Spy Vs Spy
Encyclopedia
Spy vs Spy, also known as v. Spy v. Spy, The Drug Grannies and The Spies, are an Australian ska
/pub rock
band from Sydney formed in 1981. They became known for tackling political issues through their music, including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture. They were named after a comic strip, "Spy vs. Spy
" in the US Mad
magazine.
The band's initial line-up was the trio of Craig Bloxom
on bass guitar
/lead vocals, Cliff Grigg on drums
/percussion and Mike Weiley on lead guitar
/vocals. Spy vs Spy's early music was ska-influenced indie rock
, exemplified by their debut single "Do What You Say" on the independent Green label in April 1982. They released an EP
Four Fresh Lemons in August. Their music became more straight forward hard rock
for their pub audiences. The band broke up in early 1983 only to reform mid-year, by which time they were using the name v. Spy v. Spy to avoid legal problems with Mad magazine. They were eventually signed to Midnight Oil
's label Powderworks and managed by Oils manager, Gary Morris. Their first full-length album Harry's Reasons was released in March 1986 and produced by Leszek Karski. They switched labels to WEA
and had their highest charting success in February 1987 with their single "Don't Tear It Down" on the Australian singles chart
and the associated album A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
peaked at #12 on the Australian albums chart.
Spy vs Spy's follow-up album, Xenophobia (Why?)
was released in March 1988 peaked at #15 in Australia. It was produced by Karski and Guy Gray and released by WEA in 14 countries. Their 1989 album Trash the Planet
peaked at #22 on the ARIA Charts
. None of their subsequent releases reached the Australian Top 40. The band split and reformed a number of times but still developed a strong following in Brazil.
bass guitar
ist/lead vocalist was born in Los Angeles and moved to Australia in 1965, he met guitar
ist/vocalist Mike Weiley at Nelson Bay
High School in 1976. Weiley, having just moved from England to Australia, was paired with Bloxom by the principal based on their common musical interests. After high school, Bloxom and Weiley moved to Cammeray
in Sydney's north shore, playing in various Sydney bands. Looking for a drummer
, one of Bloxom's ex-bandmates introduced them to Cliff Grigg, who happened to live in a squat in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe
. They named their band for a comic strip, "Spy vs. Spy
" in the US Mad
magazine. As a rent saving device Bloxom and Weiley also moved into Grigg's squat, which initially had no roof: it also became their rehearsal site.
Spy vs Spy had their first performance at Sydney's Sussex Hotel, filling in for The Fast Cars, whose singer had unexpectedly taken ill. From there the band developed an enthusiastic pub following for their distinctive brand of ska
-flavoured indie rock
. Dirty Pool management picked them up and they performed at many Sydney venues, particularly at the Sydney Trade Union Club, often supporting INXS
. They also supported The Clash
at the Capitol Theatre and U2
at the Sydney Entertainment Centre
.
In February, 1982 the band recorded "Do What You Say" at T.R.M. in Surry Hills
, releasing it as their first single in April, 1982 on Roger Greirson's independent Green label. This was followed by their first EP
, Four Fresh Lemons in August 1982, the 1,000 pressings selling out in just five days. The New Zealand release of Six Fresh Lemons, combined Four Fresh Lemons with the A & B sides of their first single. These recordings were released under the name Spy vs Spy, but the band was forced to change its name to v. Spy v. Spy to avoid legal action from the publishers of Mad magazine, which included the comic strip "Spy vs. Spy
". Their music became more straight forward hard rock
for their pub audiences.
The band became prominent on the Sydney pub rock
scene, performing politically charged songs dealing with issues such as racism
, drugs and the homeless. Shortly after the release of their debut EP, in early 1983, the band broke up. Bloxom briefly joined The Numbers in March 1983 but re-formed v. Spy v. Spy in July 1983, with Marcus Phelan (ex-The Numbers) joining as a second guitarist. Weiley became sick with hepatitis
, confined to a hospital bed for months, and then Phelan left after the band's equipment was stolen.
, also became their manager. Midnight Oil's label, Powderworks, released the band's second EP, Meet Us Inside in October, 1984, which was followed by the single "One of a Kind" in November, 1984. The band's first full-length album, Harry's Reasons, was released in March 1986 on the Powderworks label and was produced by Leszek Karski. Singles included "Injustice", about the plight of Australia's aboriginal communities (dedicated to the Aboriginal Arts Council) released in August 1985, "Give Us Something" dealing with the media, was released in February 1986 and "Harry's Reasons", about a friend's heroin addiction ('Harry' is a euphemism for heroin), which was released in May 1986. Neither album nor singles had any major chart success.
