Opal Butterfly was formed in London in late 1967 after the five members quit their 9 to 5 jobs (restaurant manager, engineer, antique dealer) to concentrate full-time on their music making aspirations. The financial banking of a wealthy banker allowed the group to spend the first six months of 1968 doing nothing but rehearsing. Opal Butterfly's first single was released in mid 1968 and was a cover of The Cowsills song "Beautiful Beige". Their psychedelic twist to the song at the height of flower-power failed to generate any real sales or popularity, even though the group toured the British club circuit relentlessly.

Their second single was also a re-make, this time using the established and proven songwriting skills of Pete Townshend. The band decided to cover The Who's "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand" and released an up-tempo version of the song in early 1969. Although this second release led to a short-period of airplay for the 45, the single faded quickly and did little in terms of sales. A number of personnel changes followed in late '69 (including a guy named Lemmy who joined them for a brief period - the same Lemmy who would go on to Hawkwind and later form Motorhead). 

In early 1970 the group released their final single, a self-penned number titled "Groupie Girl". The song was used in the soundtrack for a movie by the same name released in mid 1970 and featured the band. Opal Butterfly continued touring for the remainder of 1970, but with no record contract, decided to call it a day.