Darn the Wiggles!

[Russ Filtz]

Their music is insidious. It gets in your head and won't let go! For those that don't know they are a pre-school kids entertainment group out of Australia and shown on the Disney channel here. It's high-quality edutainment for kids. I played their show for the kids when they were small and I thought they were done with it, but now my 6-yr old girl has started watching again. Now all these catchy songs are attacking my brain again!

Haven't seen any of the new yellow Wiggle, still watch the old Greg version.

[Ron Dunn]

Hot potato, Hot potato ...

Romp, Romp-a-chomp ...

Get ready ... to wiggle ... get ready ...

[did I make it worse???]

[Russ Filtz]

Actually I really don't mind the songs. Nice break from the regular mindless drivel on the radio.

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga!

I also like when they bring in other famous artists for guest spots. My favorite song is Taba Naba with Christine Anu.

[Ron Dunn]

Check out Hi-5.

A couple of their singers are more appealing to the typical father ;)

[Ted Calver]

By the time she is eight, she will have moved on!! :)

PS fruit salad yummy yummy!!!

[Lee Schierer]

You should try the Veggie Tales song collections! Like the Pirates that Don't do anything!

[Joe Pelonio]

Thank goodness ours are all grown, and we have no grandkids yet!

[Prashun Patel]

C'mon and do the Monkey!

The Wiggles are a WELCOME addition to my house and head since my kids graduated from Barney. Now THAT's some bad stuff. As if it weren't unsettling enough to have a Bizarro Dino singing, jumping, and batting his armstubs all over the place, the songs are all just bad vanilla PC covers of previous songs. They'll take Yankee Doodle Dandy and make it into a song about hugging friends. What's up with that?

But by FAR, the worst is anything Disney. First of all, Pocahontis, Little Mermaid and Aladdin are all the same story. Second, why are there no mothers in any of the stories; all the women are evil witches. Third, and most pernicious, the whole machine is geared to make you buy more and more meaningless stuff.

I actually like the Wiggles. Although Captain Feathersword kind of weirds me out. And where are Jeff's eyebrows? They look like 70's trekkies without the phasers.

[jeremy levine]

You should try the Veggie Tales song collections! Like the Pirates that Don't do anything! Yes ... Very funny

[Ben Grunow]

I think those guys and the the other group like (forgot name but several grown people like the wiggles) them are creepy. I just cant imagine a man doing that for a living.

Kids do like it though. Seems a little too Neverland Ranch to me.

Ben (4 yr old boy, 18 mo girl)

[Jude Tuliszewski]

Veggie tails, my sons favorite. OH where is my hair brush..... oh where is my hair brush....

[Jeremy Kriewaldt]

I think those guys and the the other group like (forgot name but several grown people like the wiggles) them are creepy. I just cant imagine a man doing that for a living.

Kids do like it though. Seems a little too Neverland Ranch to me.

Ben (4 yr old boy, 18 mo girl)

A bit of background from Oz on the Wiggles.

Two of them were in a bona fide rock band when the kid brother of one was killed. It got him thinking about doing something for kids and that led to the Wiggles.

The other two original members were primary school teachers.

So, unlike a lot of stuff for kids the Wiggles:


really try to have real information and tell kids important stuff
have real musicians who can write real songs
know quite a lot about kids from actually working with them and being trained in teaching them
have good contacts with the grown up side of the entertainment biz
I admit that Captain Feathersword is a ditz and the Wiggles are very hammy, but they are way less irritating than a lot of stuff made for kids and the kids do learn some things - one example is that if you have a kid who is gulping food without chewing it properly, you can remind them to chew by just humming the "Chew, chew your food" song. It's silly, but it works (which as every parent knows is all that counts)

[Keith Cope]

I have to agree that the Wiggles are a whole lot better than the big purple dinosaur...

But if you really want a treat, They Might Be Giants has some kids' titles--we have "Here Come the ABC's" and it is a favorite (of me and the kid...)

Keith

[Prashun Patel]

Yeah, I was psyched to find out TMBG found a new life in this market. Their stuff is quirky and fun!

[Chris Padilla]

Hmmm, thankfully my daughter hasn't discovered this music. She watches SpongeBob to death, which I like very much, except when we're watching the same episode for the 3rd time, later in the day!! :)

[John Shuk]

And Laurie Berkner and The Little People and The Backyardigans..................

[Russ Filtz]

The Doodlebops are a bit much though.

[Chris Padilla]

And Laurie Berkner and The Backyardigans..................

Ah, them two I know about! :)

[John Shuk]

Dan Zanes is pretty good stuff.

[Steven Wilson]

The Wiggles are much less anoying than the purple thing. The last Barney's in my house were used to train for hunting season. Now the Teletubies were cool. Anyhow, I'm glad that my son and daughter turned on to some real music when they were about 7 (REM, Green Day, Lincoln Park, etc), and even download some of my stuff (traditional irish, Jimi Hendricks, Eno, AC/DC, etc) on their MP3 players. Took my daughter (9) and her friend to see Avril Lavigne a few months ago - not too bad. Some of the skater trash bands are pretty good (Simple Plan's "My Alien" is a pretty good tune).