The peach (Prunus persica) is a deciduous tree native to the region of Northwest China between the Tarim Basin and the north slopes of the Kunlun Shan mountains, where it was first domesticated and cultivated. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach or a nectarine.
The specific epithet persica refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia, whence it was transplanted to Europe. It belongs to the genus Prunus which includes the cherry, apricot, almond and plum, in the rose family. The peach is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell.
Peach and nectarines are the same species, even though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. In contrast to peaches, whose fruits present the characteristic fuzz on the skin, nectarines are characterized by the absence of fruit-skin trichomes (fuzz-less fruit); genetic studies suggest nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas peaches are produced from a dominant allele for fuzzy skin.
Peaches & Herb are an American vocalist duo, once comprising Herb Fame (born October 1, 1942) and Francine "Peaches" Hurd Barker (April 28, 1947 – August 13, 2005). Herb has remained a constant in "Peaches & Herb" since its creation in 1966, while seven different women have filled the role of "Peaches."
Herb Fame (born Herbert Feemster, October 1, 1942, in Anacostia, Washington, D.C.), sang in church and neighborhood groups as a child. After graduation from high school, he worked in a local record store where he met record producer Van McCoy and was signed to Columbia subsidiary Date Records by McCoy and A&R executive Dave Kapralik. Francine "Peaches" Barker (born Francine Edna Hurd, April 28, 1947, in Washington, D.C.), using the stage name Francine Day, started a singing trio initially dubbed The Darlettes and later renamed The Sweet Things after a change of record label to Date Records. Having produced two releases for the trio, McCoy decided to record Feemster/Fame and Hurd/Day together at Kapralik's suggestion. The resulting single, "We're in This Thing Together," was distributed to radio stations but went nowhere for months until December 1966, when a St. Louis disc jockey broadcast the single's B-side, a revival of the 1934 hit "Let's Fall in Love."
"Peaches" is a song and single by The Stranglers. It was one of the big summer hits of 1977 in the UK, a close rival to The Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" in terms of notoriety. The track peaked at No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
While "God Save the Queen" was notorious for its political sentiment, "Peaches" was controversial because of its sexual content: the song's narrator is girl-watching on a crowded beach one hot summer day. It is never made clear if his lascivious thoughts (such as "there goes a girl and a half") are an interior monologue, comments to his mates, or come-on lines to the attractive women in question. Critic Tom Maginnis writes that Hugh Cornwell sings with "a lecherous sneer, the sexual tension is so unrelenting as to spill into macho parody or even censor-baiting territory."
The lyrics of the song include a word that sounds like clitoris, albeit pronounced with an emphasis on the second syllable: "Is she trying to get out of that clitORis?" The song is driven by a prominent and distinctive bass line.