Strawbs

 

STRAWBS (AKA The Strawbs) English rock band founded in 1964 as a bluegrass group. However, they gradually moved into folk rock, progressive rock, and even a flirtation with glam rock.

They have gone through many different member lineups, but their long-time leader and most active songwriter is guitarist and singer Dave Cousins (guitar, dulcimer, banjo, vocals). I discovered them through other similar British bands of the early 1970s such as Fairport Convention, Fotheringay and Steeleye Span. An early line up of Strawbs included vocalist Sandy Denny who was later lead singer of Fairport Convention and Fotheringay.

When they formed as a bluegrass band in 1964, they used the name the Strawberry Hill Boys. This is when the founding members were at St Mary's Teacher Training College which was located at Strawberry Hill in London. (No connection to an American cheap amd popular wine of the era called Strawberry Hill.)  For a 1967 concert, they needed a shorter name to fit an onstage display, so they just shortened theirs to the Strawbs.

They are best known for their hit anthem "Part of the Union", which reached number two in the UK charts in February 1973, and "Lay Down" a popular FM radio progressive rock hit. from the same LP.

I saw the band on a tour they did with Supertramp (promoting Crime of the Century) while Strawbs were promoting their Hero and Heroine album.

The band has remained active in the 21st century recording and touring in two lineups. The acoustic band is with Cousins, Lambert and Cronk. There is also the entirely original Hero and Heroine/Ghosts electric line-up from 1974 of Cousins, Lambert, Cronk, Coombes and Hawken.

They werefeatured on the blue cruise in February 2019 along with Justin Hayward, The Zombies, Todd Rundgren, Dave Mason, Steve Hackett, Alan Parsons, Procol Harum, Al Stewart, Wishbone Ash and (inexplicably) Poco.

Their official website is www.strawbsweb.co.uk

Strawberry Alarm Clock

 

I have a soft spot for the Strawberry Alarm Clock. They were known as a psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 in California. They had 5 songs that charted but are best known for their 1967 hit single "Incense and Peppermints." The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week ending November 25, 1967.

Though you will find them categorized as acid rock, psychedelic pop, and sunshine pop, their first album was decidedly POP. My 1967 friends considered them to be phony psychedelic.

A history of the band written by member George Bunnell stated that "The Strawberry Alarm Clock came about by parts of two bands, Thee Sixpence and Waterfyrd Traene, morphing into one."

“I know there’s been a lot of different stories about how we got our name, and I think I’ve heard them all,” said Bunnell explained in a 2012 interview. “The most popular one is, we were all sitting around, looking at Billboard, put a finger on a song, and picked ‘Strawberry Fields Forever," but that record wasn’t even released at the time we started calling ourselves the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Our record company kind of picked our name for us. They wanted to use ‘strawberry,’ because I guess it was just a sign of the times. Peace, love and strawberries! So, that was already picked out.”

The “alarm clock” part came later, he said. Members began to throw around names that would fit with “strawberry” until a fateful incident chose the name for them. “We were over at Mark Weitz’s house one day, and his alarm clock suddenly fell down and broke,” Bunnell said. “And we looked at that, and decided ‘alarm clock.’ So, we called up our record company, and told them we were going to use the name the Strawberry Alarm Clock.”

During the Strawberry Alarm Clock's short lifespan, it saw many lineup changes.

SAC also made two notable appearances in films. In the 1968 Jack Nicholson movie Psych-Out, they played several songs including "Incense and Peppermints", "Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow", and "The World's on Fire". "The Pretty Song from Psych-Out" was re-recorded by a San Fernando Valley garage band, the Storybook, for the film's soundtrack album, but the Strawberry Alarm Clock's version was heard in the film. 

In 1970, the band appeared in the Russ Meyer cult classic film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. By this time the band's popularity had waned considerably, but the band continued on for some time, touring the South in 1970 and 1971 with a then-unknown Florida band called Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for them. In the latter part of 1971, the group, now without a record label and with internal conflicts over musical direction, opted to disband. 

There are many compilation versions of their 4 studio albums, including all 4 albums on 2 CDs. and a vinyl Best Of album.

Their studio albums:

    Incense and Peppermints (1967, Uni Records)
    Wake Up...It's Tomorrow (1968, Uni Records)
    The World in a Sea Shell (1968, Uni Records)
    Good Morning Starshine (1969, Uni Records)
    Wake Up Where You Are (2012, Global Recording Artists)

 

Foil

A foil in literature is a character who contrasts with the main character to highlight the main character’s attributes. The purpose of the foil is to give the protagonist more color, depth, and nuance. So, the kind protagonist has a cruel foil. It's common in novels, movies and comic book superheroes.

A foil is not necessarily an enemy or antagonist. Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson. harry Potter has Draco.

But why? We know that a common use of foil is the metal that we use to wrap foods. Jewelers also place foil under gems to make them shine more brightly. Is it because this contrast makes a jewel’s brilliance and facets more apparent. Is that why a literary foil character serves as a "backdrop" to make the protagonist “shine.”

As a noun, "foil" means "very thin sheet of metal". It comes from the Old French words fueille, foile, or fueill, which mean "leaf; foliage; sheet of paper; sheet of metal". These words come from the Latin word folium, which is the plural of folia and means "leaf". The word "foil" has been used since the early 14th century.

As a verb, "foil" means to overthrow, defeat, beat off, repulse, or discomfit. In wrestling, it can also mean to throw or inflict a "foil" upon.