Thanks to the wonders of the Internet Archive I stumbled across a load of old content from some of my bands’ original websites (lovingly maintained by me using Notepad). If there’s anything worthwhile to be mined from that particular creaky old cupboard I’ll be sure to post it here. A decent starter for 10 is this old Chocolate bio. All the text is original; I’ve updated some of the links.

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Chocolate was formed in the long-hot summer of 1993 by Ed Wenn (guitar & vocals), Wolfie Retard (bass) & John Ruscoe (drums & vocals). Bored of playing “adult” music in their other bands, they decided to spice things up a bit and re-visit their punk roots. A mini-album - Substitute For Sex - was released through Dirter Promotions soon after in October 1993 and, with Brian Running (vocals & stupid dances) added to the line-up, the band headed off to tour Europe with their favourite popular beat combo, The Dambuilders, from Boston USA. On returning to the UK, Brian left the band after a final show and due to his departure an LP, planned for the summer of ‘94 was put on hold. The other three had business with their other bands (Big Ray, Yardman & Love Junk) and Chocolate was put on the back burner for a few months.

New Year’s Day 1995: John wakes up on the floor after a party at El Bell’s house (Domino Records head honcho) and finds himself having a conversation with the guy that slept next to him on the floor.
“Are you the bloke from that band Chocolate?”
“Yeah…who are you?”
“My name’s Russell. I’m thinking of starting up my own label and I’d love to your next record.”
It had to be the drugs talking. No-one means what they say after one of those parties and so John thought no more of it until a few weeks later when he mentioned the conversation to Ed.
“So call the guy back. See if he’s serious. Who knows….this could be the start of something beautiful.”

In the meantime Russell had already started to set up his label, Out Of Step Records, and when John called him back he confirmed that he was definitely serious about becoming our Sugar-Daddy. Mindful of the fact that Rus could easily wake up to reality and bottle out, the boys immediately hit the studio and recorded a slew of tracks with the aid of new front man, “Sizeable” Simon Finbow. So as not to break the Chocolate tradition, Simon was also in another band - Ipswich’s premier black-clad industrial metal noise merchants, Optimum Wound Profile.

As Rus and the band shared the opinion that there was too much poppy, MOR punk rock about, the Chocolate sound got noticeably heavier from the moment they sold their souls to the man with the bad Sid Vicious tattoo! The first release on Out Of Step was the awesome thrash anthem Dead Skin (May 1995) which was quickly followed by the slightly more poppy surge of Blue Streak. The next release was supposed to be the band’s first full-length album. Artwork was ready, test-pressings had been given the thumbs up and the Out Of Step sales machine was about to roll into action when we suddenly found we had a problem with a sample we’d used from a Rage Against The Machine song. After a couple of months spent chasing their publishers for an answer, we were finally informed that the band had refused us permission to use it. Very nice of them. The offending track, Break The Mould, had to be re-edited and the whole album had to be re-mastered.

But while all that had been happening the band had not been idle. Five 1000mph thrash tracks were recorded in October ‘95 and appeared on the Volume organization’s compilation of the finest loud music around, “Metallurgy”. Also featured on the CD are rock heavyweights such as Faith No More, Sepultura & Helmet. But its Chocolate who steal the show with 5 of the 15 tracks….and just over 4 minutes of the total playing time!! For more info on the “Metallurgy” CD and the 120-page magazine that goes along with it feel free to email the good people at Volume.

With the album still on hold it was decided to push ahead with what would have been the next release. The 5 Volume tracks plus 7 more recorded at the same time make up the latest Chocolate release, Slow & Low, a 12 song 7″ single that marks the end of the second phase of the band’s development. And, yes, the title is a nod to our fave popsters the Beastie Boys. Released on March 26th 1996 it is the last record to feature Wolfie and Simon. Slow & Low is the logical place to step off the thrash merry-go-round and aim for something different. We couldn’t really have gotten anymore extreme and we probably wouldn’t have wanted to if we could.

In the meantime, Hung, Gifted & Slack - the album we had so much trouble with - has now finally been released (and reviewed - but that’s for when we get the press section up and running). Guess what? It’s actually selling pretty damn well too. The album mixes the frantic and the laid-back and will change the way people look at 5th-hand-retro-punk for ever!

With the new approach came 2 new faces. Clive Watling (formerly of Elmerhassel) took over lead vocal and rhythm guitar duties whilst John’s brother Andrew was draughted in to play bass. With a few seriously groovy shows under their belt the new line-up had its first studio outing in July ‘96 to record the follow-up to the album. The now classic, Sale Copy Only - Not For Review was released on 6th December, but it was to be the final release featuring the mad drumming of Wild Johnny Ruscoe as he left in the same month to play guitar in a London-based pop outfit with a stupid name and girl backing singers. Good luck from us to him.

