The Wiggles

The Wiggles is an Australia-based band that specializes in creating and performing music for children. The group is internationally noted for its childrens' albums, home videos and television programs. The Wiggles also tour heavily in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Wiggles are particularly popular in their native Australia. They are currently the nation's highest-earning entertainers. According to an April 2006 survey published in the Australian media, The Wiggles grossed more in 2005 than AC/DC and Nicole Kidman combined.

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Summary

The Wiggles have four members: Greg Page (lead vocals), Anthony Field (backing vocals and instrumentation), Murray Cook (backing vocals and instrumentation) and Jeff Fatt (keyboards and accordion). When performing each member wears a distinctively colored shirt and is strongly associated with his respective color: yellow (Greg), blue (Anthony), red (Murray), and purple (Jeff). (In early videos, Anthony wore a green shirt but he changed to a blue shirt because Dorothy the Dinosaur is green.)

In addition, each of the members has a recurring schtick, or bit. Greg performs magic tricks, Anthony is always hungry and eats, Murray is obsessed with playing his guitar, and Jeff falls asleep at any given moment (resembling narcolepsy).

The Wiggles are supported by recurring characters that appear in the songs, videos and television programs. The four main "Wiggles Friends" characters are Dorothy the Dinosaur (a horticulturalist dinosaur who eats roses), Captain Feathersword (a "friendly pirate"), Wags the Dog, and Henry the Octopus. Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus are played by various costumed actors, while Captain Feathersword is played exclusively by Paul Paddick, an Australian actor who has become closely associated with the band. Several other characters assume minor roles in the act. See Characters

Wiggles songs are often about simple topics familiar to very young children: sleeping ("Rock-A-Bye Your Bear", "Wake Up Jeff"), eating ("Fruit Salad"), animals ("The Monkey Dance", "Rock-A-Bye Your Bear", "Ponies") or the cast of characters created for their home videos and TV shows.

Another distinctive feature of the group's songs is easy-to-repeat gestures, such as the "romp bomp a stomp" hand motions in the song "Dorothy the Dinosaur." Much of the Wiggles' music has been written by John Field (Anthony's brother). The Wiggles also adapted the Bob Wills tune "Silver Bells That Ring In The Night" with a duck-like "quack quack-quack" in the refrain.

Origins

There were originally five Wiggles, but for almost all of the group's career the lineup has consisted of the remaining four founder members. Early on, they adopted differently coloured shirts for each member, which assisted their recognition by very young children, and they invariably wear the Wiggles 'uniform' when appearing as The Wiggles in the media or in public. The colour coding is — Greg, yellow; Murray, red; Anthony, blue; Jeff, purple. This simple device also allows the Wiggles to go about in public (at least in Australia) with relative ease, since children rarely recognise them without their trademark colors.

The basic act was later augmented with supporting characters — the "friendly pirate" Captain Feathersword (Paul Paddick) and the animal characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog. The inclusion of the Dorothy character enabled them to tap into the young children's interest in dinosaurs. The animal characters also enabled them to create a successful range of merchandising items that did not have to rely exclusively on the Wiggles' own personae.

Anthony Field (vocals, guitar) and Jeff Fatt (vocals, keyboards, assorted instruments) had been members of The Cockroaches, a popular eighties pub rock band which toured widely and had a number of Top 40 hits in Australia ("Do the Monkey" is a reworded Cockroaches song, whilst "Dorothy the Dinosaur" is based on the song "It's Another Saturday Night").

Field enrolled in early childhood studies at Macquarie University in Sydney in the late 1980s, and it was here that he met two other students who were also musicians — singer Murray Cook and vocalist Greg Page. Page, the youngest of the group, had come into the course straight from high school, but Cook and Field were mature-age students. Like Field, Cook had experience playing on the booming Sydney live rock scene of that period; he had played bass in a minor Sydney 1980s pop band, Finger Guns, while working as a clerk at the Australian Taxation Office.

There is evidence that Greg Page knew Anthony from the Cockroaches. On the back of the independently-produced album "St. Patrick's Day 10 AM", it lists Greg Page as the Cockroaches' manager. According to a magazine article in an Australian magazine, Greg was also a roadie for the Cockroaches during the Australian summer (much to the chagrin of his parents) and was convinced by Anthony to go to Macquarie University with him and major in Early Childhood Development.

