Wide Mouthed Frogs worked with The Spats' members: drummer Bruno Lawrence sometimes played saxophone for them and keyboardist Peter Dasent became their musical director. By 1980, The Spats had evolved into The Crocodiles, under the mentorship of US producer Kim Fowley, and featured Backhouse, Dasent, Fane Flaws (guitar, vocals), Mark Hornibrook (bass guitar), Lawrence, and songwriter Arthur Baysting. Morris was asked to join and soon after, Hornibrook departed and was replaced by Matthews. The Crocodiles were managed by Mike Chunn (ex-Split Enz bassist) and regularly performed in Auckland. In January 1980 they played the high-profile Sweetwaters Music Festival and in April that year, they released their debut album, "Tears", produced by Glyn Tucker Jnr, and its lead single, "Tears", both reached number  17 on the respective New Zealand albums and singles charts.