The Wiggles
Bright, high-energy pop built on early childhood education principles. Infectious melodies and rock-and-roll rhythms designed to get the whole family moving.
Bright, high-energy pop built on early childhood education principles. Infectious melodies and rock-and-roll rhythms designed to get the whole family moving.
The Wiggles sound like a primary-colored explosion of pure, unadulterated optimism. Their music is built on the sturdy bones of 1960s pop and 1980s pub rock, but filtered through a lens of extreme clarity and educational intent. Every snare hit is crisp, every vocal line is enunciated with theatrical precision, and the arrangements are surprisingly sophisticated, often featuring real brass sections and driving electric guitars that wouldn't feel out of place on a classic rock record.
What truly sets them apart is their 'child-first' songwriting philosophy. Unlike generic nursery rhymes, Wiggles tracks are structured like professional jingles: they lead with the hook, use repetitive but musically interesting motifs, and incorporate physical cues that invite the listener to participate. There is a genuine musicality here - born from the members' history in the rock band The Cockroaches - that respects the listener's intelligence, even if that listener is only three years old.
Start with 'Hot Potatoes! The Best of the Wiggles' for the definitive collection of earworms that have defined childhood for three decades. For something surprisingly heavy, check out their 'Like A Version' cover of Tame Impala's 'Elephant,' which bridges the gap between their preschool roots and their status as Australian cultural icons.
The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete and Lucia Field. The Wiggles were founded in 1991 by Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher. Wilcher left the group after their first album. Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Cook, Fatt and Page retired and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce and Emma Watkins. Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and continued with Field to have input into its creative and production aspects, while engaging in occasional reunion performances. Watkins departed the group in 2021, with the group subsequently adopting an expanded line-up of eight members. Field and Fatt were members of the Australian pop band the Cockroaches in the 1980s, and Cook was a member of several bands before meeting Field and Page at Macquarie University, where they were studying to become pre-school teachers. In 1991, Field was inspired to create an album of children's music based upon concepts of early childhood education, and he enlisted Cook, Page, and Fatt to assist him. They began touring to promote the album and became so successful, they quit their teaching jobs to perform full-time. The group augmented their act with costumed characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog, as well as the human character Captain Feathersword, played by Paul Paddick since 1993. Shirley Shawn the Unicorn was later introduced. They originally travelled with a small group of dancers, which later grew into a larger troupe. The group's albums, DVDs and television programs have been produced independently since their inception. The height of their popularity came in the early 2000s, after they broke into the American market. The group were formally consolidated in 2005. They were listed at the top of Business Review Weekly's top-earning Australian entertainers four years in a row and earned A$45 million in 2009. The Wiggles have enjoyed almost universal approval throughout their history, and their music has been played in pre-schools all over the world. They have earned multiple Gold, Platinum and double Platinum records; have sold 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs; and have performed, on average, to one million people per year. The band has earned multiple Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards, and they have been inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
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