"[2] In the early 1980s, Jonathan had been part of punk/psych/experimental group The Killer Asparagus (in the Boston area) and punk pop band The Degrads (in Rochester, NY, along with his brother Sam Elwitt).
[3] The first Silly Pillows recordings were circulated on cassette through the growing network of home tapers, spurred by positive reviews in the magazines Option and Sound Choice (who said that "their whole catalog is essential listening").
In 1993, Jonathan assembled a group of friends for the Silly Pillows' first studio recordings, which were released as the "Equilibrium" EP on Norway's Perfect Pop label.
[5] Over the next few years, more studio recordings were released on vinyl and CD by Perfect Pop and the German label Little Teddy, bringing the band notice such places as Chickfactor ("It just bubbles over with vintage ambience and playfulness.... and it's more than just slightly pretty"[6]) and The Village Voice (making Elisabeth Vincentelli's "Pazz & Jop" top-10 list in 1996[7]).
3 on the domestic singles chart, enthusiasm was high enough that a subsidiary of major Japanese label Teichiku Records released a "best-of" compilation, Pillow Paw Prints, in 1997.