The Wiggles

Main

Gallery

Marketing

The Wiggles (album)
Released	August 1991
Recorded	January 1991
Genre	Children's music
Label	Phonogram/ABC Records (ver.1) ABC Music (ver.2)
Producer	Anthony Field
Length	34:41
Nextalbum	Here Comes a Song (1992)
Country	Australia

The Wiggles is the debut album of The Wiggles, released in August 1991 by ABC Music. This is the only album to feature Phillip Wilcher, who left the group shortly after the album's release. The album was dedicated to the memory of Paul Field's infant daughter, Bernadette, who had died of SIDS in 1988.

History

Background and development

In 1990, 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. 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".

Tracklist

1. Get Ready To Wiggle - 1:54
2. Rock-A-Bye Your Bear - 1:48
3. Dorothy The Dinosaur - 2:21
4. Mischief the Monkey - 0:42
5. Lavenders Blue - 1:29
6. Glub Glub Train - 0:16
7. Archie's Theme - 0:19
8. Montezuma - 0:29
9. Archie's Theme (Reprise) - 0:19
10. Ducky Ducky - 0:13
11. A Froggy He Would A-Wooing Go - 3:36
12. Maranoa Lullaby - 2:02
13. Stars - 0:07
14. Star Lullaby - 2:02
15. Okki Tokki Unga - 1:53
16. O Epoe Tooki Tooki - 1:34
17. Vini Vini - 0:53
18. Spot the Dalmatian - 2:22
19. Johnny Works With One Hammer - 0:45
20. The Man In The Moon - 0:18
21. This Old Man - 2:31
22. Suo Gan - 1:43
23. Wind - 0:14
24. Joseph John's Lullaby - 1:14
25. Desert Dreaming - 1:49
26. Get Ready To Wiggle (Reprise) - 1:54

Personnel

The Wiggles are...
Phillip Wilcher Piano, vocals
Murray Cook Guitar, bass guitar, vocals and water bubble sounds
Gregory Page Lead vocals, guitar, hand claps
Jeff Fatt Accordian, Emax, sequencing, "mischief's" voice
Anthony Field Tin whistle, didgeridoo, vocals, chief Kabasa player
Produced by Anthony Field
Engineered by Steve Pomfrett
Recorded in February 1991 at Tracking Station Recording Studios, Sydney.

