01/2004 – The Wiggles

The Wiggles

PGF honors the children’s musical education and entertainment troop The Wiggles. The members of the group are Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. In the Australian tradition of inclusiveness, the Wiggles have brought their multifaceted educational program worldwide. Through their television show (Disney Channel in the United States) and live appearances the Wiggles deliver a multicultural entertaining revue that focuses on basic educational building blocks for children. We salute the Wiggles for their commitment to early childhood education and diversity brought to the worldwide stage. As stated on their website, “No matter where you are around the world, The Wiggles’ music will find a place in your home.”

About the Wiggles:

The Wiggles are children’s entertainers that have rewritten 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, television, 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.

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.

Now in their tenth big year, The Wiggles continue to entertain more and more children around the world. 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.”

While The Wiggles regularly tour throughout Australia, The Wiggles have also appeared three times in New Zealand – where in the first instance they featured at the Mega-Days Children’s Expo in Auckland. They have also toured the UK twice and the USA nine times!

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”.
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’s were, “Toot Toot!”, “It’s a Wiggly Wiggly World”, “Yule Be Wiggling”, “Hoop-Dee-Doo It’s a Wiggly Party”, “Wiggly Safari”, “WIGGLE BAY”, “Space Dancing – An Animated Adventure” and their newest CD/Video, “Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins!”

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” and “Toot Toot” have also received three ARIA Awards in 1995 and 1996 and 1998 respectively for Best Children’s release.

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, Big Red Car, Wiggledance and Toot Toot! were awarded ‘Highest Selling Children’s sales through videos’ 1995, 1996, 1998 & 1999 at the AVSDA Awards.

The Wiggles Video releases include:

Wiggle Time (re-recorded in 1998)
Yummy Yummy (re-recorded in 1998)
Wiggle Time and Yummy Yummy – release on one DVD
Big Red Car
Wake Up Jeff
Wiggledance
Wiggly Wiggly Christmas
Toot Toot!
Dorothy the Dinosaur and Friends
The Wiggly Big Show
Captain Feathersword, The Friendly Pirate
It’s a Wiggly Wiggly World
Wiggly TV (also released on DVD)
Hoop-Dee-Doo It’s a Wiggly Party (VHS/DVD)
Wiggly Safari (VHS/DVD)
Wiggle Bay
Space Dancing – An Animated Adventure
Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins (NEW)

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