This left Ed as the only original member and a drumming vacancy…Step up Pete Walkden - former drummer w/ Clive’s band Elmerhassel and man-about-town DJ extraordinaire to fill in at very short notice. A few more shows under our belts with the latest line-up and we were ready to get back into the studio to record 4 or 5 tracks that will be bundled on a CD release of the last two singles (making it a 21 track punk rock extravaganza that should not be missed). The songs have been laid down (clown)….

The future’s brown…the future’s Chocolate!

I was just going through some old hard disks and thumb drives when I came across a WAV file of a Chocolate gig at The Square in Harlow from god knows when. The first couple of songs were a bit ropey and on 2 or 3 others my guitar is so loud you can’t actually hear the vocals, but the othe 5 are reasonably listenable to, so I thought I’d upload ‘em here. Hope you likee. This was the short-lived and final Chocolate line-up (in fact it may even be the final gig) and we never played enough to really get into our stride so the songs aren’t 100% solid, but I’m not sure if there is any other record of Chocolate playing live so these songs are interesting - to me at least - for that reason.

• Clive Watling - Vocals & guitar
• Ed Wenn - Guitar & vocals
• Andrew Ruscoe - Bass
• Pete Walkden - Drums

 

 I Wish I Smoked: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Evening Star: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Bigger Prisons: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 You're Too Punk: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Kittredge: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I still can’t believe I was party to a single release featuring one weird punk song and two even weirder hip hop songs. How super weird is that? Anyway, I wanted to post some more MP3s and it seems Chocolate is in the frame again…I really need to get some songs ready for the other bands.

The Cast of Thousands:
Simon Finbow - Vocals
Ed Wenn - Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Wolfie - Bass, vocals
John Ruscoe - Drums, vocals
DJ Vince - Scratching
Jason - Samples & song construction

Random thoughts regarding this release:

• I was listening to PJ Harvey’s first album a lot around the time that I wrote the main part of Blue Streak. I hope you can tell. Not sure why I felt the need to add a thrashy section halfway through…and I’m even less sure that it works, but whatever.
• There’s also a major nod to X and their masterpiece, Blue Spark, both with the title and the vocal harmonies. John does the high part and Simon does the lead vocals.
• The sampled/sequenced sections of the hip hop songs were constructed in his bedroom by Jason (ex-of Optimum Wound Profile, Earth Motherfucker, Bum Gravy etc.). This stuff is almost the exact opposite of his normal Industrial stylee output, but he stepped up to the mark and really did a great job for us. I went round his house and spent a couple of evenings with him getting the samples pieced together and layered and then he tweaked things by himself. The sequencing side of things was very rudimentary, so I’m really pleased with the way things flow.
• The main Items Of Interest sample is from a Lucious Jackson track. I’m a bit embarrassed about that because you’re not supposed to sample other hip hop songs, but there you go. We’d tried a host of other ideas and none of them worked, so Jason and I plumped for that at the last minute. The song itself is split into 3 verses; the first one is an intro/show-off thing and then the second and third are about Ken and Binman, two famous Ipswich street celebs from back in the day.
• The main Fat Havana riff is sampled from an Al Green song; I think from the Gets Next To You album because it’s my fave. John played drums, I played keyboards. I think Simon and I may also have been responsible for the (cough) human beatbox at the end…what were we thinking of??? There’s an obscure Jawbox reference in Tools & Chrome. I love this track though; nice and short. Probably Chocolate’s best hip hop track.

I’ve posted a couple of political things here recently so it’s definitely time to get back on track with the music. To that end I bring you 13 tracks from the mighty Chocolate, 12 of which originally appeared on the 1995, 7″ vinyl-only, release, Slow & Low, and one unreleased song from the same session. This is definitely one of the releases that I’m proudest of and it’s possibly my fave 7″ of all the ones I’ve been involved with. This works for me every time and I’m really, really happy with it all these years later.

Sure it’s formulaic, but that’s exactly what Chocolate was about; we set out to be a punk-by-numbers-and-proud-of-it band. I was so sick of how slick mainstream ‘punk’ had become that I got Wolfie and John together with a view to being the exact opposite of Green Day, Lemonheads etc. We’d have some fun, expect to go nowhere and keep the music unpolished. The first few releases were pretty snotty and rough, but this EP is harder, shorter, faster and more intense (gotta LOVE that word!) than anything we’d done before and I was really pleased with the sound and the feel.

