Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt had been members of the Cockroaches, a popular pub rock band which had scored a number of Top 40 hits in Australia during the 1980s.
After the Cockroaches disbanded in 1988, Field enrolled at the Institute of Early Childhood Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney. One of only a few male students in the program, Field soon met two of the other men: Greg Page and Murray Cook, both former musicians.[2] Cook was the guitarist in a minor Sydney pop band, Bang Shang a Lang, while also working as a clerk at the Australian Taxation Office.[3].
The group initially teamed up to produce a music performance project for their studies, but they soon began working towards the goal of being children entertainers, using the concepts of early childhood education they learned in school. Recognizing the need for quality children's music, they produced their first (self-titled) album in 1991.[2]
Needing a keyboardist, Field asked his old bandmate, Jeff Fatt, to help out. (Fatt's reply was "Sure, but how long will it take...."[4]). The group received songwriting help from John Field, Anthony's brother and former bandmate, as they reworked a few of the old Cockroaches tunes into children's songs. For example, "Do the Monkey" was originally a Cockroaches song with different lyrics.[5] Another Cockroaches song, "Get Ready To Wiggle", inspired the new band's name.[2]
The band also received keyboards and songwriting assistance from fellow Macquarie student Phillip Wilcher, whose departure from the group shortly before their international fame has earned him comparisons to Pete Best, the "fifth Beatle."[6]
