Who Are The Wiggles?

 

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WIGGLES BUT WERE TOO SLEEPY TO ASK!

What is Red, Yellow, Blue and Purple and is a lot of fun?

It's The Wiggles!

It's The Wiggles! The Wiggles are children's entertainers that have re-written the book about how children can be entertained with song and dance.

Greg (Yellow), Murray (Red), Jeff (Purple) and Anthony (Blue) and the characters they have created are now a part of the lives of so many children. The names Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword the friendly Pirate are as recognisable to children as The Wiggles themselves.

Fashion or fad does not drive the pre-school entertainment scene; it is an area of entertainment where integrity and longevity are the treasured hallmarks of success. The Wiggles have created a catalogue of music, video and film that have proven to be modern classics.

The Wiggles have always been a touring band, which in part explains the success they have enjoyed. They have kept in constant contact with their public and the public has responded to the music and characters they have created. The Wiggles is an Australian success story that cuts across all demographics, it has now begun to spread across the world stage.

"No live artist or band in the history of Australian children's entertainment have sold as many records or videos or had as many people to their concerts". For parents, The Wiggles are a bright spot in an often confusing jumble of children's entertainment options"

Miranda Devine TELEGRAPH MIRROR

A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START

So nothing is left out, let's start at the very beginning! Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Greg Page met while studying Early Childhood Education at Sydney's Macquarie University. The three began writing children's songs as one of their music projects. They enlisted the assistance of Jeff Fatt, who played with Anthony in the popular 1980's band The Cockroaches, and The Wiggles were born. The Wiggles took the finished tape to ABC Music, who released a self-titled album in 1991.

"The Wiggles" album has since achieved Gold and Platinum status and The Wiggles themselves have gone on to become one of the most popular and successful performing acts in Australia, in any age group. Their ability to relate to their young audience and to create songs that are both entertaining and educational has made The Wiggles incredibly popular with both children and their parents. (It has been estimated that one in two toddlers in Australia either sing-a-long to The Wiggles on video or CD at home or have been to a Wiggles concert). Couple their unique song-writing ability with the foursome's genuine enjoyment of what they do, and the result is a live show which has the littlies (and adults) dancing, clapping and singing in the aisles. The band's Early Childhood training continues to influence the approach they take with their live shows, videos and The Wiggles Movie. Anthony Field feels that a lot of The Wiggles success comes from their knowledge of child development. "A lot of what we do comes from a child's perspective", says Anthony. "It's got a lot to do with what songs are about and the language we use, and I like to think we know how to write pretty catchy tunes. Right from the start we gave a lot of thought to what was appropriate for children's music."

Welcome to the bright and happy world of The Wiggles. The Wiggles are a unique and dynamic musical group who entertain children, enchanting them with the pure joy of their own music and dance. Instantly recognised in their distinctive skivvies, the friendly foursome have been said to be the major force in moving children's entertainment away from the traditional and into the contemporary area, in a strong positive fashion. Well crafted songs, interesting lyrics, humour that's spot on for the audience's age group, characters that are intelligently constructed and a dialogue with their audience that's easy to follow and never patronising. All of this and a healthy dose of fun too!

 

With their abilities to entertain their young audience and create such excellent and popular material, it's really of no surprise to learn that three of The Wiggles are qualified pre-school teachers. Anthony Field, Murray Cook and Greg Page came together musically to create a number of musical projects whilst studying Early Childhood Education at Sydney's Macquarie University. Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt have had the added advantage of previously being members of a popular rock band who had success both touring and on the charts.

It was from this initial collaboration of Anthony, Greg, Murray and Jeff that The Wiggles were born - along with their friends Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword the friendly pirate, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog.

Although The Wiggles began as a fun and creative way to work with children through music and song, they hadn't collectively thought about where it would take them as a group. It didn't take long however, until the reception the material was getting from both children and their parents alike, indicated that this was something very special.

Right from the start, The Wiggles were proven to be on the right track by the most discerning audience of them all - the children themselves. Their list of awards for albums, singles and videos coupled with their extraordinary sales figures would be the envy of any contemporary artist, while the devotion of their enormous, young fan-base sees tickets to their live shows snapped up within minutes. Huge crowds of children and their parents turn up at any live appearance, often in matching skivvies!

The Wiggles self-titled first album was released in 1991 and immediately garnered a Gold record for "Here Comes a Song". The albums "The Wiggles", followed by "Yummy Yummy", "Big Red Car", "Wiggly Wiggly Christmas" and "Wake Up Jeff" have all gone platinum - The last CD was "The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack" and the newest is "Toot Toot" : out now!

The Wiggles have released videos under the ABC video label, distributed by Roadshow Entertainment. All have achieved the prestigious multi platinum award. In addition, Yummy Yummy and Big Red Car were awarded 'Highest Selling Children's sales through videos' 1995 & 1996 at the AVSDA Awards.

Video Releases

Wiggle Time (re-recorded in 1998)
Yummy Yummy (re-recorded in 1998)
Big Red Car
Wake Up Jeff
Wiggledance

As songwriters and recording artists, The Wiggles have also been recognised by their peers, winning three prestigious APRA song writing awards for best Children's Song of 1994, 1995 and 1996.

"Big Red Car" and "Wake Up Jeff" have also received three ARIA Awards in 1995 and 1996 respectively for Best Children's release.

When it comes to live performances, it is nearly impossible to find a live act anywhere in Australia, regardless of what age group of musical genre, that comes close to matching their figures. (It's even been estimated that one in two toddlers in Australia either sing-a-long to The Wiggles on video or CD at home or have been to a Wiggles concert - so add that to the many hundreds of thousands of adults who have been "exposed" to The Wiggles phenomena and the numbers become outstanding!).

While The Wiggles regularly tour throughout Australia, The Wiggles have also appeared in New Zealand - where in the first instance they featured at the Mega-Days Children's Expo in Auckland. Whilst performing in Hong Kong where they also found time to call in and perform at a Hong Kong orphanage. "We didn't really know what to expect, because of the language differences we didn't know what kind of response we'd get but we went along anyway because we thought it would be fun for the kids", explained Jeff Fatt. "We needn't have worried - the language barrier wasn't a problem at all, they were dancing and clapping along, it would have to be one of our most memorable shows yet".

No matter where you are around the world, The Wiggles' music will find a place in your home


 
 

©1998 WigglesTouring Pty Ltd
Website questions and comments directed to webmaster