Chocolate on this record was:

• Simon Finbow - Vocals
• Ed Wenn - Guitar & backing vocals
• Wolfie - Bass
• John Ruscoe - Drums and backing vocals

Sugar Free-Promise - 2.3MB
Mr Peeper - 1.0MB
Bully Bars - 804KB
Missile Attack - 878KB
How & When - 1.9MB
Ain’t No Feeble Bastard - 1.1MB
Serious Loss Of Down - 858KB
46 - 1.8MB
Do I Fit? - 1.1MB
You’re Too Punk - 1.9MB
Negligible - 1.5MB
Coughing Up Blood - 734KB
That’s How It Is - 3.2MB (previously unreleased)

L-R: Wolfie, Simon, Ed & John (Photo by Claire Howe)

Notes:

1. Very few people know this, but Tommy Stupid (as was) and I actually tried to get a band together sometime in the early 90’s (I think). We had 2 or 3 rehearsals somewhere in London and wrote a bunch of songs, but eventually it fizzled out and we never picked it up again. If memory servers we were tentatively called Breaker…but that maybe wrong. Anyway, when Chocolate started up a year later I stole some riffs from a couple of the Breaker tracks for the new band. One of them crops up here in the verse section of You’re Too Punk. Breaker bassist was my man Simon Prince (formerly of Chicken Bone Choked) and he wrote the riff.
2. When John left Chocolate a year after this came out to join Mover, he played them this EP and I’m proud to say that it quite literally scared them. They weren’t big punk fans so this would have come as a real shock
3. The unreleased track, That’s How It Is, is a continuation of the funk/rap stuff that we dabbled with on the Hung, Gifted & Slack album. For my money it’s the best thing we did in that area, but much as I like it, I’d still love to be able to remix it as there’s a keyboard part buried in there somewhere. It was recorded very quickly at the end of the session and we hadn’t practised the vocals at all…despite all that I’m happy with it. The lyrics were written mainly by me, but with inclusions from Wolfie and Simon. The live stuff at the start and finish is from a Tim Buckley concert
4. The track, 46, is about Oscar Wilde, Coughing Up Blood is about poet, John Keats and Mr Peeper is my homage to Raymond Chandler (he of Big Ray fame). A very literary flavour to the record it would seem.
5. It was a major thrill covering the Discharge song Ain’t No Feeble Bastard (from their Why? mini album). I’d loved that song ever since it came out and I felt 14 again playing it. Under protest John was made to play the lead guitar part.

Lyrics:

SUGAR-FREE PROMISE

Turn on the T.V. and roll out the clowns.
Your sugar-free promise tastes like shit in my mouth.
But we sit here and take it night in, night out.
We’re passive and willing.
Right in, right out.

There’s victim culture where they treat you like shit
And there’s a culture for victims
Yeah, we’re living right in it.
So buy into an image and the act out the role.
It’s insane you don’t suss it.
You just do what you’re told.

You think you’re so happening.
I know you’ve been fooled.
Sunglasses and cigarettes are your idea of cool.
We’ve got it all twisted and back to front in our minds.
We keep hold of the packaging and throw away what’s inside.

MR PEEPER

Private Dick, nightclub slick.
He chews gum to keep him lean
He wears shades in case he’s seen.
Drinks black coffee. Packs a piece.
Thrown in the can, but he always gets released.

Mr Peeper. Super creeper.

But down these mean streets a man must go.
Where others fear to tread.
Knows when to hold his tongue, when to use a gun
And when to use his head.

BULLY BARS

They look stupid
And they kill people.

MISSILE ATTACK

Death from the skies.
No-one knows why.
Your turn to fry
In the death from the skies.

Heard it on the radio.
Long-distance death throes.
No time to look back…missile attack.

Seen it on the video.
Nothing left, time to go.
No chance to look back…missile attack.

HOW & WHEN

You’re worth a whole lot of silver
And this ain’t no teenage trauma.
When you sleep do you forget about me?
When you’re awake do you lose sight of your dreams?

So this one’s for you.
What is in store for you?
I feel helpless watching you living your life.
So give me access…let me feel what it’s like.

You’re strong, you’re weak,
You feel empty, you’re complete.
You’re here, you’re gone.
You’re with me, on your own.
We each need time alone.
You’re here, you’re gone.

You’re tough and fragile,
Is this worth your while?
You life’s suspended from a single steel thread.
Calm on the outside, but there’s a zoo in your head.

AIN’T NO FEEBLE BASTARD

Original words by the incredibly mighty Discharge.
We are too unworthy to re-print them here.

SERIOUS LOSS OF DOWN

Why do you all dress the same?
You look way less than fine.
This is more than social contact.
Why are you so fucking blind?
There’s a premium on being safe.
No points for trying to think.
Hit the shops at the weekend.
A store card ain’t cash to spend.

