“I’m totally a guitar guy” the OG Red Wiggle Murray Cook on Spinal Tap moments, 40s Martins and embracing his blues-rock soul
For 30 years, Australian band The Wiggles have been entertaining young kids (and their parents) with a catalogue of impeccably catchy songs that put real musical instruments and real musicians at the heart of everything – something that any parent of a young child can attest is not exactly common.
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The Wiggles have sold over 30 million albums in their career, and gone through various line-up changes over that time, but the most beloved and iconic remains what fans affectionately describe as the OG Wiggles – the original line-up of Greg Page, Anthony Field, Greg Fatt and Murray Cook.
It was this line-up that gave the world legit childhood ragers like Hot Potato, Fruit Salad and of course Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car, and it was the guitar contributions of Cook – who would call time on his Wiggly career in 2012 – that will catch the eye of any guitar-playing parent.
Watch any of The Wiggles’ classic videos, and your eye will no doubt be drawn to the parade of guitars that Cook uses. In a world where guitars on kids TV are often little more than guitar-shaped props, you’ll see vintage and modern Fenders, Gibsons, Gretsches and more.
It was clear that Cook was no casual guitar guy – a fact further evidenced by the viral Reddit post of his pedalboard a few years back that revealed a smorgasbord of boutique grails, including a Klon, a King Of Tone and a Crowther Hot Cake.
“Oh, yeah,” Cook chuckles when we ask the question. “I’m totally a guitar guy.”
Since calling time on his 21-year stint entertaining millions of families, Cook has continued to pursue his musical muse. He’s guested in the video and on stage with Aussie dance-punks DZ Deathrays, tried his hand at electronic DJing, and played in various musical endeavors on stage and off.
Since 2015 however, his primary musical vehicle has been working with vocalist Lizzie Mack, joining her band The Soul Movers. After a decade writing and working together, Murray stepped into the position of bandleader last year, and the brand rebranded to celebrate their most famous member as Murray & The Movers.
With new music and a tour of Spain marking their first non-Australian sojourn last month, it’s clear that the love of live music and connecting with his audience is what inspires Murray first and foremost.
Murray & The Movers. Image: Jo Forster
What was the moment it all started for you in terms of guitar?
“I was born in this in the 60s, and it was actually The Monkees on television. Music was around in my house, but I wasn’t all that into it. But then I saw The Monkees, and I just thought it was so cool, these guys living in this house together, playing guitars and stuff! And then from then, when I realised that The Monkees were basically a Beatles pastiche, I got into them, and then it got a bit more serious! Then I was about 11, I pestered my parents to buy me a guitar and just got stuck in!”
What’s the one guitar that you couldn’t bear to part with?
“There’s probably a couple, actually. I’ve got a 1964 Strat, which is my go-to. And then I’ve got a late-40s Martin D-28. That used to belong to a session guy in Nashville, who played on Charlie Rich records and stuff, and it’s just beautiful. It doesn’t leave the house very much, unless I’m going to record with it. It just always sounds magical.”
Is there a guitar you’ve lost or sold that you wish you could have back?
“I’ve never had one stolen, touch wood – which is pretty amazing, because most the musicians I know have had that. But I’m pretty careful – I tend not to leave guitars in the van at these hotels and stuff.
“But my first really good guitar was an early 70s Les Paul Custom Sunburst. But then I joined this band, and I decided I was going to play bass, so I sold the Les Paul and bought a fairly crappy Ibanez bass and a bass rig. This was in the 80s, and I always wished I could find it again. Maybe eight years ago I found one that was very similar, so I bought it.”
Murray Cook and Lizzie Mack. Image: Jo Forster
What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a new guitar?
“Often, I just do a combination of a few things – a few pentatonic scales, and then maybe a little rockabilly, fingerpicking, Scotty Moore kind of thing. And then probably Day Tripper!”
What’s the best bit of advice you’ve ever been given?
“I think a lesson that was learned in the Wiggles, was stick to your guns. If you think you know what you’re doing, do it your way. Don’t do it someone else’s way. Early on, you know, we approached an agent, and she said, ‘Ah, I don’t think I could make it work with four people, it’s too many of you.’ And we had like television producers saying, ‘You guys don’t really know what you’re doing!’
“And so we just ran our own race, we made our own TV series, and they had to take notice! Because three of us were teachers, we’d learned a lot about the way children think, and we knew what we were doing was right. And when you’re younger, you’re probably a little bit arrogant too, so it was a bit of ‘us against the world’! But I think it’s served us well.
“And I guess with the guitar – if it’s a 50s Fender, don’t get it refinished!”
Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Greg Page and Murray Cook of The Wiggles perform during The Wiggles Celebration Tour in Sydney, 2012. Image: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images
What’s your most memorable “Spinal Tap moment” on stage?
“Well we would do this thing in The Wiggles where we’d go out into the audience to collect the roses that people had brought for Dorothy The Dinosaur, and quite often, if it was in an arena or something, I’d go through a door that I thought would take me back to the stage, and I’d just end up in completely the wrong place, so it really was ‘Hello Cleveland!’.
“There were also a couple of times in the States where we were in a different city each day. And because Americans love it when you say the name of their city, so every night I’d say, ‘It’s so great to be in Dayton, Ohio…’ or something like that. But then Jeff did it once, and he said the totally wrong town – from then on, before we went out in the Big Red Car, we’d turn to one of the crew and check, ‘Where are we?’”
What’s the most important thing on your rider?
“Well, often we don’t have riders, because we’re a little band! So yeah, just a couple of beers afterwards is all we need. But when I do DJ stuff, and I do have a rider for that, and I always have Gatorade on it, because I sweat so much in the sets – you gotta keep hydrated!”
Is there a style or guitar technique that you wish you could master but you’ve never quite managed it?
“I guess that polyphonic fingerpicking style, where you’re playing the melody and the bass all at once. Not so much the Travis picking, because I did immerse myself in that once on a holiday. Learning that has actually served me quite well, because I sometimes do this play about Sun Studios, and so we play a lot of the Sun Sessions Elvis stuff – I can fake the Scotty Moore picking thing. But when I see someone like Richard Thompson do what he does, I just can’t get my head around it.”
What made you want to make music with The Movers, a blues-rock club band is a bit different to your old job…
“I have really eclectic tastes. The great thing in the Wiggles was we could play lots of different types of music, but not so much blues-rock! So it’s really nice to have the freedom, Lizzie and I, to write the songs, and whatever comes out of that, if we like it, we release it!”
And touring overseas is a new experience for the band, though I guess not for you…
“When The Wiggles first went to America, we did it just for the adventure of it. If we’d have never made it there, it didn’t really worry us that much. And I treat it a bit like that still. It’s my favourite thing. I just love getting up on stage and making music. Whether there’s 5,000 people there or 10 people there, it’s still fun.”
Find out more about Murray and the Movers at murrayandthemovers.com
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