A Foot in Coldwater was formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1970 from three other bands. Leggat, Taylor, and Horne had been members of Nucleus, and the Lords of London. Machin and Naumann were in the band Island. Together, they signed a recording contract with Frank Davies of Daffodil Records, who named the new band "A Foot in Coldwater".

In 1972, Daffodil released the band's first record album, A Foot in Coldwater. The first single off that album, "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want", reached the top 25 on the Canadian record charts. In 1973, Daffodil released the second album, The Second Foot in Coldwater. It included the moderately successful singles "(Isn't Love Unkind) In My Life" (#34) and "Love is Coming" (#27). In 1974, Daffodil released a third A Foot in Coldwater album, All Around Us. This album included a shorter version of "(Make Me Do) Anything You Want", which again made the Canadian singles chart. In 1976, Daffodil released one more A Foot in Coldwater single, "Midnight Lady". However, Daffodil had filed for bankruptcy and the band no longer had a record label. Horne left A Foot in Coldwater at this point.

In 1977, the remaining members of A Foot in Coldwater recorded a single, "Breaking Through" for Anthem Records; however, the single was a commercial failure and the band subsequently split up.