The Cockroaches

rdf:langString The Cockroaches

rdf:langString The Cockroaches

rdf:langString The Cockroaches

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rdf:langString "Do the Monkey", recorded by the Cockroaches in 1989. With very little changes, it is almost the same as the Wiggles' version, showing how the Wiggles revamped many songs in the Cockroaches' library

rdf:langString Originally a Cockroaches tune, one of the many songs in the Cockroaches' library that was changed from Australian pop to children's music

rdf:langString Cockroaches.ogg

rdf:langString The Monkey Dance.ogg

rdf:langString Refugee, EMI, Phantom, Powderworks, Possum, Festival, Regular, Roach

rdf:langString Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

rdf:langString * Paul Field * John Field * Anthony Field * Tony Henry * Jeff Fatt * Phil Robinson * Peter Mackie * Paul Dunworth * Bruce Hatfield * Geoff O'Reagan * Joseph Hallion

rdf:langString What the Cockroaches had over many other bands was an ability to connect with their audience. John and Anthony inspired anarchy—one minute leading a scene from Les Misérables or recreating John F Kennedy's assassination on stage, and the next making up a song on the spot . Paul was a powerful singer and leader who kept the gig from descending into mayhem. Jeff was a gifted keyboard player and the rhythm section was tight. It didn't hurt that all of the band members were handsome, as well." – Cockroaches saxophonist Daniel Fallon

rdf:langString "Do the Monkey"

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rdf:langString The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul (lead vocals), John (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Anthony (lead guitar, vocals)—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 (March 1987), 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. In September 1988, the band were promoting their second album, Fingertips, when Paul's infant daughter died of SIDS. Although devastated, the group continued with a lower profile, and Anthony left to resume his university studies yet returned periodically to record their later studio albums. Early in 1991 Anthony and Fatt founded a children's music group, The Wiggles. The Cockroaches alumni served as musical and performing support for the new group; John wrote much of their music, Paul became their manager, and Henry performed with them. The Wiggles used many of the Cockroaches' business practices and reworked some of their songs into the children's music genre. The Cockroaches released their third album, Positive, in June 1991 and left their label by the end of that year. In March 1994 they issued their fourth album, St. Patrick's Day 10am, on their own Roach Records. Australian musicologist Glenn A. Baker described their sound as "rangy, loose-limbed, good-natured, energetic, self-effacing, intuitive, harmonic, melodic, enduring, soused and fiercely frantic". Members of the Cockroaches have pursued other music careers with John and Paul forming the Field Brothers, John forming his own band called the John Field Band and writing plays and musicals, and Henry working as a session musician. A compilation album, Hey Let's Go – The Best of the Cockroaches was released by Festival Records in 1999, and a greatest hits album in 2014: Hey Let's Go.