IN PROFILE

Murray Cook’s 13-year-old self would have pinched himself to be working with Tony Mitchell. Soul Movers Lizzie Mack and Murray Cook with former Sherbet members Tony Mitchell and Gar th Por ter.

The evolution of a Wiggle

By Tania Phillps

Teen-aged Murray Cook never imagined that one day he’d be working with his idols from Sherbet.

But then again teen Murray probably didn’t think he’d have open-heart surgery in his early sixties and be a member of one of the biggest bands in the world – for the under-fives!

The man known to a whole generation as Murray Wiggle – the man in the red skivvy - has done all that and a lot more.

Murray is currently launching his third album with his band The Soul Movers and is hoping to hold one of the album launches at The Zoo here in Brisbane in 19 September (Pandemic willing), they were also due to play at The Rails in Byron on 18 September.

“This album has been really exciting to me – there’s kind of a personal element to it because the first band I ever saw when I was 13 was Sherbet and lived in the country and not much music came through,” he said.

“But Sherbet came through every year. They were actually seen as a teeny-bopper group but they were actually really great players and a really great live band. So fast-forward 40 something years and I’m with Lizzie (the band’s lead vocalist) writing songs with Garth Porter (the keyboard player). He produced our album – he also brought Tony Mitchell who was the bass player with Sherbet on to play bass. He’s an amazing base player so we’ve been doing shows with him live.

“If my 13-year-old brain had known this was going to happen it probably would have exploded.

“I’m a fan of music and it’s never lost on me I’ve met lots of big names over the years. You’re cool when you’re talking to them but there’s a part of your brain going – oh my god, oh my god. I kind of got used to it with Tony and Garth.”

This is quite a different album for the band – the first one they’ve done with an outside producer but Porter is extremely experienced and in his time since Sherbet has gone on to produce some of Australia’s classic country music albums of the 90s and beyond.

Not that Soul Moves are country – far from it. They wear their 60s, 70s and 80s influences firmly on their sleeves. And like Murray’s previous band – fun is part of the appeal – though in this case the audience is a bit taller and a lot older.

“The album turned out really well – its our shiny pop album and we’re getting really great feedback from people – we are loving playing the songs – when we can actually get out there and play!” he laughed.

So when Murray started out did he think he’d still be playing music into his 60s?

“I guess I never really thought that far ahead when I was younger,” he admitted.

“I first started playing in pubs in the late 70s with friends from school – we got a band together. I played with my friend Mark from that band all through the 80s. It was a really fertile time for music. There were so many bands and so many pubs that had bands, you could go and see Cold Chisel or the Angels or Midnight Oil any night of the week in Sydney. It was an exciting time. The upside for young bands was that pubs would put on anyone so you didn’t have to be any good which we weren’t when we started.

“I pursued that for about 10 years and decided music wasn’t going to be for me. It wasn’t going to be my career so I went to university and studied early childhood teaching and that’s when music did become my career,” he laughed.

“I met Anthony (Field) and Greg (Paige) there and Jeff at the same time and we did an album which we thought was just a one-off, fun hobby project and it went from there and it just built and built. For the next 21 years I was pretty much on the road constantly. It was an amazing experience but I just love playing music, I love playing in front of an audience. Live music is really my big passion. When I finished up in the Wiggles at the end of 2012 I was a bit lost for a bit I have to admit. When something takes up that much of your life – even more than some jobs – when you are away for weeks on end. It’s a huge part of your identity. It was a bit of a shock when I wasn’t doing it.”

While he now knows that it was the right time to move one he had been a bit lost and was just playing with friends in lots of different bands. He had about six or seven bands at one stage before running into Lizzie Mack who had already formed Soul Movers.

Catch The Soul Movers at the Zoo or check out their new album Evolution.

The Soul Movers whose members span several decades but it doesn’t seem to matter as they just love the music.

The Soul Movers from their Evolution album shoot.