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3 Psychedelic Rock Songs From 1967 That Made Pop Radio Feel Like a Fever Dream
This American Songwriter feature revisits 1967, widely regarded as psychedelic rock's peak year, when even the genre's more experimental tracks managed to crack the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The piece highlights how mainstream pop radio briefly embraced strange, boundary-pushing sounds as musical tastes shifted, and selects three songs it considers emblematic of that shift.
The list includes The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever," which signalled the band's move from pop group to psychedelic act and reached No. 8 in the US and No. 2 in the UK; Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints," which topped the Hot 100 despite the band never repeating that level of success; and The Electric Prunes' "Get Me To The World On Time," a stranger, bluesier entry that peaked at No. 27 in the US.
In short
- 1967 was psychedelic rock's peak year on pop radio
- Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" hit No. 8 in the US
- Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints" reached No. 1
Explained simply
Psychedelic rock emerged in the mid-1960s as musicians began experimenting with distorted guitars, unconventional song structures and surreal lyrics, often inspired by hallucinogenic drugs. By 1967, the genre had reached a peak where even its most experimental and unusual tracks were being heard on mainstream pop radio across America.
Before this moment, pop radio typically played commercially safe, conventional music. The fact that strange, boundary-pushing psychedelic songs were climbing the Billboard Hot 100 chart reflected a broader shift in musical tastes, suggesting that audiences were becoming more adventurous in what they wanted to hear.
Three tracks from 1967 exemplify this trend: The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever," which marked the band's shift into psychedelia; Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense And Peppermints," which became a chart-topper; and The Electric Prunes' "Get Me To The World On Time," a bluesier, weirder entry that still achieved significant chart success.