My daughter loves The Wiggles, and she was quite happy to listen to their music on DVD as I prepared to interview Anthony, the Blue Wiggle. Anthony will be in Kansas City soon as The Wiggles come for their live Go Bananas Concert on August 1st! (Note: Read below to find out how to win FREE tickets!)
The Wiggles are the World's #1 preschool entertainers, having sold more than 22.5 million videos and 7 million CDs in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The Wiggles have been performing for nearly twenty years! Anthony told us that they've had many parents, particularly in Australia, who grew up singing with the Wiggles and now bring their own children to their concerts.
Anthony Field was born in Sydney, Australia in 1963 and still lives in the “Harbor City.” He is the youngest of seven children (four brothers and three sisters). He learned to play guitar from his brother John and by listening to Elvis and Rolling Stones records. In the 1980s, Anthony, his brothers Paul and John, and purple Wiggle Jeff were members of the chart-topping group The Cockroaches. He attended Macquarie University Institute of Early Childhood Learning, where he obtained his Diploma in teaching in 1990 and met Murray and Greg who also studied Early Childhood Education. They began putting together children's music and Anthony suggested they put together a CD. They started performing concerts on holidays and slowly grew through word of mouth.
The underlying philosophy of the Wiggles is to provide entertainment for children that is worthwhile and makes a child feel good about themselves as the children participate in the music as listeners, dancers, singers, and musicians.
All four Wiggles write music. The ideas for the songs are inspired by children. Anthony says, "Children get excited about so much that adults take for granted. There are endless possibilities for music with a child's imagination as the inspiration. Walking down the street, getting on the bus, even using a vacuum cleaner is exciting to kids."
Anthony said they've shared lots of great moments with children. Terminally ill children have joined The Wiggles for a ride in the Big Red Car during the show. Celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal have sung "Hot Potato" with them. They have played orphanages in China. From small crowds to 120,000 at their annual concert in Sydney, they've performed worldwide and love it all.
He says, “There is no better audience than the one we play to. You can have as much fun with 5 children as with 5000."
We asked Kansas City Kids to submit questions for Anthony and he was very happy to answer his most loyal fans!
Fan Q: Have you been to Kansas City before?
Anthony: Yes, we have performed in Kansas City. In fact, we went to see "Phantom of the Opera" in Kansas City and we had a great time. We're very excited to be coming back to Kansas City.
Fan Q: How did everyone choose their color?
Anthony: Each Wiggle wears his favorite color! We all chose different colors and it worked perfectly.
Fan Q: Where do you drive your car?
Anthony: We travel near and far. Everywhere we go, we always sing, “Toot Toot Chugga Chugga,” as we drive along.
Fan Q: Why does Jeff sleep so much? What makes him so tired?
Anthony: He loves to dream and he has lovely dreams. Because he loves dreaming, he loves napping!
Fan Q: Do you have a favorite food from Australia that is uncommon in America?
Anthony: Veggie-mite is hard to find anywhere else. Meat Pies are unique in Australia and no other country does it quite the same. Our National Desert, Pavlova, can’t be found anywhere else…. It is similar to a meringue.
Fan Q: What is your favorite Pizza?
Anthony: I don’t really eat pizza very often. I guess, Cheese would be my favorite.
Fan Q: What is your favorite Dessert?
Anthony: Neapolitan Ice Cream.
Fan Q: What is your favorite Book?
Anthony: “Where the Wild Things Are.” I love the imagination in the story and I love reading it to my kids.
Fan Q: Do you really like Fruit Salad?
Anthony: Oh yes! I really do. Over the years, I eat healthier, drink lots of water and eat fruit salad. I try to eat healthy all the time.
Fan Q: Are you a Dad? Do your children travel with the Wiggles?
Anthony: Yes, I have three children. Lucia is 5, Maria is 3, and Antonio is 2. My wife, Miki, and children can’t travel with us all the time. It takes 26 hours to get to New York or 28 hours to get to Los Angeles from Australia. We are planning our first family trip to Disneyland this year and the kids are very excited. The Wiggles spend half the year away on concert and half the year in Australia. I live Sydney.
Fan Q: Do you have a favorite Song?
Anthony: Yes, I love “Rock-a-bye Bear.” It is the first song I sung to my children.
Fan Q: Do you have any special news you’d like to share with your fans?
Anthony: The Wiggles will be starting a new program on Sprout with their own morning segment daily on Sprout / PBS on August 24th. Every year, we produce two new CDs. “Go Bananas” was the latest. We will be in concert in Kansas City at the Sprint Center on August 1st and we hope to see all our wonderful Kansas City friends there!
KCParent.com is giving away FREE Tickets to see the Wiggles and subscriptions to WiggleTime.com an educational website for Preschoolers! You can enter here!