They switched labels signing with WEA
and released a follow-up album A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
in November 1986. The name is an abbreviation meaning "Adults Only Modified Television Version", a very common censorship notation appearing along the bottom of Australian television screens at the time. It provided three singles - "Don't Tear It Down" inspired by the Department of Main Roads
seeking to demolish the band's Darling Street squat, "Sallie-Anne'" about murdered prostitute/whistleblower
Sallie-Anne Huckstepp
and "Credit Cards" a commentary on spiralling debt and consumerism
. "Don't Tear It Down" was the band's most successful single, peaking at #31 on the Kent Music Report
of the Australian singles charts in February 1987, it stayed in the charts for 20 weeks and went platinum.
After having toured the A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. album, WEA demanded another album. The third album, Xenophobia (Why?)
, was written and recorded in just six weeks, the title inspired by race issues surfacing in the lead-up to Australia's upcoming Bicentennial
year. The album released in March 1988 peaked at #15 in Australia, it was produced by Karski and Guy Gray and released by WEA in 14 countries. The album provided three singles, "Forget about the Working Week", "Clarity of Mind" and "Waiting". During this time the band played smaller shows to dedicated fans in Sydney under the pseudonym The Drug Grannies.
In 1989 the band travelled to the United Kingdom
to record the album Trash the Planet
, at Richard Branson
's Manor House studios, produced by Craig Leon
. The album was released in November 1989 and peaked at #22 on the ARIA Charts
. Four singles were issued - "Hardtimes", "Clear Skies" in February 1990, "Our House" in May and "Oceania" in October but none peaked into the Top 40.
as guest percussionist, whilst Bloxom and Weiley took a year off, moving to Queensland and going through a period of searching and trialling new drummers.
The band resumed touring in 1992 with new drummer Mark Cuffe, formerly of The Ludwigs, in support of a compilation album
, Spy File, which was released in June 1992. The band signed a new deal with Sony Music and in May 1993 they released their fourth album, Fossil, produced by Karski and Peter Cobbin, provided the singles "Comes a Time" in March 1993 and "One Way Street" in June 1993. Neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40, causing the band to consider another split. However, due to the influence of Australian surfers in Brazil
, the band had by now built up a considerable Brazilian following, so they stuck with it for several Brazilian tours.
In 1993 the band was featured in two episodes of The Big Backyard, a weekly radio program promoting Australian music, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
for broadcast on college radio stations in the USA and Canada. By 1994 v. Spy v. Spy had split up again with members pursuing different projects.
By 1994, Bloxom and Cuffe formed the band Shock Poets, meanwhile Weiley worked on his side-project The Honey Island Project with producer Danny Bryan. Spy vs Spy reformed in 1996 but in 1997 Cuffe left to concentrate full-time on Shock Poets, he was replaced for a time by drummer Paul Wheeler, ex-Icehouse
, while Bloxom left Shock Poets for Spy vs Spy. In November 1999, Festival Records
issued a compilation album, Mugshot: The Best of... which included several classic tracks and five previously unreleased songs.
Touring spasmodically in Australia and Brazil, Bloxom played his final gig in Sydney in 2003, he left Australia for the USA, settled in Mexico and worked as a chef. As of 2007, Bloxom worked in Newcastle, New South Wales
. Weiley and Cuffe re-formed in August 2006 to tour as a new entity with Cuffe on vocals, Neil Beaver on bass and Mick Laws on drums. This band, known simply as The Spys to differentiate it from the original Spy vs Spy.
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...
/pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
band from Sydney formed in 1981. They became known for tackling political issues through their music, including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture. They were named after 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.
The band's initial line-up was the trio of Craig Bloxom
Craig Bloxom
Craig Bloxom was the bass player/singer of Australian ska/rock band vSpy vSpy which formed in Sydney in 1981 with Mike Weiley on guitar and Cliff Grigg on drums. They became known for tackling political issues including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture...
on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
/lead vocals, 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 ....
/percussion and Mike Weiley on lead guitar
Lead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
/vocals. Spy vs Spy's early music was ska-influenced 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...
