D iesel, composed of Rob Vunderink (guitar/vocals), Mark Boon (guitar), Frank Papendrecht (bass) and Pim Koopman (drums/keyboards), formed in the late 1970s, and released their first single in 1979. Following their formation, they had several hits in the Netherlands, but had already disbanded by 1980.

In 1981 Watts in a Tank was released in the United States. The single Sausalito Summernight, a song that had been only a minor hit in the Netherlands, became a huge U.S. radio hit, and rose to #25 on the U.S. Top 40. It reached #1 in Canada.