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MICHELLE JONESThe TV show for tots has turned the Wiggles' stage show into a huge draw.
TAMPA - Unless there's a young child in your life, you may never have heard of the Wiggles.
John Satchell knows all about them.
His 3-year-old daughter Kerry loves the Australian quartet. She sings and dances along with their videos and TV show. She can't wait to see them perform live in Tampa next week.
Many preschoolers are glued to the TV daily at 8 a.m. when the show is on the Disney Channel. They eagerly await Captain Feathersword, a friendly pirate. They adore Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog.
As for the Wiggles themselves, you need to see the joy that crosses the face of a young fan to grasp the appeal of four pretty regular-looking guys. They don't have gigantic purple costumes, and they don't have a baby-faced sun rising over their home each day.
What they do have is adoration. The Wiggles sold out Morsani Hall at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center last year before the show was even announced to the public.
When three shows, with 6,500 seats each, were announced for this weekend at the St. Pete Times Forum, tickets were snapped up almost immediately. A fourth show was added. Only a few seats remain.
But naturally, tickets may still be had at eBay - for a price. One seller last week was asking $479 for four tickets on the floor to one Forum show. (Florida law prohibits reselling tickets for more than $1 above face value.)
So, what do the Wiggles do to earn this devotion?
They're sort of a human version of the Teletubbies, bouncing around, singing songs with lyrics only a preschooler could love.
A sample: "Fruit salad, yummy yummy, fruit salad, yummy yummy, fruit salad, yummy yummy, yummy yummy yummy yummy, fruit salad."
And when that grows tiresome: "Hot potato hot potato, hot potato hot potato, hot potato hot potato, potato, potato potato potato."
Not to mention: "Cold spaghetti cold spaghetti, cold spaghetti cold spaghetti, cold spaghetti cold spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti."
"She likes the silly songs," said Erica Taylor of Valrico, the mother of 3-year-old Maddisyn. "They keep her occupied with good stuff, they teach manners. She sings and dances while she watches them. It is good exercise and keeps her mind focused while she is learning good things."
The Wiggles dress in brightly colored shirts (blue for Anthony Field, red for Murray Cook, yellow for Greg Page and purple for Jeff Fatt). They live together in a funky house with a smiling, talking door and drive a tiny vehicle they call the big red car.
Kerry Satchell, bouncing around the living room of her Brandon home watching the Wiggly Safari DVD, announces that Murray (Cook) is her favorite. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, is featured on the disc but he can't hold a candle to the guy in red.
The Wiggles, in their 11th year, got their start as early childhood education students at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Three of them - Cook, Field and Page - began writing children's songs for a class project. They added the guy in purple, who played in a band called the Cockroaches in the 1980s, and the Wiggles were born.
Field says on the Wiggles Web site that the concept works because the dancing, songs and constant repetition reach kids at their own level.
"It's got a lot to do with what songs are about and the language we use," he said. "And I like to think we know how to write pretty catchy tunes. Right from the start we gave a lot of thought to what was appropriate for children's music."
Along the way, the Wiggles have become their own industry, with more than 500 live shows a year, books, CDs, videos, dolls, clothes, games, plush toys, party supplies and much much more, all available at www.thewiggles.com In 2002 alone, the Wiggles sold 2.5-million audio and video products, one of the group's marketers recently told the Palm Beach Post.
Nicole Figga of Odessa thinks the Wiggles project a good image for her 2-year-old son Sebastian.
"They are wholesome family entertainment," said Figga, who is from Australia. She likes that her kids learn something about her homeland while jumping around with the Wiggles.
What should those who only know the Wiggles electronically expect at the live show?
Lots of kids will be dressing to match their favorite Wiggle. Dancing in the aisles and upfront at concerts, and singing along, are de rigeur. Figga says they will be bring a rose to give to Dorothy, as will no doubt other fans.
Altogether, to borrow the title of one of their videos, "Hoop-De-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party!"
PREVIEW
The Wiggles, 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday and 3 and 7 p.m. Monday at the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa. $16.25-$26.25. (813) 301-2500 or Ticketmaster. The Wiggles TV show airs at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday on the Disney Channel.