Paul Field (musician)

Last updated

Paul Field
AM
Paul Field live on stage.jpg
Paul Field performing live onstage in 2019.
Background information
Birth namePaul James Field
Born (1961-05-03) 3 May 1961 (age 63)
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres Pop rock, children's music, pub rock, Country rock
Occupation(s)
  • Producer
  • director
  • musician
  • songwriter
  • author
  • talent manager
Instrument(s)Vocals
Labels ABC Music
Member ofthe Field Brothers
Formerly of the Cockroaches
Spouse(s)
Pauline Field
(m. 1984)

Paul James Field AM (born 3 May 1961) is an Australian musician, filmmaker and author. He is best known as one of the founding members of the Sydney pub rock band the Cockroaches and the Field Brothers and as Managing Director for the children's music group the Wiggles.

Contents

Early life and education

Field was educated at St Joseph's College Hunters Hill, where he excelled as a rugby player and musician. Upon leaving school he attained his teaching qualification from Australian Catholic University and a diploma of religious education from Aquinas Academy in Sydney. [1]

In the late 1970s, while still at boarding school he and his brothers John and Anthony formed the pop group The Cockroaches. Paul was the lead vocalist for the band and also booked their first live shows in pubs in the inner city of Sydney and Kings Cross. [2]

Career

1979–1994: The Cockroaches

The Cockroaches enjoyed some success in Australia, producing three albums, one of which, The Cockroaches, sold 100,000 copies and became platinum. [3] The band consisted of the three Field brothers, who played guitar and vocals, fellow boarding-school student Tony Henry, who played drums, Phil Robinson on bass, and Jeff Fatt on keyboards. [4] According to Anthony Field, Paul Field was "a picture of professional efficiency", [5] whereas John Field was the showman of the group. John Field's performances on-stage built the Cockroaches' reputation for being a party-band, even though alcohol and drug use was never part of the band's culture. [6] In the heyday of The Cockroaches, they played over 300 gigs a year all over Australia; [7] according to Anthony Field, they were "one of the biggest crowd-drawing groups in Australia". [8] Australian musicologist Ian McFarland called The Cockroaches "an in-demand pub band [that built] a sweaty, frenzied atmosphere with good old-fashioned showmanship and unpretentious, energetic rock'n'pop". [9]

In 1988, The Daily Telegraph surveyed booking agencies and described the band as the "Hardest Working Rock 'n' Roll Band in the Country". [10]

In September 1988, while The Cockroaches were on tour in Queensland, Field's eight-month-old daughter died of SIDS. Her death "had a devastating effect on everyone involved", but The Cockroaches went back on tour to "create a sense of normality" [11] and because he "had bills to pay". [12] By early 1989, however, "nothing was ever the same again"; [11] Anthony Field left the band to study Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University, [13] and The Cockroaches disbanded. Anthony formed The Wiggles in 1991, with Murray Cook, Greg Page, and fellow Cockroaches band member Jeff Fatt, and they dedicated their first album to his niece. [11]

1996–2020: The Wiggles

In 1996, at the request of his brother Anthony, Field became the Wiggles' manager and began working with them. [12] At first, he booked venues for the group, [14] "mainly pre-schools, RSLs and theatres". [1] By 2007, he produced and directed their videos and oversaw their consumer products. [1] As manager of the Wiggles, Anthony Field has said, "I totally trust Paul; he is an honest man". [12]

Field has expressed an appreciation for the development of the Wiggles coming out of the tragedy of his daughter's death. He has performed a song with the Wiggles called "Sleep Safe My Baby". [15] "When I think of how much joy [The] Wiggles have brought to children, it's good to know that out of an event so horrifying, something good has come", Field has said. [11] Field has his daughter's name tattooed on his right arm and the names of his four other children and his wife on his left arm, something his younger brother Anthony has emulated when he had the names of his three children tattooed on his arms. [12] Paul Field's children have appeared in several of the Wiggles' videos and television programs. [14] His son Luke Field served as tour manager and his daughter Clare Field was dance captain for The Wiggles' "Dorothy the Dinosaur Show"; both had toured with the group for most of their lives. [16] [17] In 2020, Field retired from his role with The Wiggles to pursue other opportunities. [18]

2011–2020: The Field Brothers

In 2011, twenty years after the last recording of The Cockroaches, Field and his brother John recorded an album, entitled 1964 because its cover featured a picture of the brothers taken that year. [19] Their sister Maria co-wrote a track on the album, and some Cockroaches songs were re-recorded as country songs, including their hits "Some Kind of Girl", "Rely on Me", and "Permanently Single". The album was dedicated to the Fields' parents and to Paul's oldest daughter, and reflected the previous 20 years of their lives. [20]

2016 saw the release of The Field Brothers' second album Every Day Is Like an Elvis Movie, which featured cameos from guests including Greedy Smith (Mental As Anything).

