The Chocolate Watchband: Biography

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• The Kingsmen
• ? & the Mysterians
• The Trashmen
• The Seeds
• The Standells
• The Count Five
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• The Rolling Stones
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Formed:

Jan 1, 1965 in Los Altos, CA

Disbanded:

Jan 1, 1968

Genres:

Rock Music, Psychedelic Oldies Music

Decades Active:

1960's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

The Chocolate Watchband never charted a record nationally. Indeed, ask most casual '60s rock fans about them and you'll probably get little more than a blank stare. Most will probably remember their AVI Records labelmates the Standells more clearly, because they actually managed to chart a few singles. Alas, the Watchband had the disadvantage of being a punkier band than the Standells, and also being essentially two bands as a recording unit.

The group had its start in Los Altos, CA, in 1965, where guitarist Mark Loomis joined Ned Torney (guitar) in a fledgling band that later included Danny Phay (vocals), Rich Young (bass), Jo Kemling (organ), and Gary Andrijasevich (drums). This early incarnation of the Watchband found great, albeit short-lived popularity on the local band scene, but never recorded. Phay, Torney, and Kemling were later inducted into a rival band, the Otherside, which was formed out of a band called the Topsiders, and Young was drafted into the U.S. Army. Loomis recruited Andrijasevich, Topsider guitarist Sean Tolby, bassist Bill Flores, and vocalist David Aguilar; this unit, also named The Chocolate Watchband, made its debut in San Francisco and the surrounding area in the spring of 1966.

The quintet was a mod-outfitted garage punk unit par excellence, their sound founded on English-style RB with a special fixation on the Rolling Stones at their most sneering. They eventually got a recording/management contract with Ed Cobb, a former member of the '50s vocal ensemble the Four Preps. The group's first single was a cover of Davie Allan's "Blues Theme"; the single was a great showcase for the band, except for the fact that it was released under the alias of the Hogs. Ironically, the band's first album, No Way Out, featured much tampering by the producers. By the time the record came out in June of 1967, the group had already begun breaking up. A new incarnation of the Watchband was born in the guise of Flores and Tolby, with Tim Abbott on lead guitar, Mark Whittaker on drums, and Chris Finders on lead vocals. This lineup only lasted through the end of 1967, when Abbott and Flinders exited. Tolby moved over to lead guitar, and Aguilar returned for a few shows, but essentially the Watchband's existence as a viable performing unit were over.

The group's producers had other ideas, however. Another album, The Inner Mystique, was released in February of 1968, sporting the band's name but not too much else associated with the group. Cobb would have one more go at keeping the Watchband alive with One Step Beyond. By the time the record was made in the summer of 1968, all of the band had moved on to other projects, but Flores was persuaded to re-join Tolby, Andrijasevich, Loomis (later replaced by Phil Scoma), and Phay and have one more chance in the studio.

That would probably have been the end of the group's story, but in the early '80s, a curious thing happened -- record buyers and, more particularly, young musicians in America and Europe, discovered the Watchband. Their albums had always been collector's items, but now the prices began escalating; a set of Australian reissues of the group's albums quickly found a market in America and Europe. More people heard The Chocolate Watchband's music and saw their movie appearances in the 1980s than in the 1960s. Thus, it was no surprise when, in 1994, Sundazed Records reissued the complete Watchband catalog on compact disc.

- Bruce Eder, All Music Guide