The Crocodiles were a New Zealand pop/new wave band formed in 1979 with lead singer Jenny Morris, who went on to commercial success as a solo artist in Australia; and later included drummer Barton Price, who subsequently joined Sardine v and then Models. Lawrence played saxophone for the band at a number of their performances, and Dasent was the musical director for the band.
The Crocodiles evolved from the Spats, under the mentorship of US producer Kim Fowley, and were founded in 1979 in Auckland with Backhouse, Dasent, Flaws, Lawrence and Mark Hornibrook on bass guitar and songwriter Arthur Baysting. The lineup was finalised with Morris joining as lead singer. Lawrence then left the band and was replaced by Ian Gilroy (the Whizz Kids); Flaws also left the group but continued to provide material for the band's second album, Looking at Ourselves (produced by Ian Morris), which was released in November 1980 but failed to chart. In December 1980, Gilroy left to join the Swingers, with Dasent and Mathews leaving soon afterwards.