Release Dates

• Australia (original): August 1991
• Australia (re-release) 1998 EMI release

Trivia

• This is the first album to feature Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Greg Page, and Dorothy the Dinosaur.
• Phillip Wilcher mentioned that on a 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. The song was removed from this album and from the concert video Wiggledance! (AKA Wake Up Jeff! Tour) in 1998.
• The music from Dorothy the Dinosaur was adapted from Another Saturday Night written by John Field, set to lyrics by Murray Cook, after he observed that children have a fascination for dinosaurs.
• Get Ready To Wiggle was adapted from the same unreleased song written for The Cockroaches. The Cockroaches version would've likely come out by 1992.
• Archie's Theme was a re-recorded version of Summer Dance by Phillip Wilcher.
• "Archie" was a nickname for Phillip Wilcher that was given to him by Anthony Field due to his association with the showman/pianist Liberace, which thus inspired the title for Archie's Theme.
• Phillip Wilcher wrote Mischief the Monkey and the spoken recordings Stars, The Man In The Moon and Desert Dreaming. Also, the traditional songs which are credited to The Wiggles are principally arranged by him.
• Greg Page wrote in his autobiography that The Wiggles were moving away from the more traditional songs provided by Phillip Wilcher towards a more rock and roll sound that was solidified on the tracks that Phillip Wilcher did not perform. This is a possible reason for his dismissal.
• Anthony Field asked Phillip Wilcher to contribute more original material, so, in response, Phillip wrote Mischief the Monkey in front of him in about five minutes.
• Two songs Get Ready To Wiggle and Dorothy the Dinosaur were filmed for ABC For Kids Video Hits and ABC For Kids Video Hits Volume 2 videos.
• Vini Vini is the only song on this album that doesn't use instruments, only hand claps.
• Phillip Wilcher adapted Brahms' Lullaby to Joseph John's Lullaby, it would later be used as the basis of the song Go To Sleep Jeff (Brahms' Lullaby) for the album of the same name in 2003.
• Star Lullaby was later adapted to Shining Around The World for Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas! in 2017.
• A re-issue of this album with all 26 tracks was released by Phonogram and marketed by Polygram. Another re-issue of this album with all 26 tracks was released by ABC Records and distributed by EMI.
• The booklet doesn't come with song lyrics and booklet doesn't have any photos. Instead, it only has black text on a white background (excluding the front and back cover).
• The album's title is not to be confused with the band that made the album.
• This is the only album where Greg Page's first full name "Gregory" is listed.
• The booklet says that the chief Kabasa player is actually a person who plays the Brazilian percussion instrument, the Cabasa.
• This was the first album to be manufactured and distributed by EMI Music Australia.
• This was the first album to be engineered by Steve Pomfrett.
• This was the first album to be recorded at Tracking Station Recording Studios.
• The song "Mischief the Monkey" is now owned by Will Wagner.
• Get Ready To Wiggle, Rock-A-Bye Your Bear, Dorothy the Dinosaur and O Epoe Tooki Tooki were later re-recorded in late 1996 during The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack sessions.
• Phillip Wilcher mentioned in an interview that Jeff Fatt was brought in at the end of the recording sessions to sequence everything before releasing.

Goofs

• In the booklet, the accordion is misspelled as "Accordian".
• On the back cover, Spot the Dalmatian is misspelled as Spot the Dalmation.
• On the back cover, The word "the" was capitalized on Dorothy the Dinosaur and The Man In The Moon.
• In the booklet "Cover Pic" section, Phillip Wilcher's name is misspelled as "Philip Wilcher".
• The 1998 re-release has the original writing credits for Get Ready To Wiggle still intact from the original release as at the time of its re-release the writing credits were revised to have this song along with the rest of the catalog of songs/spokens (which would be revised until either the end of the 1990s or the early 2000s which the revised credits started appearing on releases) to credit the group members (except for Mischief the Monkey and The Man in the Moon which as of 2024 are still credited to only Phillip).

