Chocolate Watch Views

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The Chocolate Watchband, was a psychedelic rock and garage rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1965.[1] The band had finally broken up indefinitely by 1970 but then reunited in 1999 at a 66/99 show Mike Stax organized in San Diego. They continue to play today at garage rock shows in Europe as well as the States with Little Steven and the Electric Prunes. The band's music was largely described as a blend of 1960s-style garage rock with a distinguishable rolling San Francisco sound. The group's early music appeared to contain blues influences, and later it developed psychedelic elements through use of instrumental experimentation. Ed Cobb was well-known as their producer. The band also appeared in the 1967 film Riot on Sunset Strip and the 1968 film The Love Ins .

Mark Loomis started to play guitar for a popular young local band known as The Shandels, but quickly became bored with playing for a target audience of pre-teens. Loomis decided to recreate The Chocolate Watchband with The Shandels' bass player Bill 'Flo' Flores, and former Watchband drummer Gary Andrijasevich. They enlisted the help of former Topsiders guitarist Dave Sean Tolby, and the charismatic frontman of a local band known as The Early Morning Reign, David Aguilar.

The Chocolate Watchband's success and popularity was beginning to pick up at the same time as an interest in signing the band began. The band were offered a management deal by Bill Graham after a show in which they opened for The Mindbenders at the Fillmore in San Francisco. However, having signed with their new manager Ron Roupe a week earlier, the band eventually secured a deal with Green Grass Productions and began working with producers Ray Harris and Ed Cobb. Cobb gave the band a song he had written called Sweet Young Thing , which was recorded and released in December 1966 on Tower Records, which featured the group's cover of Bob Dylan's It's All Over Now, Baby Blue as the B-side.

The band still maintained a level of success, but nowhere near the level of the previous line-up. The sound was different - the energy was different, to the fans, it wasn't The Chocolate Watchband. They managed to secure a place as the opening act for The Doors and also performed at the KFRC Magic Mountain Festival. In late Autumn of 1967, Abbott and Flinders had a disagreement with Tolby and manager Ron Roupe over financial matters, which ensured the indefinite break-up of the Watchband in December 1967.