| The Wiggle who wouldn't: One goes classical
02/21/03 His old mates jump around in colorful T-shirts, singing tunes titled "Romp Bomp a Stomp" and "Hot Potato." Meanwhile, he sports a brocade-collared tuxedo and bow tie, composes sonatas for the piano, and writes scholarly articles such as "Chopin's Mazurka in F Minor Op. 68, No. 4 (An Analysis)." Remember the fifth Beatle? Actually, a handful of men lay claim to that title, but among them was bass guitarist and artist Stuart Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe amicably left The Beatles to concentrate on his artwork. And, in the beginning (in 1991), there was a fifth Wiggle -- Phillip Wilcher -- who also was called by a different muse. Wilcher had a background in early childhood education and worked in the music department at Sydney's Macquarie University, The Wiggles' Liverpool. A year after the release of the "Wiggle Time" cassette, Wilcher left to follow his own star: classical music. Now 44, he lives in Australia and composes works largely for piano and voice. While The Wiggles have achieved gold and platinum albums and won repeated honors from the Australian Record Industry Association and the Australian Performing Rights Association, Wilcher has racked up his own accolades and gold and platinum ARIA awards. "No, we haven't really spoken for years and years," says The Wiggles' founder, Anthony Field, who calls the former Wiggle "a brilliant pianist and composer." Wilcher left before The Wiggles had really gone anywhere, Field says. "I'm not sure his heart was so into where we were heading." Last December, The (Melbourne) Herald Sun printed an article asking, "Where are you Philip (sic) Wilcher . . ." and razzing the bloke about leaving a group that's raking in millions. Well, no wonder Wilcher didn't answer, with their misspelling his first name. He's not exactly underground; his biography is posted on the Australian Music Centre Web site, www.amcoz.com.au/comp/w/pwilch.htm. From the sounds of it, Wilcher's personality would have been a wobbly fit with the full-blown Wiggles. Two of his children's pieces were included in an Australian piano CD recorded in 2001. Titles: "A Winter Reverie" and "Summer Dance." That summer dance was likely not on the order of "Can You Point Your Fingers and Do the Twist?" To each, his own. So The Wiggles who kept wiggling, and to the fifth who moved on, we say: Good on ya, mate! -- Janet Filips |