“Fruit Salad”: Go back to your childhood with the best Wiggles songs
We all remember The Wiggles. Back in 1998, the Australian show was aired overseas on Disney Channel and became a Playhouse Disney sensation! How can we forget the iconic song “Fruit Salad”?! When listening to The Wiggles’ best songs, it’s easy to see why the show became such a hit with kids in the 1990s! Or maybe it was the bright primary colors & Australian accents . . . .
Whatever the reason, it’s time to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce with these Wiggles songs! Here are some of the most memorable hits from the iconic Disney show!
“Wake Up, Jeff”
Poor Jeff was just trying to take a nap! The whole song revolves around trying to wake up Jeff, who’s fast asleep and missing out on the party. What we didn’t know back then was that the actor, Jeff Fatt, started this gag because he actually had no experience as a children’s performer! Back in the 1980s, Fatt & fellow Wiggle Anthony Field (the blue one) were in a band called The Cockroaches!
After the band’s disbandment, Field invited Fatt into his latest project which focused on children’s music! Fatt agreed but was apprehensive since he had no experience in children’s education. Thus, the “Wake Up, Jeff” segment was a way for Jeff to be a part of the performance with relatively no activity!
“The Monkey Dance”
“The Monkey Dance” was a hit because it had some fun choreography incorporated into the energetic song. The Wiggles had us off the couch and dancing like a monkey, elephant, and tiger. This song was actually adapted from The Wiggles’ former band The Cockroaches’ song “Do the Monkey”!
The song even has a Spanish & Portuguese version! The Spanish version is called “El Baile de Chango”. While the Brazilian version is titled “Dança Do Macaco”. This song is apparently a favorite of the original member Greg Page (the yellow one).
“Let’s Go (We’re Driving in the Big Red Car)”
We’re not gonna lie – after listening to this song again, we can admit it has some serious vibes going on! Apparently, this is the fifth song from The Wiggles to feature the iconic big red car.
As usual, Jeff falls asleep on the rather rambunctious road trip! The groovy song ends with, “Oh no Jeff’s fallen asleep! Will we wake him up? No, let’s let him sleep. Sweet dreams, Jeff!”
“Hot Potato”
Okay, although this is one of The Wiggles’ most famous songs, we have to admit it’s a little bizarre. The members start singing various (& odd) foods like hot potato, cold spaghetti, and mashed banana. The chorus then includes an abnormally high squeaky voice singing “Ooh wiggy wiggy wiggy!” which is then followed by a deep voice saying “gimme that gimme that.” Interesting artistic decisions.
John Field actually wrote this song on the spot during the group’s busking days! It was originally called “Hot Tamale” before they decided to switch to “Hot Potato”. The song has even won Children’s Composition of the Year at the 1994 APRA awards. Way to go John Field!
“Fruit Salad”
Finally, the song we sing, even now, when making any sort of fruit salad! While not only promoting healthy eating habits, the song was extremely catchy. We even got a fruit salad recipe here: “Peel your bananas, toss in some grapes, chop up some apples, chop up some melons, and put them on your plate!”
The group celebrated the song on their 30th Anniversary video compilation of their top voted songs! The celebration special was titled “We’re All Fruit Salad! The Wiggles’ Greatest Hits”. How can anyone argue that “Fruit Salad” is the best Wiggles song of all time?
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Do you remember all of these top Wiggles songs? Which one is your all time favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
