The Velvet Illusions

Funk recommended rehearsing with neighbor George Radford (saxophone) at his parents' upholstery shop, with the resulting session encouraging the trio to form a band Randy Bowles named the Illusions.

The band added to their personnel when they recruited Steve Weed (keyboards, vocals), formerly of the local group the Shy Guys, Larry "Lurch" Linse (bass guitar), and Danny Wagner (drums).

[3] With a live repertoire encompassing covers of material by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Monkees, as well as novelty songs such as "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "Mellow Yellow", and "Winchester Cathedral", the Velvet Illusions were what Bowles explains as their manager's desire to make the group "clean cut alternatives to other bands of the period".

In mid-1966, the band released their debut single "Acid Head", a composition about a woman suffering from a drug addiction, coupled with the Weed-penned "She Was the Only Girl", on Tell International Records.

[4] In June 1967, the Velvet Illusions concluded a tour of the Northwest, and moved to Los Angeles in hopes of promoting their music on a national scale.

The group worked persistently at promoting their music, particularly "Acid Head", which the Velvet Illusions performed on the Yakima television program Summer Wild Thing in a failed effort to lift the radio ban.

[4] The final lineup of the Velvet Illusions saw the additions of drummer Jon Juette, and future Earth, Wind, and Fire guitarist Roland Bautista.

Upon returning to Yakima, former Velvet Illusions Weed, Larrison, Wagner, Wohl, and Bowles reconvened as a group known as the Peppermint Tea, and finally enjoyed the freedoms of managing themselves.