, exemplified by their debut single "Do What You Say" on the independent Green label in April 1982. They released an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Four Fresh Lemons in August. Their music became more straight forward hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
for their pub audiences. The band broke up in early 1983 only to reform mid-year, by which time they were using the name v. Spy v. Spy to avoid legal problems with Mad magazine. They were eventually signed to Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
's label Powderworks and managed by Oils manager, Gary Morris. Their first full-length album Harry's Reasons was released in March 1986 and produced by Leszek Karski. They switched labels to WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
and had their highest charting success in February 1987 with their single "Don't Tear It Down" on the Australian singles chart
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
and the associated album A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
-Personnel:v. Spy v. Spy members* Craig Bloxom — bass guitar, vocals* Cliff Grigg — drums, percussion* Michael Weiley — lead guitarRecording details*Producer — Leszek Karski*Engineer — David Hemming...
peaked at #12 on the Australian albums chart.
Spy vs Spy's follow-up album, Xenophobia (Why?)
Xenophobia (Why?)
Xenophobia is the third studio album by Australian rock band Spy vs Spy, it was produced by Les Karski and Guy Gray, and released through WEA on 21 March 1988. For this album Spy vs Spy were known as v. Spy v...
was released in March 1988 peaked at #15 in Australia. It was produced by Karski and Guy Gray and released by WEA in 14 countries. Their 1989 album Trash the Planet
Trash the Planet
-Chart performance:-Release history:...
peaked at #22 on the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. None of their subsequent releases reached the Australian Top 40. The band split and reformed a number of times but still developed a strong following in Brazil.
Formation: 1981–1983
Craig BloxomCraig Bloxom
Craig Bloxom was the bass player/singer of Australian ska/rock band vSpy vSpy which formed in Sydney in 1981 with Mike Weiley on guitar and Cliff Grigg on drums. They became known for tackling political issues including racism, homelessness and contemporary drug culture...
bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist/lead vocalist was born in Los Angeles and moved to Australia in 1965, he met 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...
ist/vocalist Mike Weiley at Nelson Bay
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...
High School in 1976. Weiley, having just moved from England to Australia, was paired with Bloxom by the principal based on their common musical interests. After high school, Bloxom and Weiley moved to Cammeray
Cammeray, New South Wales
Cammeray is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Cammeray is located 5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.Cammeray is mostly a residential area...
in Sydney's north shore, playing in various Sydney bands. Looking for a drummer
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 ....
, one of Bloxom's ex-bandmates introduced them to 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....
. They named their band 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. As a rent saving device Bloxom and Weiley also moved into Grigg's squat, which initially had no roof: it also became their rehearsal site.
Spy vs Spy had their first performance at Sydney's Sussex Hotel, filling in for The Fast Cars, whose singer had unexpectedly taken ill. From there 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...
. Dirty Pool management picked them up and 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...
.
In February, 1982 the band recorded "Do What You Say" at T.R.M. in Surry Hills
Surry Hills, New South Wales
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is located immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney...
, releasing it as their first single in April, 1982 on Roger Greirson's independent Green label. This was followed by their first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Four Fresh Lemons in August 1982, the 1,000 pressings selling out in just five days. The New Zealand release of Six Fresh Lemons, combined Four Fresh Lemons with the A & B sides of their first single. These recordings were released under the name Spy vs Spy, but the band was forced to change its name to v. Spy v. Spy to avoid legal action from the publishers of Mad magazine, which included the 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...
". Their music became more straight forward hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
for their pub audiences.
The band became prominent on the Sydney pub rock
Pub rock (Australia)
Pub rock is a style of Australian rock and roll popular throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and still influencing contemporary Australian music today....
scene, performing politically charged songs dealing with issues such as racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, drugs and the homeless. Shortly after the release of their debut EP, in early 1983, the band broke up. Bloxom briefly joined The Numbers in March 1983 but re-formed v. Spy v. Spy in July 1983, with Marcus Phelan (ex-The Numbers) joining as a second guitarist. Weiley became sick with hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
, confined to a hospital bed for months, and then Phelan left after the band's equipment was stolen.
Peak years: 1984–1990
Fortunes improved when Gary Morris, manager for Midnight OilMidnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
, also became their manager. Midnight Oil's label, Powderworks, released the band's second EP, Meet Us Inside in October, 1984, which was followed by the single "One of a Kind" in November, 1984. The band's first full-length album, Harry's Reasons, was released in March 1986 on the Powderworks label and was produced by Leszek Karski. Singles included "Injustice", about the plight of Australia's aboriginal communities (dedicated to the Aboriginal Arts Council) released in August 1985, "Give Us Something" dealing with the media, was released in February 1986 and "Harry's Reasons", about a friend's heroin addiction ('Harry' is a euphemism for heroin), which was released in May 1986. Neither album nor singles had any major chart success.
