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MELBOURNE: It may not be the break-up of the Beatles, but for the under-6 age group it is still traumatic news: Yellow Wiggle Greg Page is leaving the band.
The children's entertainers known as the Wiggles are an Australian cultural phenomenon. From Nome to Nagasaki, their combination of high- octane song and dance has become a staple of morning television schedules, sold millions of videos and come to the rescue of many a parent at wits' end as to how to entertain rambunctious youngsters.
Page was the one of the group's founders and wore a yellow shirt, distinguishing him from Blue Wiggle Anthony Field, Red Wiggle Murray Cook and Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt.
Page, 34, said Thursday that he was leaving the group because he had contracted orthostatic intolerance, a heart-related medical condition that had left him exhausted and prone to fainting, making it impossible for him to carry on with the group's punishing touring schedule.
He said he would retire to concentrate on his health.
"This emotional decision was one which was very difficult, as I have dedicated almost half my life to the Wiggles, and with a question mark over my health, I feel that this is the right decision," he said in a statement on the Wiggles Web site.
Page and his fellow Wiggles have become the superstars of the children's market. Their songs "The Monkey Dance," "Fruit Salad" and "Wake Up Jeff" have become best sellers, and spun off a huge merchandising empire.
There is a Wiggles theme-park in the Australian state of Queensland, where children can climb into the Wiggles Big Red Car and sing "Toot toot, chugga chugga" along with Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog. Both are so popular they are getting their own show independent of the polychromatic human Wigglers.
And for anyone tempted to think all this is child's play, it's worth bearing in mind that last year the group earned $39 million - more than Nicole Kidman, another Australian icon - and they once played 12 sold- out dates at New York's Madison Square Gardens, breaking Bruce Springsteen's record.
Page has handed the yellow shirt to his understudy, Sam Moran, who has been a back-up singer and dancer with the group for more than a decade, and the band and their backers are hoping that as long as it wiggles and wears yellow, the group's fans will get over it soon.
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