A short Choy Choi history : Any errors/omissions are Garys’ fault

The Choy Choi story begins in the summer of 1986 . I was looking for a creative vocalist at the time - and happened upon a young Dave Ruegg. Dave agreed to give it a shot and after a stonking debut at a local Labour Party benefit the band decided to roll up its sleeves and write some more original material.

Bassist Kelvin Nicholson left the band at the tail end of 1986. Choy Choi then became what I refer to as the classic line up:

Dave Ruegg - Vocals
Gary Smith - Guitar
John Ramirez - Synthesizers
Mark ‘Grinder’ Reeve - Bass
Lee Rollings - Drums

1987 saw the band undertaking gigs in Suffolk, Essex, London and Northamptonshire plus building up a sizeable loyal local following, the bands ‘spiritual home’ being the Old Times on Spring Road, Ipswich.

After winning the Toschachs Rock and Pop competition in May at the Ipswich Corn Exchange the band released a double ‘A’ sided single (She Says / Way with Words) which sold well.

John Ramirez left the band in early '88 and so the bands compositions became more guitar driven. Dave Ruegg departed temporarily for ‘time out’ in New York at about this time but triumphantly returned in 1990 to front CC once again.

1991 saw the band in the studio once more recording tracks for a local CD compilation (Captured). Pianist Tony Knights also joined the band at this time to supplement the bands sound. Grinder dipped out of live work later that year - and was replaced by a flamboyant Rick Spooner on bass. Simon Feasey came in to replace Tony Knights on Keys.

The current Choy line up emerged in 1992 for more gigs and studio work:

Dave Ruegg - Vocals/acoustic guitar/mandolin
Gary Smith - Lead guitar
Merrick Cardy - Guitars/backing vocals
Chris Ratcliffe - Bass
Lee Rollings - Drums

The Nineties were lean times for CC, so live performances consequently tailed off.

Drummer Lee Rollings was undergoing mental treatment in 1997 . Dave Brown did a starling job depping on drums in 1998. Lee was behind the kit once again for a stonking gig at Old Newton in the summer of '99.

Lee hung up his sticks in the summer of 2000 - just before Dave went to New York once again. Craig Clark (Camel Foot Raiders) came in helping with drum duties at that time. Lee Rollings died unexpectedly in March 2005.

Choy Choi decided to build on the past successes that Lee helped to create, putting together some fresh new material and recruiting the talented fourteen year old drummer Africa Green to the ranks.

Now with a new line-up featuring Dan Agate on drums, CC are now ready once again to take on the world !
 

Stay tuned - Gary