2021: Solo career

In February 2021, Field announced he would release his first solo album, Love Songs for Lonely People, in June 2021. The album was preceded by the singles "Valentines Day", a duet with Australian country singer Kasey Chambers, a cover of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere", with Jimmy Barnes and "This Way to Love and Happiness".

Love Songs for Lonely People was released on 4 June 2021.

Discography

Albums

TitleDetails
Love Songs for Lonely People
  • Released: 4 June 2021 [21]
  • Label: Paul Fields, ABC Music

Singles

TitleYearAlbum
"Valentines Day"
(featuring Kasey Chambers) [22]
2021Love Songs for Lonely People
"You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"
(with Jimmy Barnes) [23]
"This Way to Love and Happiness" [24]

Awards

Field was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2020 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the arts, particularly to children's entertainment, and as a supporter of charitable endeavours." [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wiggles</span> Australian childrens music group

The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Caterina Mete and Lucia Field. The Wiggles were founded in 1991 by Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Phillip Wilcher. Wilcher left the group after their first album. Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Cook, Fatt and Page retired and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce and Emma Watkins. Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and all three continued to have input into its creative and production aspects, while engaging in occasional reunion performances. Watkins departed the group in 2021, with Hawkins taking her place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Field</span> Australian musician and actor

Anthony Donald Joseph Field is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While still a teenager, he helped found the Cockroaches with his brothers, Paul and John. The Cockroaches recorded two albums and enjoyed moderate success, interrupted by Field's service in the Army, until they disbanded in the late 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Cook</span> Australian musician

Murray James Cook, AM is an Australian musician, actor, and DJ. Cook was one of the founding members of the children's band the Wiggles from 1991 to 2012. Cook provided guitar, vocals, and songwriting in the group, and remained involved with its creative and production aspects after his retirement. In 2013, Cook served as the Wiggles' tour manager. He also remains active in many music projects, including, writing and performing with the Sydney soul-rock band The Soul Movers. He is the father of wheelchair basketball player Georgia Munro-Cook. In 2015, he was one of the members of the Australian jury for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Page (musician)</span> Australian musician, singer and actor (born 1972)

Gregory John Page, is an Australian singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the original lead singer and a founding member of the children's band the Wiggles from 1991 to 2006 and then again in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Fatt</span> Australian musician and actor

Jeffrey Wayne Fatt is a Chinese Australian musician and actor. He was a member of the children's group The Wiggles from its founding in 1991 to 2012, and was also in the 1980s and 1990s pop band The Cockroaches with fellow Wiggle Anthony Field.

John William Michael Field is an Australian composer and songwriter. He was a founding mainstay member of the Sydney pub rock band the Cockroaches on rhythm guitar and sharing lead vocals. He has written tracks for the children's music group, the Wiggles, including "Hot Potato". His brothers, Paul Field and Anthony Field, were also bandmates in the Cockroaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cockroaches</span> Australian pub rock band

The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band primarily active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul, John, and Anthony —and Tony Henry on drums and Joseph Hallion on saxophone. They were joined in 1981 by Jeff Fatt on keyboards. In 1986 they signed with an independent label, Regular Records, which issued their first three albums, including The Cockroaches, which peaked at No. 9 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart; it sold 70,000 copies and was certified platinum by their label. The album spawned the single "She's the One", which became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at No. 7 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in April 1987. In 1988, The Daily Telegraph described the Cockroaches, who played over 300 gigs a year, as the "Hardest Working Rock'n'Roll Band" in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Paddick</span> Australian singer and actor

Paul Andrew Paddick is an Australian singer and actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Captain Feathersword, "the friendly pirate", a character associated with the children's band the Wiggles, where he eventually came to be known as "the fifth Wiggle".

<i>The Wiggles</i> (album) 1991 studio album by the Wiggles

The Wiggles is the debut album by the Australian children's band the Wiggles, released in 1991 by ABC Music distributed by Phonogram. As a student music project at Macquarie University, the band assembled a group of songs reworked from the Cockroaches as well as arrangements of children's music. It was the only album that involved Phillip Wilcher as one of the group's members. The album sold 100,000 copies, and received Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) and Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) awards.

<i>Yummy Yummy</i> (album) 1994 studio album by The Wiggles

Yummy Yummy is the fourth studio album by Australian children's music group the Wiggles. it was released in 1994 by ABC Music. A companion video was also made in 1994, and it was re-recorded in 1998.

<i>Big Red Car</i> 1995 studio album/video by The Wiggles

Big Red Car is the fifth album by Australian band the Wiggles, released in 1995 by ABC Music distributed by EMI. This album won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 1995.

<i>Wake Up Jeff!</i> 1996 studio album/video by The Wiggles

Wake Up Jeff! is the sixth album by Australian band the Wiggles, released in 1996 by ABC Music distributed by EMI. It won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 1996.

