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AM Archive - Wiggles build a following in UK and US AM Archive - Saturday, 7 August , 1999 00:00:00 Reporter: Mark Tamhane COMPERE: Well, from Mozart to something more contemporary. The Wiggles will probably be a total mystery to the general record-buying public, but not to young children and their parents. With their catchy tunes, bright uniforms and companions such as Wags the Dog, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Henry the Octopus, the Wiggles, already well established among their toddler fans here in Australia, are now building a large following in Britain and the United States. They've just embarked on their first concert tour of Britain, and Mark Tamhane went along to see what all the fuss was about. MARK TAMHANE: [Singing] Well, here I am backstage at the Mermaid Theatre in London after another fabulous Wiggles concert. And with me are the boys themselves. But - oh dear! One of them seems to be asleep. ANTHONY: Oh ooh. I think we'd better wake him up. What do you think, Greg? GREG: Great idea. After three. One, two, three - wake up Geoff. GEOFF: Hey! Where am I? ANTHONY: Come on Geoff. We're talking to Australia. You'd better wake up! GEOFF: Oh! Thank you for waking me up. REPORTER: Now, fellows, you originally got together playing around Sydney as the pop group The Cockroaches. When did you decide to do rock'n'roll for children? GEOFF: Well, actually three of us were early childhood teachers, and Anthony and Geoff were in the Cockroaches, and we sort of spliced the two together. So we - we just really recorded an album for children using what we knew about children from our studies, and then we used the music that we knew from playing in bands, and just put the two together. MARK TAMHANE: Did you ever think it would be that successful though? ANTHONY: No, we had no idea. It's been a lovely surprise though. I mean, we never dreamed eight years ago that we'd be in London here, you know, doing shows at the Mermaid theatre or going to America. So it's been a lovely little trip for us. MARK TAMHANE: Do you ever get tired though of playing to an audience of children? ANTHONY: Well, it's a break from the smokey bars and the late nights - I've got to tell you that. GEOFF: Yeah. They're a great audience, children, because they're - there's no coolness about them. They don't sort of, you know - you know how adults will often just stand back and sort of, like, 'oh well, impress me'. But if children are into it, they'll get up and dance straight away. They don't just, you know, sit back tapping their feet. MARK TAMHANE: [Singing] Now, what's it like being on tour with the Wiggles? Are there wild parties throwing televisions out of windows and trashing hotel rooms? GEOFF: Well, we usually tidy our hotel rooms up. GREG: And Wag trashing them and we tidy them. And Wag the Dog is always - he's pretty untidy with his bones. He's throwing them everywhere and digging dirt all around the place. Henry the Octopus - there's water always in the bathroom. I've got to say that. That's just - ! But we get there. He's a lot of fun. ANTHONY: No. We're pretty well behaved on tour. MARK TAMHANE: [Music] What do you think of the Wiggles? CHILD: I love them. MARK TAMHANE: Which Wiggle do you particularly like? CHILD: The sleeping one. MARK TAMHANE: Oh, Geoff. Did you enjoy the show? CHILD: Yes. MARK TAMHANE: Who's your favourite Wiggle? Do you have a favourite Wiggle? CHILD: Dorothy. MARK TAMHANE: Why do you like Dorothy the Dinosaur? CHILD: Because she's got a lovely hat. [SINGING] COMPERE: Wiggle mania comes to London. That report by Mark Tamhane. |