Music Videos

Get Ready To Wiggle - Original Music Video, 1991 - The Wiggles

Dorothy The Dinosaur - Original Music Video, 1991 - The Wiggles

Note

The Wiggles Discography Murray, Jeff, Anthony and Greg (1991-2006, 2012) Studio Albums The Wiggles (1991) • Here Comes a Song (1992) • The Adventures Of Captain Feathersword, The Friendly Pirate (1993) • Yummy Yummy (1994) • Big Red Car (1995) • Wake Up Jeff! (1996) • Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas (1996) • The Wiggles Movie Soundtrack (1997) • Toot Toot! (1998) • It's a Wiggly Wiggly World! (2000) • Wiggle Time! (2000) • Yule Be Wiggling (2000) • Hoop-Dee-Doo it's a Wiggly Party (2001) • Wiggly Safari (2002) • Wiggle Bay (2002) • Go To Sleep Jeff! (2003) • Whoo Hoo! Wiggly Gremlins! (2003) • Top of the Tots (2003) • Cold Spaghetti Western (2004) • Santa's Rockin'! (2004) • Sailing Around the World (2005) • Here Comes The Big Red Car (2006) • It's Time to Wake Up Jeff! (2006) • Racing to the Rainbow (2006) • Surfer Jeff (2012) Live Albums LIVE Hot Potatoes! (2005) • Celebration! (2012) Karaoke Albums Karaoke Songs 1 (2005) • Karaoke Christmas Songs (2005) • Karaoke Songs 2 (2006) • Karaoke Songs 3 (2006) International Splish Splash Big Red Boat (USA/Canada, 2006) Singles & EPs Eagle Rock! (2003) • Christmas Single (2004) • "Beep! Beep! Buckle Up!" (2012) Murray, Jeff, Anthony and Sam (2007-2011) Studio Albums Getting Strong! (2007) • Pop Go The Wiggles! (2007) • You Make Me Feel Like Dancing (2008) • Sing a Song of Wiggles (2008) • The Wiggles Go Bananas! (2009) • Hot Poppin' Popcorn (2009) • Let's Eat! (2010) • Ukulele Baby! (2011) • It's Always Christmas With You! (2011) Live Albums The Wiggles' Big Birthday! (2011) Singles & EPs "Monkey Man" (2009) • ITunes LIVE (2011) Anthony, Lachy, Simon and Emma (2013-2021) Studio Albums Taking Off! (2013) • Furry Tales (2013) • Pumpkin Face (2013) • Go Santa Go! (2013) • Apples & Bananas (2014) • Wiggle House (2014) • Rock & Roll Preschool (2015) • The Wiggles Meet The Orchestra! (2015) • Wiggle Town! (2016) • Dance Dance! (2016) • Nursery Rhymes (2017) • Duets (2017) • Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas! (2017) • Nursery Rhymes 2 (2018) • Wiggle Pop! (2018) • The Wiggles' Big Ballet Day! (2019) • Party Time! (2019) • Fun and Games (2020) • Choo Choo Trains, Propeller Planes & Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car! (2020) • Lullabies with Love (2021) • Halloween Party (2021) Live Albums Let There Be Rock-a-Bye Your Bear (2020) • Wash Your Hands (2020) • How Are You Today Friend? (2020) • Tiny Play Time (2020) • It's a Galloping Day! (2020) • Come & See the Animals! (2020) Digital-Exclusive Albums & EPs Wiggly Barbershop (2020) • Emma's Bowtiful Ballet Studio (2020) • Le James Café (2020) Singles "Power Through the Day" (2013) • "Rise For Alex" (2014) • "NSW Blues Song!" (2017) • "The Toilet Song" (2019) • "Drum Chronology (feat. Kye Smith)" (2019) • "Big4 Wiggly Song" (2019) • "Singing Like A Rock Singer" (2019) • "Handwashing Song" (2019) • "Anthony Ant" (2019) • "Social Distancing" (2020) • "Brush Your Teeth" (2020) • "Little Wiggles Theme Song" (2020) • "Do the Propeller! (feat. Sesame Street)" (2020) • "Digital Party!" (2020) • "Click Go the Shears" (2020) • "The Twins Song - Double Happy" (2020) • "We're All Fruit Salad!" (2021) • "The ABC New Zealand Alphabet Song (feat. Robert Rakete)" (2021) • "Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall" (2021) • "The