The pair were so impressed by the swinging, organ-heavy sound of The Rascals they decided to form their own band in 1965 with Martell and Rick Martin's drummer, Mark Dolfen, who was quickly replaced by Joey Brennan.

Vanilla Fudge was managed by Phillip Basile, a reputed Lucchese crime family member, who operated several popular clubs in New York.

Their first three albums (Vanilla Fudge, The Beat Goes On, and Renaissance) were produced by Shadow Morton, whom the band met through The Rascals.

The band's biggest hit was its cover of "You Keep Me Hangin' On," a slowed-down, hard rocking version[8] of a song originally recorded by the Supremes.

The members of Vanilla Fudge were great admirers of the Beatles, and covered several of their songs including "Ticket to Ride", "Eleanor Rigby", and "You Can't Do That".

[6] The self-titled debut album quotes "Strawberry Fields Forever" at the end, with the lines "Nothing is real; Nothing to get hung about".

[6] Stein, left on his own, tried to keep Vanilla Fudge afloat with two new players, Sal D'Nofrio (bass) and Jimmy Galluzi (drums), both of whom had been members of a Poughkeepsie, New York, group known as The Dirty Elbows.

[6] Martell was not included in this initial reunion and Ron Mancuso played guitar on Mystery instead, along with Jeff Beck, who guested under the moniker "J. Toad".

Vanilla Fudge was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006,[12] with Billy Joel, Joan Jett, and producer Shadow Morton.

In the summer of 2007, HBO's final episode of The Sopranos featured "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (with Pascali's lead vocals) as a theme for their cliffhanger.

Also, the band (Stein & Martell with Steve Argy on bass and Jimmyjack Tamburo on drums) performed "You Keep Me Hangin' On" for the PBS fundraising program My Music: My Generation – The '60s for the March 2008 pledge drive.

[14][failed verification] Stein and Martell also performed shows during this period with Steve Argy and Jimmyjack Tamburo again as the rhythm section.

The lineup for the tour included Carmine Appice, Mark Stein, Vince Martell, and Pete Bremy (bass).

in the Name of Love" as digital streaming content and with an official music video on YouTube, dedicated to Tim Bogert.