Sad trivia note: Chef Paul of the Wiggles, who sings the Fruit Salad song, was Paul Hester, formerly of the band Crowded House. He passed in March.
Posted on 12/19/2005 8:23:39 AM PST by SirLinksalot
Wiggles named top Australian export
Four men in colourful T-shirts and a backup cast that includes a spotted dinosaur called Dorothy have been named Australia's Exporter of the Year.
Last year the Wiggles sold more than 17 million DVDs and videos and five million CDs around the world.
The children's entertainers beat banks, airlines and mining multinationals to take the top honour in the government-sponsored annual award ceremony.
The Wiggles' Exporter of the Year award was one of 10 business gongs presented at the 42nd Australian Export Awards.
The Wiggles' export business now includes television rights, franchises and a licence deal with Walt Disney.
Other winners at the awards included food supplier Mulwarra Export, Central Queensland University, forensic instrument company Rolfin Australia, prime lamb exporter WAMMCO, and Qantas.
Fifteen years ago, the four Wiggles members were pre-school teachers in Sydney, Australia, who played part time in rock bands, while attempting to establish a market for their homespun recordings of children's music.
All that is light years away from their current dozen gold albums and position as the highest-grossing entertainers in Australia, out-selling fellow Antipodean natives, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe.
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Why? kids love them and they are totally harmless with no PBS-type agenda.
The Wiggles are a little amateurish (which I think kids like) and they certainly love what they do.
Has anyone satisfactorily explained the purpose of the rabbits in the Teletubbies?
For some reason, that burst of reality in an unreal world really disturbs me.
D
I'm with you. And Beatles for toddlers is an excellent description! I fought it at first, but sitting and watching a show made me re-think. Good clean entertainment that at least some adults can stomach. Even my husband, who hates all things children's entertainment, enjoys them with our daughter.
I still avoid Dora whenever possible. Those songs could drive me to the abyss.
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Sounds like a personal problem to me.
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they were actually singing songs about the birth of Jesus. For that alone, I like them and will continue to buy their products for her.
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Not only that, they actually TEACH kids to sing songs from around the world.
I've watched their videos and they actually sings songs from the following countries ( and invite guests from these countries too ):
Israel -- HAVANUH SHALOM ALECHEM
Japan -- HARU GA KITA
Ireland -- MARIE's WEDDING
Mexico -- LA CUCARACHA
Hawaii -- PEARLY SHELL
Also, we've got esoteric Aboriginal Songs from Australia and Maori Music from New Zealand.
The brillance in their marketing strategy lies in their "knowing" that it is parents who buy their products at the urging of the kids. They HAVE to make their products decent.
This is something most Hollywood producers today fail to recognize because they are too busy selling an agenda.
Sad trivia note: Chef Paul of the Wiggles, who sings the Fruit Salad song, was Paul Hester, formerly of the band Crowded House. He passed in March.
Yes, I do have a personal problem. I personally don't care for grown men dancing around, acting like silly loons. I thought that's what Riverdance and Lords of the Dance were for.
If some kids like it, that's great.
As for me and my house...we'll pass.
Thank you! I now know which Wiggles DVD to buy first ... :)
Really?!? Did not now that Hester was a Wiggle. Crowded House was one of my favorite bands back in the day.
My 3 year old can sing this one - it's one of her favorites. And the Uncle Noah song about the Ark...
Imagine the Split Enz only if they wrote for kids--brilliant stuff. Fruit Salad and Let's Drink Some Water are great songs.
Good on you, as they say down under. I just wanted to point out that I don't know if it's from this year or not. My wife bought it.
I did like Crowded House. Excellent melodies, harmonies.
Sadly yes. We've had the Wiggles around since before he passed, and I never knew it was him. But I heard about a Crowded House band member's death and read the articles, and found out that way. Color me amazed.
The Finn Brothers put out an excellent album last year.
Thanks! I'll be sure to check how many different versions there are over at Amazon and find the one closest to your description.
Our son outgrew The Wiggles 2 or 3 years ago, but this song still endures as a joke in our household.
The band They Might Be Giants has turned to writing childrens songs for tv shows as well.
Now I don't mind them so much because I have scar tissue on my eardrums where their voices used to resonate.
Also the Mothersbaugh brothers from DEVO, do the music for RugRats. I guess that's where all 80s acts eventually end up.
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