When Anthony, Murray, and Greg went into the studio to record their first album, "The Wiggles," Anthony needing a keyboardist, asked his old bandmate, Jeff Fatt, to help out. Per Jeff, he asked Anthony, "How long is this gonna take?". In his years as a Wiggle, Jeff is the ONLY member never to have missed a performance.

The Wiggles initially teamed up to produce a music performance project for their studies. Their shows were a hit with young audiences, and they found themselves in regular demand. They soon discovered that they could earn considerably more working as children's entertainers than as preschool teachers. At the time of the Wiggles' early career, entertainment for preschool-age children was a minor industry in Australia, operating in fairly traditional styles. Children's entertainment was up to this time dominated by presence of the long-running ABC-TV children's program Playschool, who marketed much of the most successful children's material, and whose various presenters often performed at children's concerts and similar events.

Thanks to a productive (if occasionally difficult) alliance with the ABC, the Wiggles created a blend of music, comedy and educational content that saw them rise over the course of the 1990s to become the most popular children's group in Australian entertainment history, and then in turn become one of the most successful Australian entertainment exports of all time. In the process their success has spawned imitators, including The Hooley Dooleys and the 'concept' children's group Hi-5.

Although there is now regular coverage of their ongoing financial success in the Australian press, The Wiggles have rarely been victims of the so-called "tall poppy syndrome", facing only the occasional mild criticism.

History

Originally a five-piece group, the Wiggles began their career playing at pre-schools and childcare centres. The group shared their receipts for their shows with the centres, who were able to use the popular Wiggles concerts as lucrative fund-raising events.

The group was able to capitalise on the contacts and goodwill that The Cockroaches had built up during the 1980s — that band toured regularly throughout Australia — and they also built up their performance expertise and public exposure with occasional busking around Sydney.

Their combination of kid-friendly songs, videos and characters were a quick hit in Australia in the early 1990s. Their first CD was released in 1991. With international exposure, the group became extremely popular in the United States and elsewhere in the 2000s.

After several years of extensive touring around Australia, the group were established as the most successful children's entertainment act Australia had ever seen. They performed literally hundreds of shows each year, their videos and CDs sold in ever increasing numbers and they regularly won every major industry award in their category.

Their first overseas tours brought the Wiggles to the United States and Britain in the mid-1990s. It was in the U.S. that they had their first major international success.

After an initial slow entry into the United States market (touring with the organization that produces the Barney & Friends children's show), the Wiggles secured a deal with The Walt Disney Company, and saw their videos and TV series screened to preschool children across the U.S.

Since it was originally shown from 1997 to 1999, and in 2002 (also entitled Network Wiggles or Lights, Camera, Action, Wiggles!) on ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Kids, The Wiggles are now seen nationally in the USA on the Disney Channel and in Australia on Foxtel's Playhouse Disney channel. They have performed at both Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall, and have appeared on TV shows such as the NBC Today show and the Regis Philbin talk show, as well as featuring in several Thanksgiving Parades in New York City.

Although their live shows have lately become increasingly sophisticated, the Wiggles' basic style has changed little since their earliest days. Their early experiences touring in the USA with the 'Barney' shows — which reportedly featured high production values but lacked spontaneity — showed The Wiggles that they could break through to U.S. audiences with the same easygoing presentation style that they had used in Australia.

Characters

Aside from the four Wiggles, there are many secondary characters that appear in their many songs and shows. They were developed in the early 1990s, and were originally played by group members and by Anthony's brother Paul Field. They are now played by hired actors, occasionally touring without The Wiggles as "Dorothy The Dinosaur And Friends."

Dorothy the Dinosaur

Dorothy is a large green dinosaur with yellow spots. She wears a floppy white hat and enjoys eating roses. Dorothy is 5 Dinosaur years old, and is very wise for her age. Her birthday is November 3. She loves dancing, and is known to do ballet, Irish, Scottish, and line dancing. She loves her birthday as The Wiggles always make it a very special fun day for her. Dorothy has a heart of gold and is a very friendly dinosaur.

Wags the Dog

Wags is a tall, brown, furry dog with floppy ears and a happy face. He enjoys eating, and is said to keep The Wiggles up all night if he gets hungry. Wags also enjoys digging in his garden. Wags cannot talk (except in mental soliloquies that only the audience can hear), but The Wiggles understand him when he barks. Wags is a skilled Tango dancer. He believes everyone is his friend and is said to love having a good time. His birthday is October 27.

