Strawberry Alarm Clock: Bubblegum Pop or Serious Rock?

I like them but is the music by the Strawberry Alarm Clock bubblegum pop or serious rock?

 

Ultimately Sunshine Pop, I think.

 

A mish-mash of good material, and sometimes cheesy and subpar material.

 

I'd take them seriously...

 

Bubblegum Acid? Well...perhaps not. Hard to categorize. But, I do take them seriously.

 

When the first album came out, my friends and I knew that this wasn't on the same level as Jefferson Airplane or Country Joe and the Fish, but we found SAC enjoyable anyway...at least I did. Ed King's guitar tone and the harmonies made it worth it, IMHO.

So I think bubblegum is way too harsh. I would just say they were what they were and leave it at that.

 

How about "serious bubblegum pop-rock"? It's the same "flaw" that Forever Changes has.

 

It's certainly not bubblegum.

I hear a lot of parallels between SAC and other acts that get categorised as "baroque pop", namely, interesting tunes with some unexpected chord changes, and a lack of reliance on heaviness. Other examples are the Zombies and the Left Banke, and the aforementioned Love. There is a slightly jazzy element to the music of SAC; it could almost be said to be a precursor of jazz fusion. It also seems to have some elements of bossa nova - which of course is itself highly jazz-influenced.

I have only heard three or four of their songs, but from what I have heard the only "psychedelic" thing about them was their name, and perhaps some of their lyrics were rather spiritual. There is nothing particularly psychedelic about the music.

 

Only a very few of there songs strike me as too bubble-gummy. Most are serious and feature really fine musicianship and arrangements. Even "Incense" is a really cool song, musically, and I don't really care if the lyrics are near-nonsense - it still grooves like crazy and has super cool changes. I think the band would have had many more hits and a longer career if they had only been able to hook up with a distinctive, powerful lead singer. Their harmony vocals are impeccable, but the lead voice is rarely more than serviceable.

 

Nightmare of Percussion. Serious stuff. I've not been the same since.....

 

Bubblegum is serious rock.

 

I never pass up a chance to post this beautiful number:

 

DEFINITELY not bubblegum.

 

"...a yardstick for lunatics, one point of view..."

Heavy man, heavy.

 

Yep... it fits into this feel, mood, outlook that was prevalent in the late 60's when all things seemed possible. Love it.

 

If you take the first lp (and not the single) as the best representation of what their goal was (before departures and record company demands), they were a serious sunshine pop/jazz outfit.
There were good songs on there (not big hits), and they really aspired to make albums that were pop, but serious.
Some of the lyrics today are laughable, but I enjoy the album overall; it's not bubblegum.

 

I'm a big fan of the Clock...I never considered them bubblegum. Just a young rock group getting in on the psychedelic bandwagon of the time. Here's one of my favorites by the band, rather moody and melancholy with the puzzling title "They Saw the Fat One Coming".

 

Serious rock, how pretentious!!! Most so called serious rock I have heard is plain garbage.

 

One of the funniest song titles I have ever seen is "The Birdman of Alkatrash" which is the B-side to "Incense and Peppermints".
I'll admit I don't know that B-side musically very well, having only played it a couple times.

 

I just invited Ed King to join us here in this thread, whether or not he cares to is of course, up to him.

 

Certain bands were FM and others AM. AM did not mean bubblegum all the time although AM played enough of it. FM shied away from Bubblegum or this is how I perceived the two. SAC fell into the AM slot and as others mentioned not bubblegum but good solid AM material.

 

Discovered them when I joined this forum and I don’t regret because “Incense and Peppermint” is a great psychedelic song! Don’t care if it sounds dated.

 

I think if the Mothers' Freak Out started a genre, it was called Strawberry Alarm Clock. Is it serious? Or are they being a gas? Charlie don't know.

 

Too add one more note I believe it is on the Nuggets compilation, which I do not consider Bubblegum.

 

The SAC did have some Sunshine Pop elements to their music but they also had some darker material as well and became almost straight garage hard rock by the time of their last album. Their albums are well produced with lush arrangements which kind of pegs them into Bubblegum due to their big hit I&P.