Murray Cook
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Murray James Cook, AM (born 30 June 1960) is an Australian musician, actor, and Disc jockey. Cook was one of the founding members of the children's band
the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...
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 remained active in many music projects, including, after 2015, writing and performing with the Sydney soul-rock band The Soul Movers. In July 2020, Cook brought the original members of The Wiggles back together to create a disco-infused workout track for the Soul Movers "Circles Baby" (ABC Music) designed to lift the spirits of a nation.


Career


Early musical projects

Cook played the
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
in the late 1980s bands the Transistors and Finger Guns before joining the Sydney-based band
Bang Shang a Lang Bang Shang a Lang (BSL) are an Australian pub rock band. Four members were in other bands in the local music scene from the late 1970s through to the 1990s. Murray Cook on guitar and vocals and Mark Mulligan on guitar and lead vocals were pre ...
. (He continued to play for Bang Shang a Lang in Sydney, when not on tour with the Wiggles.)


The Wiggles

After "a career as a struggling musician in Sydney", Cook returned to university and studied
early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivale ...
at
Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
, where he met
Anthony Field Anthony Donald Joseph Field, AM (born 8 May 1963) 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 s ...
and Greg Page and formed
the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...
in 1991. Cook worked as a preschool teacher for two years before the success of the Wiggles forced him to quit. According to Field, Cook would have been content to "continue teaching and perhaps move into an academic role in the field. He knows his stuff and is simply great with children". Cook was conscious that he was probably the first guitarist children would see, and said, "I always think that if it inspires kids to play guitar later on that would be great. I think it would be really nice if in 15 years I read that somebody got into guitar playing because of heWiggles". ''Guitar Magazine'' speculated that since Cook was one of the first guitarists children were exposed to, he might be the most influential guitarist in the world. Cook's major musical influences were
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
,
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, and
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
. In 2007, Cook owned a collection of thirty vintage guitars. As a member of the Wiggles, Cook wore a red skivvy and served as an instrumentalist and vocalist. He came up with the Wiggles' signature index finger-wagging move after watching professional ten pin bowlers do the move on television. He was considered the intellectual and analytical member of the group (something referred to in several episodes of their TV show), so he acted as mediator for their group decisions. When the Wiggles received honorary degrees from the
Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...
in 2006, Cook gave the
commencement speech A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions and in similar institutions around the world. The commencement ...
to the graduates. On 17 May 2012, it was announced that Cook, along with Greg Page and Jeff Fatt, would be retiring from the Wiggles at the end of the year. He was replaced by Wiggles cast member
Simon Pryce Simon James Pryce (born 7 March 1972) is an Australian singer and actor. He is best known for his work as the Red Wiggle of The Wiggles since 2013, and also for the children's show ''The Kingdom of Paramithi''. Career Pryce, whose grandparents ...
. Cook and the others expected to remain involved with the creative and production aspects of the group. In 2013, Cook served as the group's tour manager.


After the Wiggles

Cook told the ''
Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...
'', about his music career after his retirement from the Wiggles, "I was kind of feeling my way for a few years, I guess". In addition to continuing to play with Bang Shang A Lang, he "began to explore other adult musical projects". He performed lead guitar for the Proposition, "a Sydney-based guitar pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Luke Russell" on their 2015 album, ''Edge of the Dancefloor''. Also in 2015, Cook was involved in the production of the play ''Sons of Sun'', which was about American music producer
Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
. In October 2017, Cook played guitar for the tribute show "The Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood Experience" with
Zoe Carides Zoe Carides (born 19 February 1962) is an Australian actress of film and television, who is best known for her roles in '' Death in Brunswick'' as Sophie, ''G. P.'' as Dr. Sonia Kapek and ''Grass Roots'' as Liz Murray. Family Carides was born ...
and Scott Holmes in
Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...
. While exploring other projects, Cook met Lizzie Mack, a member of the Sydney soul-rock band the Soul Movers, who along with
Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth. Hist ...
guitarist
Deniz Tek Deniz Tek (born November 10, 1952) is a Turkish-American singer, guitarist and songwriter and a founding member of Australian rock group Radio Birdman. He has played in many of the underground rock bands of the 1970s including Australian bands Th ...
and founder of The Soul Movers, were relaunching the group. In 2015, Cook began writing songs with Mack and decided to focus on the band and use it as his "main creative outlet" In 2017, the group recorded ''Testify'', "an album of energetic blues, soul and rock". The album was recorded at the Wiggles' studio in northwest Sydney and Jeff Fatt performed keyboards for the group. In 2019, the group recorded ''Bona Fide'', which the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' called "a stunning album". The album, which as Cook stated, included "more roots-oriented songs to try to reflect a wide range of American music styles", and was recorded in the U.S.' "premier soul studios" such as
Sun Studios Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...
in Memphis, Tennessee, and
FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording locations of the ...
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In early 2018, Cook gave an "energetic performance" in the music video for the
DZ Deathrays DZ Deathrays (previously Denzel then DZ) are an Australian dance-punk trio from Brisbane, Queensland. Composed of Shane Parsons (vocals/guitar), Lachlan Ewbank (lead guitar/vocals) and Simon Ridley (drums), they put out two EPs before releasing ...
song, "Like People", which went viral online. He appeared with the group at the rock festival
Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near B ...
in July 2018. The Soul Movers album "Bona Fide" was recorded across legendary studios in North America including Royal and Sun Studios in Memphis and Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound in Alabama (ABC Music 2019) has been nominated for best Soul/R&B album of 2019 in the AIR Awards. The Soul Movers play rescheduled music festival Splendour in the Grass in 2021. (Previous albums "Testify!" and "Evolution" were released in October 2020 (ABC Music)).


Personal life

Cook's nickname is "Muzz". He is married to Meg Munro and has two children, a son and a daughter, wheelchair basketball player
Georgia Munro-Cook Georgia Munro-Cook is an Australian 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player. She represented Australia at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg, the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, and the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball ...
. In 2018, he told the ''Newcastle Herald'', "I'm a big fan of music in general and go to see lots of bands". Cook, along with the other three original members of the Wiggles, was made a
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in 2010 "for service to the arts, particularly children's entertainment, and to the community as benefactors and supporters of a range of charities". In 2015, he was one of the members of the Australian jury for the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...
. On 30 November 2020, 11 months after fellow former founding bandmate Greg Page collapsed on stage at a bushfire relief concert and went into cardiac arrest, Cook opened up about a major health scare which forced him to undergo open heart surgery.


References


External links


Bang Shang a Lang

The Soul Movers


Bibliography

* Field, Anthony and Greg Truman. (2012). ''How I Got My Wiggle Back: A Memoir of Healing''. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Murray 1960 births APRA Award winners Living people People educated at Orange High School (New South Wales) Members of the Order of Australia People from Cowra The Wiggles members Australian male singers Australian children's musicians Australian songwriters Australian rock guitarists Macquarie University alumni Lead guitarists People from Orange, New South Wales Australian male guitarists