Wellerman" (2021) • "The Before You Go to Bed Song" (2021) • "We're All Fruit Salad! (Korean & English version)" (2021) Album Pre-Release Tracks "The Alphabet Ballet" (2019) • "My Ballet Goat" (2019) • "I Am A Fine Musician" (2019) • "The Ants Go Marching" (2019) • "What's the Time, Mr Wolf?" (2019) • "Here Come The Wiggles" (2020) • "Baby Shark" (2020) • "When I'm Painting" (2020) • "Skinnamarink" (2020) • "Trains, Planes and the Big Red Car" (2020) • "Rocket Ship" (2020) • "Emma's Bowmobile, Beep Beep!" (2020) • "Lullabies with Love" (2021) • "Googy, Googy, Baby Dorothy" (2021) • "Halloween Party" (2021) • "Toilet Paper Mummy" (2021) Anthony, Lachy, Tsehay and Simon (2021-present) Studio Albums Super Wiggles (2022) • Ready, Steady, Wiggle! (2023) • The Sound of Halloween (2023) • The Sound of Christmas (2023) • Wiggle and Learn: 100 Educational Songs for Children (2024) • Wiggle Up, Giddy Up! (2025) Digital-Exclusive Albums & EPs Wiggly Nursery Rhymes (2022) • Apple Music Home Session: The Wiggles (2022) • The Wiggles Sound System: Rave of Innocence (2024) Album Pre-Release Tracks Ready, Steady, Wiggle! Theme (2023) Singles "Hey Tsehay!" (2021) • "Around the World" (2022) Album Pre-Release Tracks "Water is My Favourite Drink" (2023) • "The Monkey Dance" (2023) • "Tick Tock (All Night Long)" (2024) Spinoffs Dorothy the Dinosaur Dorothy the Dinosaur (2007) • Dorothy the Dinosaur's Memory Book (2008) • Dorothy the Dinosaur Meets Santa Claus (2009) • Dorothy the Dinosaur's Rockin' Christmas (2010) • Dorothy the Dinosaur's Travelling Show! (2011) • Dorothy the Dinosaur's Beach Party! (2012) Emma! & Lachy! Emma! (2015) • Dial E For Emma! (2016) • Lachy! (2016) • The Emma! & Lachy! Show (2018) • Emma! 2 (2019) Singles (Album Pre-Release Tracks) "E-M-M-A Theme Song" (2019) • "Emma's Hello Song" (2019) • Fruit Salad TV Fruit Salad TV (2021) • Fruit Salad TV Christmas (2021) More from The Wiggles The Kingdom Of Paramithi (2009) • ReWiggled: A Tribute to The Wiggles (2011) • Carnival of the Animals (2016) • Och Aye the G'Nu! (2017) • Sweet Dreams: White Noise Sleep Aid for Baby (2021) • Calm & Quiet: Soothing Sounds for Relaxing Baby (2021) • ReWiggled (2022) • Piano Lullabies for Baby Sleep (2024) Singles & EPs "Elephant (triple j Like A Version)" (2021) • "We're All Fruit Salad (triple j Live Recording 2021)|We're All Fruit Salad (triple j Live Recording)" (2021) Album Pre-Release Tracks ReWiggled (EP) (2021) • "Apple Crumble" (2022) Compilations Christmas Classics (2006) • Hot Potatoes! The Best of The Wiggles (2009) • Hits And Rarities (2012) • Christmas Crackers! (2012) • Hot Potatoes! The Best of The Wiggles (2013) • Hot Potatoes & Cold Spaghetti! (2015) • The Best of The Wiggles on Vinyl (2016) • The Best of The Wiggles (2016) • We're All Fruit Salad!: The Wiggles' Greatest Hits (2021) • Hot Potato! The Best Of The OG Wiggles (2023) • The Best Of The Wiggles (2023) Samplers The Wiggles (1999) • Celebrating The Wiggles' 10th Birthday! (2001) • Compliments of Brach's and The Wiggles (2003) • A Wiggly Music Sampler (2003) • Wiggle Bay (2003) • Milky, Milky, Milky (2003) • Toot Toot! 3 Bonus Songs (2004) • Magical Adventure! A Wiggly Movie: 3 Bonus Songs (2004) • Wake Up Jeff!: 3 Bonus Songs (2004) • Karicare CD Sampler (2004) • Wiggle Into Apple-Healthy Snack Time with Mott's (2005) • Snack Time is Wiggle Time With Mott's (2006) • 4 Song CD (2006) • Omo Colourlock Limited Edition CD Sampler (2006) • Getting Strong! & Dorothy the