167: Ween - Chocolate and Cheese (1994)

October 28, 2025 / Amanda Rodgers

“We’re not trying to parody music. We’re not trying to destroy music. We’re just trying to make good music.”

—Dean Ween

Buenas tardes, amigos, and happy Hallo-Ween, my good friends. It took us way, way too long to get the bright idea to devote our annual All Hallow’s Eve episode to the Brothers Ween, but now that we have, it seems appropriate to discuss 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese, an album where Deaner and Gener try on a whole bunch of different musical costumes. While C&C isn’t their major-label debut, it’s the first album they produced in a major-label fashion, and the songs cover a lot of stylistic ground, including Tom Jones Vegas rockabilly lounge, kaleidoscopic Prince psychedelia, a sweeping Morricone murder ballad, smooth Philly soul, and a few songs that completely defy categorization. While this album is often ranked behind powerhouse Ween classics like The Mollusk and Quebec, many of its songs have gone on to become live standards, and there’s an argument to be made that it formed the bedrock of the band’s musical legacy. So join John, Mike, Phil, and Rich as they make a return pilgrimage to the shrine of the mighty Boognish, and remember: don’t believe the florist when he tells you that the roses are free.

Miscellany

This album features some offensive and sometimes upsetting subject matter, in line with Ween’s famously “brown” artistic sensibility, so we’ve got the explicit tag turned on for this episode.
We first covered Ween way back in 2018, in Phil's episode on The Mollusk. This was back when we were still figuring out the whole podcasting thing, so we were using cheap microphones and got a few details wrong, but it’s nonetheless an interesting discussion on a wonderful album.
YouTuber Jackson Rawlings has a video series called History of Ween that devotes a full episode to Chocolate and Cheese, and it provided a lot of useful background information for the history segment in this episode. And if you’d like to know even more about the album, Hank Shteamer wrote about the album as part of the 33 ⅓ series, featuring interviews with Gene and Deen.
Mannequin was actually filmed at the department store Wanamaker's, not Woolworth’s, but Gene and Dean likely took artistic license because “Wanamaker’s” doesn’t roll off the tongue.
John realized that “Baby Bitch” has another Bob Dylan connection, in that Gene mentioning that he wrote “Birthday Boy” in that song is a clear nod to Bob mentioning in “Sara” (about his ex-wife) that he wrote “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” for her.
Mike forgot to mention this in the episode, but in 2026, Cinco de Mayo will indeed fall on a Tuesday.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

John McFerrin (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Phil Maddox
Rich Bunnell

Chocolate and Cheese tracklist

Take Me Away
Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)
Freedom of ‘76
I Can’t Put My Finger on It
A Tear for Eddie
Roses Are Free
Baby Bitch
Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?
Drifter in the Dark
Voodoo Lady
Joppa Road
Candi
Buenas Tardes Amigo
The H.I.V. Song
What Deaner Was Talking About
Don’t Shit Where You Eat

Other clips used

Ween:

Buckingham Green
The Golden Eel
Pandy Fackler (live 9/26/03)
Never Squeal
Pork Roll Egg and Cheese
Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)
You Fucked Up
I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight
It's Gonna Be a Long Night
Tastes Good on Th' Bun
I Can't Put My Finger on It (Paintin’ the Town Brown version)
Common Bitch
Ice Castles
Don't Laugh (I Love You)
Piss Up a Rope
Pink Eye (On My Leg)
Stop, Look, Listen (and Learn)
Dirty Money
I Got It
Sasha
I Really Miss You (and I'm All Alone)
Church Fire
The Fucked Jam
I'm in the Mood to Move
Flies on My Dick
Buenas Tardes Amigo (Live in Toronto Canada version)
The HIV Song (Live in Chicago version)
Boys Club
Mutilated Lips
Blue Balloon
What Deaner Was Talkin' About (Live in Toronto Canada version)
All of My Love (Live in Chicago version)

Others:

Curtis Mayfield - So in Love
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
Prince and the Revolution - Paisley Park
Phish - Roses Are Free (live 4/3/98)
Steely Dan - Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
They Might Be Giants - Alienation's for the Rich
The Residents - Swastikas on Parade
Spin Doctors - Little Miss Can't Be Wrong
America - Ventura Highway
The Advantage - Bubble Bobble
Guided by Voices - Atom Eyes
Phish - Nassau Jam (4/3/1998)
Night Rider - Fun Time Deh Yah

Band/album personnel

Dean Ween – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, bass, drums
Gene Ween – vocals, keyboards, drum machine, electric and acoustic guitars
Claude Coleman Jr. – drums, crotales (2)
Mean Ween – bass and vocals (12)
Greg Frey – engineer
Howie Weinberg – mastering
Andrew Weiss – producer, engineer, mixing
Kirk Miller – live sound
Patricia Frey – drums
Scott Lowe – programming
Stephan Said – Spanish guitar

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Ween - Voodoo Lady (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Chocolate and Cheese and other albums by Ween at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

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