 Hawkes was later replaced by Neil Rooney; who was subsequently replaced by John Buck.The Polecats played rockabilly with a "punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early '80s" 

The band were first signed by the fledgling British rockabilly record label Nervous Records, and recorded their first single "Rockabilly Guy" at guitarist Alan Warner's "Lane Studios" in 1979.Formerly with the "Foundations" band, Warner toured and recorded with the Polecats for about a year.