The Saw Doctors had their genesis in 1986 when Leo Moran, a former member of Tuam reggae outfit Too Much for the White Man, started accompanying local vocalist Mary O'Connor on guitar. Moran recruited Davy Carton, a former songwriter and guitarist with short-lived Tuam punk band BlazeX (1979-1981), who by that time had given up his musical aspirations and was working in a textile factory to support his wife and young children.