Craig Bloxom was the bass player

Bass Player

Bass player can refer to:*Bass Player , an album by Rhombus*Bass Player , a magazine for bassists*Bassist, or bass player, a musician who plays the bass guitar...

/singer of Australian ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

/rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band vSpy vSpy which formed in Sydney in 1981 with Mike Weiley on guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and Cliff Grigg on drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

. They became known for tackling political issues including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture. Bloxom left Spy vs Spy in 2003, worked as a chef in US/Mexico for four years and now resides in Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, Australia.

Early years: 1959–1981

Craig Bloxom was born in Ingelwood, Los Angeles on 31 July 1959 to George William and Arliene Dorlores (née Dreger). The family moved to Australia in 1965 to escape rising crime in the Los Angeles at the time. After growing up in Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 and later Nelson Bay, New South Wales

Nelson Bay, New South Wales

Nelson Bay is a suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern shore of Port Stephens about by road north-east of Newcastle, its nearest rail link. At the 2006 census, Nelson Bay had a...

, he met Mike Weiley at high school and moved to Sydney, where they joined Cliff Grigg, who happened to live in a squat in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe

Glebe, New South Wales

Glebe is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located 3 km south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region....

. As a rent saving device Bloxom and Weiley also moved into Grigg's squat, it also became their rehearsal site.

Spy vs Spy: 1981–2003

Spy vs Spy were named for a comic strip, "Spy vs. Spy

Spy vs. Spy

Spy vs. Spy is a black and white comic strip that debuted in Mad magazine #60, dated January 1961, and was originally published by EC Comics. The strip was created by Antonio Prohías.The Spy vs...

" in the US Mad

Mad (magazine)

Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...

magazine, playing their first show in 1981.

The band developed an enthusiastic pub following for their distinctive brand of ska

Ska

Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...

-flavoured indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

. They performed at many Sydney venues, particularly at the Sydney Trade Union Club, often supporting INXS

INXS

INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...

. They also supported The Clash

The Clash

The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...

 at the Capitol Theatre and U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre

Sydney Entertainment Centre

The Sydney Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose venue, located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished to make way for a new railway. The centre is currently owned by the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, which administers...

. They were then taken under the wing of Gary Vasicek, the manager of Midnight Oil and toured consistently around Australia, with forays to England, Germany and two tours of Canada. They achieved gold status for their AO Mod TV Vers album in 1987. Later they achieved a level of success in Brasil after a DJ in Rio De Janeiro began playing a single that developed a cult following with local surfers known as "surfistas". The band has toured there successfully many times and still has a loyal Brazilian following.

Post Spies: 2003–present

Bloxom now works as a chef after completing a 4 year apprenticeship in Newcastle hotels. He recently completed three years as head chef on a drill-ship in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 while living in Mazatlán

Mazatlán

Mazatlán is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa; the surrounding municipio for which the city serves as the municipal seat is Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 but returned to Australia in 2008.

He is married to Sheri Bird and the stepfather of Bella Rose. Craig now lives in Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

and works as head chef at a local hospital.

Discography

• Harry's Reasons (1986)
• A.O. Mod TV Vers (1986)
• Xenophobia [Why?] (1988)
• Trash The Planet (1989)
• Fossil (1993)
• Spy File: The Best Of (1991)
• Mugshot: The Best Of (1999)