They switched labels signing with WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
and released a follow-up album A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
-Personnel:v. Spy v. Spy members* Craig Bloxom — bass guitar, vocals* Cliff Grigg — drums, percussion* Michael Weiley — lead guitarRecording details*Producer — Leszek Karski*Engineer — David Hemming...
in November 1986. The name is an abbreviation meaning "Adults Only Modified Television Version", a very common censorship notation appearing along the bottom of Australian television screens at the time. It provided three singles - "Don't Tear It Down" inspired by the Department of Main Roads
Department of Main Roads (New South Wales)
The New South Wales Department of Main Roads was created in November 1932. The DMR undertook works across NSW; including maintenance of all major roads into Sydney and programs of road reconstruction, construction, upgrading and rerouting...
seeking to demolish the band's Darling Street squat, "Sallie-Anne'" about murdered prostitute/whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
Sallie-Anne Huckstepp
Sallie-Anne Huckstepp
Sallie-Anne Huckstepp was an Australian prostitute and heroin addict who became a writer and whistleblower.-Life:Huckstepp was born Sallie-Anne Krivoshow and attended Dover Heights High School in Sydney. She left school at the age of seventeen and married Bryan Huckstepp...
and "Credit Cards" a commentary on spiralling debt and consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
. "Don't Tear It Down" was the band's most successful single, peaking at #31 on the Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
of the Australian singles charts in February 1987, it stayed in the charts for 20 weeks and went platinum.
After having toured the A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. album, WEA demanded another album. The third album, Xenophobia (Why?)
Xenophobia (Why?)
Xenophobia is the third studio album by Australian rock band Spy vs Spy, it was produced by Les Karski and Guy Gray, and released through WEA on 21 March 1988. For this album Spy vs Spy were known as v. Spy v...
, was written and recorded in just six weeks, the title inspired by race issues surfacing in the lead-up to Australia's upcoming Bicentennial
Australian Bicentenary
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of Captain James Cook landing and claiming the land, and again in 1988 to celebrate 200 years of permanent European settlement.-1970:...
year. The album released in March 1988 peaked at #15 in Australia, it was produced by Karski and Guy Gray and released by WEA in 14 countries. The album provided three singles, "Forget about the Working Week", "Clarity of Mind" and "Waiting". During this time the band played smaller shows to dedicated fans in Sydney under the pseudonym The Drug Grannies.
In 1989 the band travelled to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to record the album Trash the Planet
Trash the Planet
-Chart performance:-Release history:...
, at Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's Manor House studios, produced by Craig Leon
Craig Leon
Craig Leon is an American born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many recording artists including The Ramones and Blondie...
. The album was released in November 1989 and peaked at #22 on the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
. Four singles were issued - "Hardtimes", "Clear Skies" in February 1990, "Our House" in May and "Oceania" in October but none peaked into the Top 40.
Regroupings: 1991–current
Grigg was very unhappy with the sound of the drums on Trash the Planet and left the band in late 1991, joining Mixed RelationsMixed Relations
Mixed Relations are an Australian band formed by Bart Willoughby. They play a mixture of reggae, pop, rock and jazz.Mixed Relations have toured extensively throughout the Aboriginal communities, Australian cities, Pacific Islands, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Hong Kong...
as guest percussionist, whilst Bloxom and Weiley took a year off, moving to Queensland and going through a period of searching and trialling new drummers.
The band resumed touring in 1992 with new drummer Mark Cuffe, formerly of The Ludwigs, in support of a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Spy File, which was released in June 1992. The band signed a new deal with Sony Music and in May 1993 they released their fourth album, Fossil, produced by Karski and Peter Cobbin, provided the singles "Comes a Time" in March 1993 and "One Way Street" in June 1993. Neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40, causing the band to consider another split. However, due to the influence of Australian surfers in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the band had by now built up a considerable Brazilian following, so they stuck with it for several Brazilian tours.
In 1993 the band was featured in two episodes of The Big Backyard, a weekly radio program promoting Australian music, sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
for broadcast on college radio stations in the USA and Canada. By 1994 v. Spy v. Spy had split up again with members pursuing different projects.
By 1994, Bloxom and Cuffe formed the band Shock Poets, meanwhile Weiley worked on his side-project The Honey Island Project with producer Danny Bryan. Spy vs Spy reformed in 1996 but in 1997 Cuffe left to concentrate full-time on Shock Poets, he was replaced for a time by drummer Paul Wheeler, ex-Icehouse
Icehouse (band)
Icehouse is an Australian rock band, formed as Flowers in 1977 in Sydney. Initially known in Australia for their pub rock style, they later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synthpop style music and attained Top Ten singles chart success in both Europe and the U.S...