What you gonna to do
With your life?
When you look back you’ll see
It’s a serious loss of down.
A serious loss of down.

46

He knew he’d make it and he made it big.
He thought he could take all they threw at him.
But wit and genius won’t sway the law,
So don’t play away from home if you don’t know the score.

Dying at 46.

What he did and when he did it everybody knows,
But he waved it in their faces so he had to go.
They were waiting on the sidelines, desperate for payback
One thing the world hates to see is a fat cat.

DO I FIT?

On the 33rd floor bored out of my mind.
Feeling pathetic, I’ve been left behind.
Standing around, feeling so weird.
I tried to get high but I’m nowhere near.

I figured it out I’m not a simple machine.
I think weird shit and try to say what I mean.
And when I get bored I can’t do anything.
Stare straight ahead and dream my dream.

Is this my world?
Do you think I fit in?
Is this my world?
Do I fit in?

YOU’RE TOO PUNK

Hanging out. Talking shit.
You got a problem? Deal with it.
It’s good to know you when you’re not drunk,
But mostly always, you’re too punk.

Unconnected. Disregard.
Disconnected. Tries too hard.

I’ve had enough, this is it.
Fried food air smell makes me sick.
Don’t waste my time.
Don’t waste my life.
I want the real thing not the hype.

NEGLIGIBLE

We’re ripping ourselves off.
We’re fucking ourselves up.
It happens everytime.
We’re telling ourselves lies.
We’re turning the heat up.
We’re no longer next in line.

Days and nights through years spent wondering.
What were we going to do?
What!
The difference turned out to be negligible.
So what did you expect?
What!

We wear the same clothes
Because we’ve got no brains
And still you won’t believe it.
We’re growing up now
And losing our way.
I shouldn’t be surprised.

COUGHING UP BLOOD

You saw the beauty
In an old Greek jug.
Now we feel empty,
But you left us filled with love.

No hungry generations tread you down.
We didn’t know you were coughing up blood.
You spoke, I saw the light and now I’m found.
And all the time you were coughing up blood.

This is the second part of the Unreleased Chocolate Album post. The first part can be found here and is worth checking out if you haven’t already. These 4 tracks were recorded slightly earlier than the other 8 and were also the final recording by Chocolate as a proper band instead of a non-gigging project entity. The line-up for these four songs was:

Clive Watling - Lead vocals and guitar
Ed Wenn - Backing vox and guitar
Andrew Ruscoe - Bass
Pete Walkden - Drums

I’m not sure how many gigs we played with this line-up, but it was probably something like 5 over a 6 month period. John had quit after the Sale Copy Only recording to move back to London and play guitar in Mover, so ex-Elmerhassel drummer, Pete Walkden, took over from him and did a fine job while it lasted. The photo on this page was taken before John left the band so it doesn’t feature Pete.

This session was recorded at Gemini studio in Ipswich. A fine studio to be sure, but not cheap and we couldn’t afford an engineer as well as the day rates so studio owner, Pat Grueber, offered to record it for us as part of the price. He was a half-decent engineer and he wanted the practice. In the event the half-decent engineer did a half-decent job and to be fair to him, my plan was always to remix these songs with Roop at some point, but we just never got round to it. So here you have the original mixes done with Pat at Gemini sometime in 1997.

Evening Star - 4.2MB
Kittredge - 6.3MB
Bigger Prisons - 4.2MB
Pathetic - 5.3MB

Behind The Songs:
Evening Star
This appeared on the very first Chocolate release Substitute For Sex back in 1993. I liked the way Clive sang it though so we re-recorded it. To be honest I’m not sure if this session was supposed to be anything other than a demo. It seems really weird that 2 of the 4 songs were re-recording from other releases…maybe I fancied releasing a decent poppy punk 7″ and that’s why we re-did Evening Star and Kittredge. Can’t remember now. For those not in the know The Evening Star is a local newspaper in Ipswich and the Ken mentioned in the songs was a long-time street vendor for said august organ. He always seemed to be around no matter how long you stayed away. You’d end up back in Ipswich after an absence of months or years and he’d still be there, selling the Star and paying for beer in Manning’s with piles of loose change. Binman was another legendary local character who also seemed to go on and on.

Kittredge
As alluded to above, this is another re-recording, also from the 1993 release Substitute For Sex. The spoken bit at the front is taken from the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman. It seemed a suitable choice given the subject matter of the song which was inspired by the fantastic Noman Mailer book Harlot’s Ghost. Kittregde is the femme fatale in that story. Unfortunately, Pete never quite got the hang of this one so the drumming’s a bit off in the breakdown section.

Bigger Prisons
This one was ‘inspired by’ (read ’stolen from’) Back Against The Wall by the migh