<i>Wiggle Time</i> 1993 film by Phil Cullen

Wiggle Time is the first home video from The Wiggles. It was released in 1993. It contains songs from the albums The Wiggles, Here Comes a Song and Stories and Songs: The Adventures of Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate. It also contains two songs newly recorded. The Wiggles and their friends Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Captain Feathersword all made their debuts.

<i>Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas</i> 1996 studio album / 1997 video by the Wiggles

Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas, released in 1996 by ABC Music distributed by EMI. It is the Wiggles' seventh album and the group's first Christmas album. It was made into a video the following year.

<i>Toot Toot!</i> 1998 studio album/video by The Wiggles

Toot Toot! is the ninth album by Australian band the Wiggles, released in 1998 by ABC Music distributed by EMI. It won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 1998.

<i>Racing to the Rainbow</i> 2006 studio album/video by The Wiggles

Racing to the Rainbow is the 25th album release by Australian children's music group, the Wiggles. This album won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album in 2006.

<i>Its a Wiggly Wiggly World</i> 2000 album/video by The Wiggles

It's a Wiggly Wiggly World is the tenth album by Australian band The Wiggles, released in 2000 by ABC Music distributed by EMI. It was nominated for the 2000 ARIA Music Award for Best Children's Album but lost to Hi-5's Jump and Jive with Hi-5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wiggles Pty Ltd</span> Australian entertainment company

The Wiggles Pty Ltd is the business created by the founders of the Australian children's music group The Wiggles. The group was protective of their brand, and adopted many of the same business practices as The Cockroaches, the former band of Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt, two of their founding members. They remained as independent as possible, and retained full creative control and ownership of every aspect of their business. As Field stated, The Wiggles Pty Ltd was "not your regular 'corporate culture'." The group made decisions by consensus and made business decisions based upon their experience as performers and their knowledge of early childhood education. They did not tour with a large troupe of dancers, cast, and crew until the late 1990s, and had high expectations regarding the behaviour and attitude of everyone associated with the group. They made careful decisions regarding their endorsements of toys and other products, and avoided over-extending their brand by only licensing products that correlated with their image.

The Wiggles characters are a group of characters who perform with the Wiggles, the Australian children's music group. Aside from the eight Wiggles, four secondary characters, along with a troupe of singers, actors, and dancers, appear in their television series, videos, and live concerts. These characters were developed in the 1990s and were originally played by group members and by Anthony Field's brother Paul Field, the band's manager. Later in the group's history, the characters were played by hired actors dressed in the characters' costumes.

<i>Och Aye the Gnu</i> 2017 studio album by Jimmy Barnes and The Wiggles

Och Aye the G'nu is a 2017 children's album credited to Australian singer-songwriter, Jimmy Barnes and the Wiggles. It was first mentioned by Anthony Field in the Wiggles' 25th anniversary feature interview. The album was released in March 2017 and peaked at number 34 on the ARIA Charts.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Elliott, Tim (7 January 2007). "It's a wiggly, wiggly world". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  2. St. Joseph's College Magazine. Sydney, Australia: St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. 1979.
  3. "Platinum record award, The Cockroaches, 1988". Powerhouse Museum. Retrieved 2012-12-10
  4. Field, p. 17
  5. Field, p. 15
  6. Field, p. 14
  7. Field, p. 6
  8. Field, p. 19
  9. McFarlane, Ian (1999). The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop . St Leonards NSW: Allen and Unwin. p.  129. ISBN   978-1865080727.
  10. Coupe, Stuart (24 July 1988). "Live Cockroached No.1". Sunday Herald.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Stapleton, John (7 June 2008). "Death of little girl gave birth to the Wiggles". The Australian. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  12. 1 2 3 4 O'Neill, Helen (7 June 2008). "Double Take". The Australian. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  13. "About Us". The Wiggles Official Website. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2007.
  14. 1 2 Scott, Paul (2 April 2006). "Kid Rock". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  15. "Red Nose Day: Paul Field reveals grief at losing baby daughter Bernadette to Sudden Infant death Syndrome".
  16. "CSU graduates part of The Wiggles world". Charles Sturt. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  17. Collier, Shayne (9 December 2012). "Dorothy the Dinosaur wiggles in to Hornsby RSL". Hornsby Advocate. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  18. Maloon, Natacha. "The Wiggles boss Paul Field leaves the children's group after 24 years". Honey. Nine.
  19. "Get to Know the Field Brothers". Country Music Channel. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  20. McCabe, Kathy (11 November 2011). "Brothers wiggle to a new album". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  21. "Love Songs for Lonely People (DD)". Apple Music. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  22. "Valentines Day - single (DD)". Apple Music. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  23. "Jimmy Barnes Teams Up With Paul Field to Cover Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Going Nowhere"". Music Feeds. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  24. "Paul Field - This Way To Love And Happiness (official video)". YouTube. 21 May 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  25. Stehle, Mark (25 January 2020). "Australia Day Honours 2020: Full list of recipients". The Sydney Morning Herald . Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 25 January 2020.