In 1971 Alex Machin and Paul Naumann of the Toronto band Leather were struggling along with a new act called Island (which also included Ed Clemens and future Zon member Kim Hunt). The members of Nucleus heard about Machin and Naumann, auditioned them at their farm in Pickering and soon the new five-piece were searching for a record deal. They soon signed with Frank Davies' Daffodil Records who rechristened the group A Foot In Coldwater – which is an old English term meaning 'bad luck'. They recorded their self-titled debut in 1972 and the band's first single "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want" reached the Canadian charts as Top-25.