Murray Cook
Encyclopedia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 30 June 1960 in Cowra
Cowra, New South Wales
Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in the Cowra Shire. It is located on the Mid-Western Highway, 317 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River at an altitude of 310 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census Cowra had a population of 8,430...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n vocalist, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as one of the founding members of the children's band The Wiggles
The Wiggles
The Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...
. Cook is also a regular guest on the Australian TV show Spicks and Specks, with his good friend, host Adam Hills
Adam Hills
Adam Hills is an Australian comedian and television presenter. He has appeared on Australian and British television and is best known for his role hosting the Australian ABC music trivia show Spicks and Specks...
.
As a member of the Wiggles, Cook wears a red shirt and serves as an instrumentalist and vocalist. He is considered the intellectual and analytical member of the group (something referred to in several episodes of their TV show), so he acts as mediator for their group decisions. When The Wiggles received honorary degrees from the Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University
Australian Catholic University is a national public university. It has six campuses and offers programs in five faculties throughout Australia.-History:...
, Cook gave the commencement speech
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. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
to the graduates.
Cook played the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in the late '80s bands Transistor and Finger Guns before joining the Sydney-based band Bang Shang a Lang
Bang Shang a Lang
Bang Shang a Lang is an Australian pub rock band, active in the mid-to-late 1990s to the present day. They are based in Sydney.Most of their members were part of other bands in the Sydney music scene from the late 1970s through the 90s; Keyboard player Richard Stevens hails from Leeds in the...
. (He continued to play for this band in Sydney, when not on tour with The Wiggles.) When things did not work out in the music field for him, he returned to college and studied early childhood education
Early childhood education
Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
at Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
, where he met Anthony Field
Anthony Field
Anthony Donald Field AM is an Australian musician and actor. He is best known as a member of the children's group The Wiggles and the 1980s and 90s band The Cockroaches with his brothers, Paul and John and another future Wiggle, Jeff Fatt.Field was the youngest of seven children, and grew up in...
and Greg Page and formed The Wiggles
The Wiggles
The Wiggles are a children's group formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Their original members were Anthony Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album...
in 1991.
Cook's schtick
Schtick
A shtick is a comic theme or gimmick. "Shtick" is derived from the Yiddish word shtik , meaning "piece"; the closely related German word Stück has the same meaning. The English word "piece" itself is also sometimes used in a similar context...
in The Wiggles is an obsession with playing the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. He 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 the Wiggles. I know that would be fantastic." When asked what his favorite Wiggles song was, he stated, "'Play your guitar with Murray,' of course. When we play that song live I get to play like a rock 'n roll star." Cook's major musical influences are The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. In 2008, Cook was named "the sixth best guitarist in Australia".
Cook owns a collection of thirty vintage guitars. Onstage, he uses the Australian made Maton
Maton
Maton is an Australian manufacturer of guitars and other fretted musical instruments.Maton was founded in 1946 as the Maton Musical Instruments Company by Bill May and his brother Reg...
Mastersound 500 guitar. He also plays a '53 Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
gold top, '64 Fender Strat, James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, Maton
Maton
Maton is an Australian manufacturer of guitars and other fretted musical instruments.Maton was founded in 1946 as the Maton Musical Instruments Company by Bill May and his brother Reg...
Mastersound 500 and a more recent Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
at home or in the studio. The amplifiers he uses are the Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
Head and Box Combo, the Fender Twin
Fender Twin
The Fender Twin is a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known for their characteristically clean tone....
and a Bad Cat
Matchless Amplifiers
Matchless Amplifiers is a Los Angeles based company which designs and makes electric guitar amplifiers, specializing in class A tube circuitry.- History :...
, which he bought while in the U.S. and said had a "great sound."
Cook, whose nickname is "Muzz", or "Muzza", came up with The Wiggles' signature index finger-wagging move after watching professional bowlers
Bowler (ten-pin)
A bowler is someone participating in the sport of bowling, either as an amateur or professional. In American ten-pin bowling, a bowler is most commonly a member of a team of three to six people...
do the move on television.
Cook was made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
on 26 January 2010 for service to the arts, particularly children's entertainment, and to the community as a benefactor and supporter of a range of charities.