dismantling the first incarnation of the band. 1966–67: Loomis–Aguilar line-up With the first version of the Chocolate Watchband disbanded, Mark Loomis moved on to join The Shandels. Quickly becoming disillusioned, he took the discarded name "Chocolate Watchband" and recruited The Shandels' bass player Bill 'Flo' Flores and former Watchband drummer, Gary Andrijasevich. Next he convinced former Topsiders guitarist Dave "Sean" Tolby to enlist. The group recruited David Aguilar as the frontman and lead singer; at the time, Aguilar was a college student studying biology at San Jose State University. Loomis naturally asserted the role of leader during this initial time period, although the band never acknowledged it had a designated leader. Songs to cover were presented, shows were talked about, the band voted together on all decisions. Sean Tolby obtained the latest in Vox equipment while Loomis provided the space for nightly rehearsals. Within a week, the band began performing at local clubs in San Francisco's South Bay, playing a range of songs that included obscure British import tunes never released before in the States. Unlike other local bands who were covering the latest hits from the top 10 on radio, the Chocolate Watchband played songs few people had ever heard before. Thus, in many instances, these songs became associated with the Chocolate Watchband and not the original artists. Six months later, after opening for the Mothers of Invention at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco music producer Bill Graham urged the Chocolate Watchband to sign a management contract with him. He was opening up a new Fillmore East in New York City and wanted to shuttle the Chocolate Watchband, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane back and forth from coast to coast as his personal house bands. However, having signed a management contract with local promoter Ron Roupe a week earlier, their future followed a different path. Roupe, having secured a recording deal with Green Grass Productions in Los Angeles, introduced the band to producers Ed Cobb and Ray Harris. The band flew to Los Angeles and entered the recording studio; as a warm-up to show Cobb their capabilities, they quickly recorded down tracks for "Come On," a Chuck Berry song that had also been the first track recorded by the Rolling Stones (the latter of whom the band was frequently compared to). Cobb introduced the band to a song he had written a week earlier named "Sweet Young Thing".