The Crocodiles

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title: "The Crocodiles" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["apra-award-winners", "musical-groups-established-in-1979", "musical-groups-disestablished-in-1981", "female-fronted-musical-groups", "new-zealand-pop-music-groups", "new-zealand-new-wave-musical-groups", "1979-establishments-in-new-zealand", "1981-disestablishments-in-new-zealand"] description: "New Zealand pop/new wave band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crocodiles" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand pop/new wave band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]

Field	Value
name	The Crocodiles
background	group_or_band
origin	New Zealand
genre	Pop, new wave
years_active	1979–1981
label	Stunn
associated_acts	The Spats, The Wide Mouthed Frogs, The Whizz Kids, The Swingers, Sardine v, Models
past_members	Fane Flaws
Peter Dasent
Tony Backhouse
Arthur Baysting
Jenny Morris
Tina Matthews
Bruno Lawrence
Ian Gilroy
Rick 'Rikki' Morris
Jonathan Zwartz
Barton Price
::

::callout[type=note] the New Zealand pop band ::

|name = The Crocodiles |image = |caption = |background = group_or_band |alias = |origin = New Zealand |instrument = |genre = Pop, new wave |occupation = |years_active = 1979–1981 |label = Stunn |associated_acts = The Spats, The Wide Mouthed Frogs, The Whizz Kids, The Swingers, Sardine v, Models |website = |current_members = |past_members = Fane Flaws Peter Dasent Tony Backhouse Arthur Baysting Jenny Morris Tina Matthews Bruno Lawrence Ian Gilroy Rick 'Rikki' Morris Jonathan Zwartz Barton Price 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. The Crocodiles' top 20 hit single in New Zealand was "Tears" in 1980 from debut album Tears; a second album, Looking at Ourselves, appeared in November. The band relocated to Australia in February 1981 but disbanded in July without further releases.

History

Fane Flaws was guitarist and Bruno Lawrence was drummer for Blerta (1971–1975); Flaws and Lawrence then went on to form the Spats (1977–1979) with Tony Backhouse on guitar and Peter Dasent on keyboards. In 1978, an all-female band, the Wide Mouthed Frogs, comprising Jenny Morris and Kate Brockie (lead vocals), Tina Matthews (bass guitarist), Andrea Gilkison (guitar), Bronwyn Murray (keyboards) and Sally Zwartz (drums) was established in Wellington, New Zealand, 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. They were managed by Mike Chunn (ex-Split Enz), Mark Hornibrook was subsequently replaced by Mathews.

In April 1980, they released their debut album Tears (produced by Glyn Tucker), together with the single, "Tears". The album and the single both reached No. 17 on the New Zealand album and singles charts respectively that year. The band's second single, "Whatcha Gonna Do", however wasn't as successful, failing to chart. That year, they won Best Group and Most Promising Group at the New Zealand Music Awards. 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. A new lineup was formed with original members Morris and Backhouse joined by Barton Price (drums), Jonathan Swartz (bass) and Rick Morris (guitar).

In February 1981, the band flew to Australia but did not last long before dissolving; Morris beginning her solo career, Price joining Sardine v and then Models, with Backhouse becoming a session musician with artists including Renée Geyer, Joe Walsh, Jenny Morris, Dave Dobbyn, Tim Finn and Vince Jones and immersing himself in a cappella gospel music. Dasent became a film composer, and Flaws became a successful video and film director.

Discography

Albums

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Label	Charted	Country	Catalog Number
1980	Tears	RCA Victor	17	New Zealand	VPL 10285
1980	Looking at Ourselves	Stunn	-	New Zealand	MLF 450
::

Singles

• "Tears"/"In My Suit" - RCA (MS 433) (1980) (NZ #17)
• "Whatcha Gonna Do"/"All Night Long" - RCA (103619) (1980)
• "Telephone Lover"/"Looking at Ourselves" - RCA (6538)(1980)
• "Teenarama"/"New Girl on the Beat" - RCA (103729) (1980)
• "Hello Girl"/"Romantic as Hell" - CBS (MS 476) (1980)
• "New Wave Goodbye"/"Ribbons of Steel" - Aura (AUS126) (1981)

References

References

1. McFarlane, Ian. (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Jenny Morris'". [[Allen & Unwin]].
2. "Performance Costume worn by Jenny Morris". Dhub*.
3. "Jenny Morris Discography". Magnus Holmgren.
4. Sergent, Bruce. "Crocodiles". Bruce Sergent.
5. "Kim Fowley - Outside the USA". [[Kim Fowley]].
6. Flaws, Fane. "Fane Flaws (1951-?) - A brief history". [[Fane Flaws]].
7. "1980 NZ Music Award Winners". [[New Zealand Music Awards]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::