The Wiggles (album)

"The Wiggles" is the debut album of The Wiggles which was released on July 11, 1991 by ABC Music. This is the only album that has Phillip. It is dedicated to Paul Field's daughter, Bernadette. The Wiggles was the first album. It featured Phillip who was named the fifth wiggle, but shortly after the album was released Wilcher was forced to quit the band.

Background and development
In 1991, while working with the early childhood music department at Macquarie University, Phillip Wilcher met musician and former member of the Australian rock group The Cockroaches, Anthony Field, who was studying child development. According to Wilcher, Field asked him to join The Wiggles, which would become "Australia's foremost children's entertainment act", and to help them produce the album. The album was dedicated to the memory of Paul Field's infant daughter, Bernadette, who had died of SIDS in 1988. Wilcher financed and "contributed the most musically to the debut album", composing 75% of the music. Like a university assignment, they produced a folder of essays that explained the educational value of each song on the album. They needed a keyboardist "to bolster the rock-n-roll feel of the project", so Field asked his old band mate Fatt, for his assistance in what they thought would be a temporary project. Recording sessions were held at Wilcher's home, and the album cost approximately A$4,000 to produce. The group reworked a few Cockroaches tunes to better fit the genre of children's music; for example, according to Field, a Cockroaches song he wrote, "Mr. Wiggles Back in Town" became "Get Ready to Wiggle" and inspired the band's name because they thought that wiggling described the way children dance. There was also a piece by Phillip Wilcher, "Summer Dance", that appeared on the album, as "Archie's Theme".

Album
The Wiggles recorded their album after their idea has been inspired by bowlers who wiggle their hips.

Songwriting
Murray, Jeff, Anthony, Philip, and John wrote the music of the songs and Greg, John, and Philip wrote the lyrics of the songs.

Asked John Field to write songs
The Wiggles asked Anthony's brother John to write songs such as Get Ready to Wiggle, Dorothy the Dinosaur, and Spot the Dalmatian, and that's just what he did.

Production
Anthony, Greg, and Murray called Jeff on the phone about recording their album. Anthony asked Jeff how long it was gonna take to record it but Jeff said "I don't care" so they recorded it anyway. It is revealed that it actually took a week to record this album in February 1991. Greg provides the lead vocals while Murray, Anthony, and Phillip provide the backing and additional vocals. Murray plays the bass, electric, and acoustic guitar along with Greg, Philip plays the piano, Jeff plays the Emax keyboard and accordion, and Anthony plays the Chief Kabasa player, which is a programmed machine that plays both drums and percussion.

Original Release

 * 1) "Get Ready to Wiggle" - (J Field*/M Cook/J Fatt/G Page) - 1:54
 * 2) "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" - (A Field/G Page) - 1:46
 * 3) "Dorothy the Dinosaur" - (M Cook/J Field*) - 2:21
 * 4) "Mischief the Monkey" - (P Wilcher) - 0:42
 * 5) "Lavenders Blue" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 1:29
 * 6) "Glub Glub Train (Spoken)" - (A Field) - 0:16
 * 7) "Archie's Theme" - (P Wilcher) - 0:19
 * 8) "Montezuma" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 0:29
 * 9) "Archie's Theme (Reprise)" - (P Wilcher) - 0:19
 * 10) "Ducky Ducky (Spoken)" - (G Page/A Field) - 0:13
 * 11) "A Froggy He Would A-Wooing Go" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 3:36
 * 12) "Maranoa Lullaby" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 2:02
 * 13) "Stars (Spoken)" - (A Field/P Wilcher) - 0:08
 * 14) "Star Lullaby" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 2:02
 * 15) "Okki Tokki Unga" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 1:53
 * 16) "O Epoe Tooki Tooki" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) 1:34
 * 17) "Vini Vini" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 0:58
 * 18) "Spot the Dalmatian" - (A Field/J Field*) - 2:22
 * 19) "Johnny Works With One Hammer" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 0:48
 * 20) "The Man On The Moon (Spoken)" - (P Wilcher) - 0:18
 * 21) "This Old Man" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 2:31
 * 22) "Suo Gan" - (Trad/Arr: The Wiggles) - 1:43
 * 23) "Wind (Spoken)" - (A Field) - 0:14
 * 24) "Joseph John's Lullaby" - (Brahms/P Wilcher/Arr: P Wilcher) - 1:14
 * 25) "Desert Dreaming (Spoken)" - (A Field/P Wilcher) - 1:49
 * 26) "Get Ready to Wiggle (Reprise)" - (J Field*/M Cook/J Fatt/G Page) - 1:54

Personnel

 * Vocals - Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Gregory Page, Phillip Wilcher
 * Backing Vocals - Murray Cook, Anthony Field, Gregory Page, Phillip Wilcher
 * Bass & Water Bubble Sounds - Murray Cook
 * Guitars - Murray Cook, Gregory Page
 * Piano - Phillip Wilcher
 * Snoring, Organ, Emax, Accordion, Sequencing, Wind & Train Whistle Sounds - Jeff Fatt
 * Tin Whistle & Didgeridoo - Anthony Field
 * Percussion - Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field
 * Hand Claps & Shh Sounds - Gregory Page

Staff

 * Producer - Anthony Field
 * Engineer - Steve Promfrett
 * Composers - John Field, Anthony Field and Phillip Wilcher
 * Arrangers/Lyricists - Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Gregory Page, Phillip Wilcher and John Field
 * Original Song Ideas - Murray Cook, Anthony Field and John Field

Trivia

 * The Chief Kabasa Player Anthony used is a programmed percussion instrument that can play both drums and percussion.
 * Phillip Wilcher mentioned that on his YouTube comment, The Wiggles thought one of the songs Vini Vini was renditioned in the public domain, but it was claimed by a French composer.
 * Anthony's brother John writes Get Ready to Wiggle, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Spot the Dalmatian.