Dinosaur (2007) • Dorothy the Dinosaur's Memory Book (2008) • The Wiggles Summer 2011 Sampler (2011) • The Wiggles Summer 2012 Sampler (2012) Books w/ CDs Sing-a-long CD (2006) • We're All Friends (2007) • Play Piano with... The Wiggles (2007) • A Wiggly Sing-Along Box Set (2012) • Super Singalong Slipcase (2015) • Singalong Slipcase (2018) Other Compilations featuring The Wiggles ABC Kids ABC For Kids: Greatest Hits (1991) • A Menagerie Of Songs All About Animals (1992) • More ABC For Kids Greatest Hits (1992) • Rock 'N' Roll Kids (1992) • ABC For Kids Live (1993) • Lots And Lots Of Great Music For Kids (1994) • Rock Roll Rap! (1994) • Roar Like a Dinosaur (1994) • ABC For Kids Dance Party (1995) • Hottest Hits (2003) • ABC For Kids Hits (2004) • Best of ABC for Kids (2006) • ABC For Kids Favourites (2009) • ABC For Kids Favourites 2 (2010) • The Best Music For Kids (2012) • The Best of ABC for Kids (2013) • ABC for Kids TV Themes (2014) • The Best of ABC for Kids Volume 2 (2014) • ABC For Kids Christmas (2014) • The Best of ABC Kids Volume 3 (2015) • ABC Kids Christmas - Volume 2 (2015) • The Best of ABC Kids Volume 4 (2016) • ABC Kids Christmas Volume 3 (2016) • Sing and Learn (2017) • The Best of ABC Kids Volume 5 (2017) • ABC Kids Christmas Volume 4 (2017) • ABC Kids Let's Play! Holiday Fun with Friends! (2017) • ABC KIDS Listen (2018) • ABC Kids Hits (2018) • Christmas With ABC Kids (2018) • ABC KIDS Favourites (2019) Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney 2 (2003) • Playhouse Disney: Imagine and Learn With Music (2005) • Disney Music Block Party (2008) Christmas compilations The Spirit of Christmas 1998 (1998) • The Spirit of Christmas 2003 (2003) • So Fresh Songs For Christmas 2005 (2005) • The Spirit Of Christmas 06 (2006) • Carols in the Domain: 25th Anniversary (2007) • So Fresh Songs for Christmas 2008 (2008) • My Christmas Party Album (2009) • My Favourite Christmas Songs (2010) • Greatest Ever! Christmas: The Definitive Collection (2010) • So Fresh Songs for Christmas 2011 (2011) • The Spirit of Christmas 2011 (2011) • My Christmas Album (2012) • So Fresh Songs for Christmas 2012 (2012) • Making Spirits Bright Christmas Charity Collection (2013) • The Spirit of Christmas 2014 (2014) • Making Spirits Bright 2014 Christmas Charity Collection (2014) • Superstar Christmas (2014) • Pop for Tots Christmas (2016) • 101 Christmas Classics (2017) • The Spirit of Christmas 2017 (2017) Other compilations Advance Australia Fair (1997) • Anthem - Celebration of Australia (1997) • The Andrew Denton Breakfast Show Musical Challenge (2000) • Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge 2: Even More Challenged! (2001) • Triple M Musical Challenge 3 – Third Time Lucky! (2002) • Koch Entertainment September 2003 Sampler CD (2003) • Pop Jr 2 - The Beginners Guide To Pop (2006) • Are We There Yet? Songs for a Great Car Ride (2007) • Hey! Hey! - Big Songs For Little People (2007) • Koch Records March 2008 New Release Sampler (2008) • Hits for Kids Pop Party 4 (2008) • Ultimate Pop Jr. (2010) • Artist Karaoke, Vol. 164: The Wiggles (2010) • Greatest Ever! Kids' Favourites (2010) • World of Karaoke, Vol. 93 (2010) • My Favourite Mini Disco Songs (2011) • My Favourite TV Themes (2011) • Karaoke Playbacks, Vol. 207 (2011) • Karaoke Playbacks, Vol. 222 (2011) • All My Favourite Songs (2012) • My Favourite Party Songs (2012) • My Favourite Playtime Songs (2012) • Music From The Home Front (2020) • We See You (2024)