, while Bloxom left Shock Poets for Spy vs Spy. In November 1999, Festival Records
Festival Records (Australia)
Festival Records was an Australian music recording and publishing company which was founded in Sydney in 1952 and operated until 2005....
issued a compilation album, Mugshot: The Best of... which included several classic tracks and five previously unreleased songs.
Touring spasmodically in Australia and Brazil, Bloxom played his final gig in Sydney in 2003, he left Australia for the USA, settled in Mexico and worked as a chef. As of 2007, Bloxom worked 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...
. Weiley and Cuffe re-formed in August 2006 to tour as a new entity with Cuffe on vocals, Neil Beaver on bass and Mick Laws on drums. This band, known simply as The Spys to differentiate it from the original Spy vs Spy.
Members
Listed alphabetically:- Neil Beaver — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals (2006–present) - Craig Bloxom — bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals (1980–1983, 1984–2003) - Mark Cuffe — drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
, guitarGuitarThe 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...
, backing vocals (1992–1997, 2006–2008) - Cliff Grigg — drums, percussion (1980–1983, 1984–1991)
- Mick Laws — drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
(2006–present) - Marcus Phelan — guitar (1983)
- Michael Weiley — lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, vocals (1980–1983, 1984–2003, 2006–present) - Paul Wheeler — drums (1997–2003)
- Dave Wilkins — vocals (2009–present)
Studio albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Harry's Reasons Harry's Reasons Harry's Reasons is the first album by Australian rock band Spy vs Spy. The album was released in March 1986 on the Powderworks label and was produced by Leszek Karski...
|
| A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. A.O. Mod. TV. Vers. -Personnel:v. Spy v. Spy members* Craig Bloxom — bass guitar, vocals* Cliff Grigg — drums, percussion* Michael Weiley — lead guitarRecording details*Producer — Leszek Karski*Engineer — David Hemming... |
|
| 1987 | A.O. Mod. TV. Vers.
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| 1988 | Xenophobia (Why?) Xenophobia (Why?) Xenophobia is the third studio album by Australian rock band Spy vs Spy, it was produced by Les Karski and Guy Gray, and released through WEA on 21 March 1988. For this album Spy vs Spy were known as v. Spy v... |
| 1989 | Trash the Planet Trash the Planet -Chart performance:-Release history:... |
| 1993 | Fossil
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| 1998 | The Honey Island Project
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| 2001 | Xenophobia (Why?)
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| 2004 | Demolition
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Live albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Feito Na Praia a.k.a. Meet Us Alive (recorded April 2000)
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Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1991 | Spy File: The Best Of
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| 1999 | The Early Cases
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| 1999 | Mugshot: The Best Of
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| 2000 | Mugshots
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Extended plays
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1983 | Four Fresh Lemons
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| Six Fresh Lemons
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| 1984 | Meet Us Inside
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| 1994 | Because Bootlegger
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Singles
| Year | Single details |
|---|---|
| 1982 | "Do What You Say"/"Table Tea and Mix"
|
| 1985 | "One of a Kind"/"Where are We Going?"
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| "Injustice"/"The Wait"
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| 1986 | "Harry's Reasons"/"Way of the World"
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| "Something"/"Dangerman"
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| "Don't Tear it Down"/"Go to Work"
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| 1987 | "Sallie-Anne"/"Use Your Head"
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| "Credit Cards"/"The Wait"
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| "Forget about the Working Week"/"Flares"
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| 1988 | "Clarity of Mind"/"Mingle 'n' Mix"
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| "Waiting"/"Back on the Track"
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| 1989 | "Hardtimes"/"A New Start"
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| 1990 | "Clear Skies"/"Asleep at the Wheel"
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| "Our House"/"Hooligans"
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| "Oceania"/"Take it or Leave It"
|
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| 1993 | "Comes a Time"/"Head in My Hands"
|
| "One Way Street"/"Troubled Waters"
|
External links
- Official v Spy v Spy Website
- Spy vs Spy Rate Your MusicRate Your MusicRate Your Music is a metadata database where musical albums, EPs, singles, videos, bootlegs, and movies are rated and reviewed by users. This data is then used to generate recommendations for users and to create rated lists of albums...
- Spy V Spy Myspace Page
- Craig Bloxom Myspace Page