26.3.10

DOWNLOAD NO.367 - THE COCKROACHES

Most Australians would know that The Cockroaches group are responsible for creating The Wiggles TV show and associated merchandise. The Field brothers (Paul, John and Anthony) started The Cockroaches in 1979 while still at boarding school. The Cockroaches began writing their own music and issued a string of singles on a variety of independent labels. In 1986 the band signed a deal with Regular Records and through promotion had better commercial success...

The band's first singles were:

  • "I Want a Leather Jacket"
  • "Through With Her"
  • "Bingo Bango" (June 1981)
  • "Used To Be"
  • "She Goes On And On" (August)
  • "Empty Heart"
  • "Apartment #9" (October)
  • "Shake Jump And Shout"
  • "Last Night"
  • "Empty Heart" (November 1982)
  • "See You In Spain"
  • "I've Been Thinking About You" (June 1984)
  • "My Whole World's Fallin' Down" (1985)
  • "Groovin’ In The Graveyard" (June 1985)
  • "Another Night Alone My Type Of Girl" (December 1985)

The band's first single on Regular, "Wait Up" (September 1986), became a national Top 40 hit and #13 in Sydney.

The band's debut album, The Cockroaches (March 1987) produced three further singles, "She's The One" (January), "Some Kind of Girl" (May) and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" (August). The Cockroaches reached #9 on the national chart, on its way to selling over 100,000 copies and "She's the One" became the band's biggest hit when it peaked at #7 during April 1987. "Some Kind of Girl" and "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)" also made the Top 30.

Peter Mackie replaced Phil Robinson before the band recorded its second album, Fingertips. In early 1989, The Cockroaches undertook a national tour. The band's third album, Positive (June 1991), included a cover of Brenda Lee's "Here Comes The Feeling" (August), which also appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film The Crossing, however, The Cockroaches as a band concept had run its course.

In the early 90s Anthony Field studied early childhood education. He eventually started The Wiggles with Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook (guitar) and Greg Page (vocals), which became extraordinarily successful in Australia, the USA and parts of Asia in children's entertainment and early learning.

John Field [alongside Sean Sennett] joined The Honeymen. The pair released two singles "Felt Like A Kiss" and "Motorbike Of Love". John Field went on to write the musical "Evie And The Birdman" and fronts The John Field Band.

Here for download courtesy of Jimmy Barnes is one of The Cockroache's early singles "My Whole World's Fallin' Down":

http://rapidshare.com/files/368601180/the_cockroaches_-_my_whole_world_s_fallin__down.mp3