November, 1966.

Do constipated androids eat electric prunes? Just a random thought to start the day.

Written by songwriting team Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, this was recorded by Californian garage rock band The Electric Prunes.

Following the dismal failure of their debut single Ain’t it Hard, producer Dave Hassinger was convinced that the band couldn’t write their own songs and turned to Tucker and Mantz for help. One of the songs that caught his attention was this, a song that was heavily influenced by the Rolling Stones and written in less than hour according to Tucker. Despite rumours that the song had originally been an orchestral ballad, Tucker confirmed that this was always meant to be a rock song.

Released as the band’s second single it became an instant success in the US, reaching number eleven on the Billboard chart. Here in the UK it didn’t fare so well, spending just one week on the chart and only reaching number forty-nine.