The Wiggles Perth: Last-original standing Anthony Field reflects on 35 years of Wiggling in the blue skivvy

Detailed summary

Thirty-five years into life as a Wiggle, Anthony Field, his blue skivvy and catchy singalongs have built a cult-like following among generations of children around the world.

Thirty-five years into life as a Wiggle, Anthony Field is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I think this is probably our biggest show ever,” a beaming Field, 63, told The West Australian on a video call this week, ahead of bringing the Sparkle! Big Show to Perth next weekend.

“It’s now 35 years for me but the audience, who are children predominantly, are so enthusiastic and spontaneous that I feed off their energy.

“For a lot of the children, it’s the first time they’ve seen big lights, instruments played live and characters like Dorothy the Dinosaur, and you just see the smiles on their faces and mum and dad watching them and I think that keeps me in the game.”

Field, his blue skivvy and catchy singalongs have built a cult-like following among generations of children around the world.

Since forming in 1991, The Wiggles have sold more than 30 million albums and DVDs and performed thousands of shows both in Australia and overseas. Their videos have also been streamed billions of times, including more than three billion on YouTube alone.

But as Field admits, his career as a children’s entertainer almost came about by accident.

“To be honest, we were just teachers in the school holidays at the start,” Field said of founding The Wiggles alongside fellow schoolteachers Murray Cook (red skivvy) and Greg Page (yellow) and former bandmate in 1980s Syndey pop band the Cockroaches, Jeff Fatt (purple).

“We would just do these shows; we never thought it would be a career.”

Opening of the article, excerpted from The West Australian. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.