Looks like I may have to set my alarm a bit early for The Wiggles‘ performance! Hmm…or that’s what the VCR is for.

ht: Bald Man

Post from: Play Library

Post from: Play Library

From Right Pundits:

The Wiggles are on the television every morning at Ranch McCain, but I cringe every morning just the same. They are not exactly my vision of the Ideal Man. And when they aren’t on the telly, they are on the CD player, creating a wild Wiggles dance fest in the living room when I want to watch football. That is, unless we are driving in which case they are blasting in the car when I’d rather hear Steppenwolf. However, at a time like this, one shouldn’t be disrespecting the fallen. Long live Yellow Greg!

A Family Runs Through It has a list of their favorite Wiggles songs!

I have a feeling that a few parents who say they don’t like The Wiggles are basing their feelings on being forced to listen to the same five or six silly songs that the Disney Channel repeats daily. I would suggest that if you dig deeper into their catalog, you could find quite a lot to respect. There are even a few tunes that I could safely include on a mix CD for my grown-up friends.

Our Little Corner of the Upstate has a wonderful picture of her son Michael with Sam Moran:

At the show here in South Carolina last year, Sam actually filled in for Greg while Greg was in Australia taking care of an unrelated medical issue. I thought Sam did a great job. I walked out of there feeling like I had gotten my money’s worth. It will be fun to see more of Sam.

Post from: Play Library

The Wiggles are great guys. Look at their big smiles on what is probably a very sad day in their lives.

Anthony Field Wiggle, the blue wiggle:

It’s very surreal that Greg’s not going to be with us, very sad.

Myself, Murray and Jeff. We actually said to each other, ‘do you want to keep going?’ and we said ‘yes, we’d love to keep going’.

Here’s to another 15 years of The Wiggles!

The Courier-Mail, November 30, 2006

Post from: Play Library

From A Second Hand Conjecture:

My oldest son dressed as Greg Wiggle this year for Halloween, complete with yellow shirt, magic hat, rabbit and wand (Greg is the Wiggle who wants to be a magician). Luckily, my son is only three, and with subtle prodding from Mommy and Daddy will only “remember” either a three-man group or the equivalent of Darrin being replaced on Bewitched.

From Paula Mooney (who has a great shot of The Wiggles with Sam Moran):

My sis never cared much for The Wiggles because she says they hardly ever have black folks on their show. From my observations of The Wiggles’ shows, I believe she’s right.

But The Wiggles, after all, are from Australia, and I keep getting reports that Australians aren’t too keen on black folks down under. Come and spend your tourist money for sure, scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef, but if you want to pack up and move there it’s off to the bush for you, they say.

I hope that’s not really true. Any blacks folks living in Australia reading this? Please hit me up and let me know for sure. I must see the land of under before I die.

Post from: Play Library

If we could, we would hand this trophy to Greg Page.

Greg Page, Wiggle Forever, Nov 30, 2006

From RedKid.net via Leora

Post from: Play Library

• Yellow Wiggle Steps Down – Personal message from Greg where he hands over his yellow shirt to Sam Moran
• Emotional Time For Wiggles – You can see Sam Moran speak.

Post from: Play Library

“It’s always been a little daunting obviously filling in for him, but it’s just a great new challenge for me and I’m just looking forward to that,” Moran said today.

Moran, born in Wagga Wagga and educated at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, joined The Wiggles team in 1998 as host of the Dorothy the Dinosaur Show.

Since then, he has also spent time as a “Wiggly dancer, and a Wiggly band member”, and is married to former Dorothy the Dinosaur star Lyn Stuckey.

It was four years ago, when Page first started exhibiting symptoms of his condition, that Moran became his understudy.

Sounds like Sam is more than qualified to be the new yellow Wiggle. Good luck, Sam!!

Post from: Play Library

Greg suffers from orthostatic intolerance, which makes it virtually impossible for him to conduct a normal, active life. What a sad, sad day.

Here’s a video of Greg’s farewell message. I admit to having watched it with a few tears in my eyes.

From the press release:

Greg has been suffering symptoms for many months, affecting his ability to perform. The condition is related to blood pressure and while in no way life threatening it affects his balance, breathing and coordination at unpredictable times and with varying severity. Greg has discovered he is genetically predisposed to this condition and that he now needs to focus on managing his health.

We love you, Greg. Get well soon!!! We’ll all be waiting for your guest performances.

What do you think of Sam Moran? Do you think his voice will be able to replace Greg’s?

Post from: Play Library

I love the venue where we saw them. It’s not a huge place to start with, and the stage came out to about the middle of the floor, so there really wasn’t a bad seat in the house.

Due to a wreck that caused a huge traffic jam, the show did start about 1/2 hour late. I thought it was very considerate of them to wait long enough to allow people time to get in, though I think those who arrived early may not have been so appreciative (yes, I mean you, crazy guy who tried to get your kids to start a prison riot-type chanting of “We want the Wiggles!”).

Of course, everyone was disappointed not to see Greg there. The official quote from Murray to the audience was:

• You probably already know that Greg is not with us, everyone. He’s sick, he’s still at home in Australia, recovering. He’s sorry he can’t be here. But we’ve got a great friend of ours helping out. He’s singing all the songs. This is Sam, everyone!

Though we were so sad to miss out on seeing Greg, Sam (longtime member of The Wiggles) did a fantastic job in his place. I think Greg would be proud of the awesome job they’re still doing in his absence. From Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags and Henry, to The Wiggly Dancers, to Jeff, Sam, Murray and Anthony, everyone gave a stellar performance. And it was especially fun to see Anthony start cracking up a few times, and to see Murray and the Captain making each other laugh. I get a kick out of seeing them having fun up there.

The kids had a ball. The 5 year old, who thought maybe she was starting to outgrow The Wiggles when we throw in a video at home, just beamed singing all the songs and remembering all the motions. The 3 year old didn’t really understand what was happening until The Wiggles actually showed up on the stage. He kept thinking that we were going to see a Wiggles movie. After the opening of the show, he just kept wanting to know where the big red car went. The 17-month old didn’t get to go, because we would have had to buy a ticket for him. (Am I the only one who thinks that’s crazy?)

The highlight of the night was my oldest getting her photo with Jeff! We ran down when he was collecting roses for Dorothy, and she gave him the get well card she made for Greg. I was bummed that her eyes were only half open, but you take what you can get in the 2 seconds with a Wiggle! It was a really great night, and I’m so thankful for the memories we have of seeing the joy and excitement in the eyes of the kids. I’m afraid that not too many kids see live performances of anything anymore, and don’t know the thrill and joy of having a part in the performances. Though it’s fun to get to take them to something as flashy as a Wiggles concert, it’s also fun to take the kids to local performances, plays and concerts. Videos are great for some circumstances, but I hope this next generation of kids also grows up with an appreciation of live performance art. There’s something special about seeing a unique performance.

So, thanks Wiggles, for sharing your gifts with the world. And to Greg, our prayers, thoughts, and hopes are with you.

Update: Greg Page Wiggle officially announced his retirement on November 30, 2006. More from Play Library in honor of unofficial Greg Page Wiggle Tribute Day.

Post from: Play Library