Henry the Octopus

Henry is a fun-loving octopus with purple skin. He wears tartan clothes, a straw hat and black polished shoes on the end of every tentacle. Henry likes to wave to all his friends simultaneously, an easily accomplished feat considering his eight tentacles. Henry lives under the sea and is the leader of the Underwater Big Band. He is said to have a bubbly personality and loves a good joke.

Captain Feathersword

Captain Feathersword is a friendly pirate, and is characterised by his pirate coat and hat, eyepatch and eponymous sword made of feathers. His birthday is February 4.

A running joke with Captain Feathersword is his use of the phrase "Well, blow me down!", which usually results in the characters nearest him obeying his wishes by blowing him to the ground with a gust of breath.

Originally played by Anthony Field and his brother Paul Field, since 1995 Captain Feathersword has been played exclusively by Paul Paddick. Paddick is a skilled stage entertainer and at live Wiggles shows usually adds an interlude for the entertainment of the parents in the audience, including for example Elvis impersonations.

There are also some minor extra characters featured in some of the videos/DVDs:

The Chef

A friendly cook who taught the Wiggles how to cook cold spaghetti, mashed bananas, and hot potatoes. He was played by former Crowded House drummer Paul Hester until his death in 2005. The first Wiggles Chef was John Field Snr., until his death. (The video 'Toot Toot' had a special note at the end acknowledging John's death).

Wally the Magician

Wally is a children's magician who, despite his regular tries, fails at being a great magician. He longs to be like his grandfather Waldo the Great, and finally realized his dream after winning a magic competition in the Wiggles Movie.

Officer Beaples

Dressed resembling a British bobby, Officer Beaples is played by a woman in drag, (originally Leanne Halloran, who was The Wiggles' choreographer until 2002). The part is typically mimed in the style of Charlie Chaplin or the Keystone Cops, but she does not carry an actual nightstick. Officer Beaples usually communicates through her whistle, and has many young police officers to teach (as seen on the Wiggles Live video). In The Wiggles Movie: Magical Adventure, Officer Beaples had a speaking role.

Magdelena the Mermaid

Magdelena is a mermaid who lives in the ocean near Wiggle Bay. She helped the Wiggles find their adrift rowing boat when they visited the bay. She was only featured in the video/DVD appropriately named 'Wiggle Bay'.

The Wiggle House

The Wiggles live in an animated house that speaks and changes moods. The door demands a password (usually 'sillypants').

The Waggettes

The Waggettes are puppies who are in the care of Wags the Dog. They dance but do not speak.

Effects of Home Video

By the time the Wiggles became established, two important changes had taken place in the Australian household. Just as they did with television in the 1960s, Australians took up the domestic video cassette recorder in the 1980s with extraordinary speed, with the result that, by the end of the 1980s there was both a TV and a VCR in more than 90% of Australian households.

By the early 1990s, the introduction of the new compact disc technology saw CD players emulating the near-universal market penetration of TVs and VCRs. Crucially for the Wiggles, both the VCR and the CD player were ideally suited to repeat playing, and like TV before them, both technologies were almost immediately harnessed to entertain the preschool children of the late Baby Boomer generation (most of whom had grown up with TV as a constant childhood companion and babysitter). Increasing reliability, falling cost and simplicity of operation saw many children in this age group learning how to operate CD players and VCRs themselves.

Current Success

In 2001 The Wiggles were reported to have earned more than A$14 million, a sum that had grown to A$45 million by 2004. [1] The group is currently franchising its concept to non-English speaking countries, with the idea already successfully sold in Taiwan, which now has its own Taiwanese Wiggles. After visits to Mexico and Puerto Rico, auditions for a Spanish-speaking version of the group were held in Australia, with results of the casting pending. They have also recorded with numerous Australian and international music stars including John Fogerty, Tim Finn and Ross Wilson. By guest-starring on their show, the Wiggles have also introduced non-Australian audiences to performers such as Jimmy Little, Kamahl, and Christine Anu (though many will recognise her by face if not by name).

A measure of the Wiggles' growing fame in the United States is the fact that Captain Feathersword was mentioned in an episode of the acclaimed political TV drama The West Wing.

A mention is also made in the popular TV series Scrubs in which Doctor Cox makes a reference to "Jeff that Wiggle that sleeps too darn much" while speaking to another cast member.

A Wiggles video can be heard playing on the TV in an an episode of the critically acclaimed American television drama series Six Feet Under during a scene with Austalian actress Rachel Griffiths.

The Wiggles recently appeared in the telemovie special Da Kath & Kim Code as guest stars.

