with more tracks.

Arguably, Strawberries Mean Love is the best Strawberry Alarm Clock compilation available, especially the CD version. The collection takes its name from the song “Strawberries Mean Love” on the band’s first album Incense And Peppermints (1967). This set features songs from all phases of the band’s 1960s career, including some (at the time) hard-to-find latter-day singles.

Listeners these days, if interested in the entirety of Strawberry Alarm Clock’s 1960s career as represented on this album, will probably want to just get the four original albums. But for fans of physical media, and any other SAC collectors, Strawberries Mean Love is a fine album in whatever form you like.

The 1987 vinyl Strawberries Mean Love

The original 1987 vinyl version of Strawberries Mean Love was made up almost entirely of tracks from the band’s first two albums, Incense And Peppermints and Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow, along with one song each from the third album The World In A Sea Shell and the final LP Good Morning Starshine. The non-LP b-side of “Incense And Peppermints”, the garage-rock “The Birdman Of Alkatrash”, is also included, the only real obscurity of note at the time.

Despite mostly limiting itself to the band’s first two years, the song selection on the vinyl version of this compilation is very good It even includes the dark and distressing “They Saw The Fat One Coming” – a song I feel no compilation should be without. (Maybe that puts me in a minority?)

A strike against Strawberries Mean Love is the obviously poor idea of splitting up the “Black Butter” trilogy from the end of Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow: “Black Butter, Present” is included here, but “Black Butter, Past” and “Black Butter, Future” are not. Not cool. (Then again, if you have to do this, “Black Butter, Present” probably is the correct choice. But I say, include them all or include none of them.)

The 1992 CD Strawberries Mean Love

When Strawberries Mean Love was released on compact disc in 1992, it kept the original songs from the vinyl version and added a further eight. These include the excellent “Desireé”, the thrice-released b-side “Three”, and the earnest, optimistic “I Climbed The Mountain”, None of those had appeared on any of the four original SAC albums and all were welcome obscurities for most fans in 1992.

Also added to the CD were two more songs each from Incense And Peppermints and The World In A Sea Shell, and one more from Good Morning Starshine, “(You Put Me On) Stand By”.

If you are absolutely intent on getting a compilation, as opposed to the original four Strawberry Alarm Clock albums, Strawberries Mean Love is easy to find and is a very good overview of the band. Note that a nearly complete array of the band’s post-1968 non-LP songs are included on the Japanese CD version of Good Morning Starshine.

The front cover of Strawberries Mean Love

The cover art of this compilation is gorgeous and a strong reason to buy a vinyl copy of it. It uses the same photograph of the mid-1967 band members that first appeared on the cover of Incense And Peppermints. Other compilations have since used the image, but Strawberries Mean Love is probably the best of all of them. The gold-on-black background areas and the pink and purple stripes at the top, along with the big clock and even the wavy depiction of the band name, are all attractive and well-balanced. Nicely done, 1987-era graphic designer.

The original Incense And Peppermints album, which used the same band photo.

Track listing

Side 1

  1. “Incense And Peppermints” – from Incense And Peppermints
  2. “Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow” – from Incense And Peppermints
  3. “Sit With The Guru” – from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow
  4. “Tomorrow” – from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow
  5. “Black Butter, Present” – from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow
  6. “Love Me Again” – from The World In A Sea Shell
  7. “Pretty Song From Psych-Out” – from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow

Side 2

  1. “The World’s On Fire” – from Incense And Peppermints
  2. “Birds In My Tree” – from Incense And Peppermints
  3. “The Birdman Of Alkatrash” – 1967 single b-side
  4. “Small Package” – from Good Morning Starshine
  5. “They Saw The Fat One Coming” – from Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow
  6. “Strawberries Mean Love” – from Incense And Peppermints

Additional songs on the CD version

  1. “Desireé” – 1969 single
  2. “Barefoot In Baltimore” – from The World In A Sea Shell
  3. “Paxton’s Back Street Carnival” – from Incense And Peppermints
  4. “Hummin’ Happy” – from Incense And Peppermints
  5. “Sea Shell” – from The World In A Sea Shell
  6. “(You Put Me On) Stand By” – from Good Morning Starshine
  7. “I Climbed The Mountain” – 1970 single
  8. “Three” – 1970 single b-side

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