The Wiggles also appeared in an episode of Yes, Dear.

The Wiggles and the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin teamed up for a DVD in 2002, Wiggly Safari, which included songs about the animals at The Australia Zoo and guest spots with Terri and Bindi Irwin.

The Wiggles were mentioned in an episode of Neighbours in 2004 by Summer Hoyland when explaining to her father how she was now grown up.

The Wiggles song "Hot Potato" is heard in the Arrested Development episode "The Ocean Walker". It was also featured in a station promo of the Food Network television cable channel.

In the opening minute of the first episode of My Name is Earl, the Wiggles' "Do The Monkey" can be heard playing in the car that is soon to be robbed by Earl.

The Wiggles are mentioned in an episode of "How I Met Your Mother," Season One, episode 20 "Best Prom Ever" where Marshall claims "The 88's" are "...The Wiggles of wedding bands".

The Wiggles performed on The Today Show on August 17, 2006 followed by a performance on the rival breakfast show Sunrise on September 8, 2006 and again on The Today Show on September 15, 2006.

Miscellaneous

Birthdays:

Greg: 16 January
Anthony: 8 May
Murray: 30 June
Jeff: 21 July

Height:

Greg: 194 cm (6 feet 4 inches)
Murray: 192 cm (6 feet 3 inches)
Anthony: 182 cm (6 feet 0 inches)
Jeff: 177 cm (5 feet 11 inches)

Family:

Murray - married with two children
Greg - married with two children
Anthony - married with two children
Jeff - single with no children

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has produced several series of Wiggles television programs. In the United States, these series are broadcast on the Disney Channel and in the United Kingdom on Nick Jr.

It can be argued that the Wiggles are among the first cultural influences on the yet-unnamed generation that follows the Millennials, that is, the children of Generation Z.

There is an occasional Internet urban legend that Anthony Field is a very distant cousin of New York father-and-son TV weathercasters Frank Field and Storm Field. However, there has never been a legitimate article stating this as fact.

Anthony Field is a registered breeder of Miniature Fox Terriers.

Honours

The Wiggles were awarded the Australian Catholic University’s highest honour, Doctor of the University (honoris causa), at the University’s Sydney Faculty of Education graduation ceremony on 11 April 2006 at the Sydney Town Hall. The honour was bestowed in recognition of "their outstanding contribution to early-years education and child development through the arts". Red Wiggle, Murray Cook, presented the graduation speech (occasional address) at the ceremony. [2]

The Wiggles Videos

The Wiggles have made numerous videos, including:

Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie (1997) 70 min (Also known as The Wiggles Movie)
Wiggle Time Jun-00 40 min
Yummy Yummy Aug-00 33 min
Wake Up Jeff Dec-00 37 min
Toot Toot Jan-01 40 min
Wiggly Play Time Aug-01 65 min
Yule Be Wiggling Oct-01 48 min
Wiggly Wiggly World Jan-02 96 min
Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggle Party Apr-02 55 min
Wiggly Safari Sep-02 57 min
Wiggle Bay May-03 45 min
Space Dancing Sep-03 50 min
Top of the Tots Jan-04 105 min
Cold Spaghetti Western Mar-04 60 min
Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins Jul-04 50 min
Santa's Rockin'! Sep-04 45 min
LIVE Hot Potatoes! Jan-05 140 min
Sailing Around the World Jul-05 116 min
Here Comes the Big Red Car Feb-06 72 min
Wiggle around the Clock Apr-06 48 min
Splish Splash Big Red Boat Jun-06 50 min
Race to the Rainbow Spring 07 to be released
Wiggledancing LIVE! In the USA Aug-15 to be released
Wiggle Dancing Oct-06 to be released

Trivia

Anthony has declared himself a fan of the Nerds Football Club.
In the first 2 videos of the Wiggles, Anthony wore green instead of blue.
Collaborators of the Wiggles who have died:
- John Field Snr.(Age? Cause of death?) (The first Chef)
- Slim Dusty (Age 76, from cancer of the kidney) 19/09/2003 (Australian Country Music Legend on Wiggly Wiggly World)
- Paul Hester (Age 46, from suicide by hanging) 26/03/2005 (The second Chef, appearing on Yummy Yummy)
- Steve Irwin (Age 44, from a stingray barb into his chest during a snorkelling accident) 04/09/2006 ("The Crocodile Hunter", co-starring in Wiggly Safari)

External links