The York Guardian

Not being under two-and-a-half I didn't have the date circled on my calendar, but I was invited to see what all the excitement was about by my buddy Peter and his granddaughter Ella.

I happily agreed - as long as I didn't have to go to all three.

If you're older than two-and-a-half, you should know that little Ella was beside herself when she found out the Wiggles were coming to town.

At first I thought she was putting on weight. Or sitting beside a mirror. But she was actually beside herself. She jumped out of her skin a couple of months ago when her grandpa showed her the tickets. I think this is one of those out-of-body experiences they used to talk so much about back in the hippie days of Haight-Ashbury.

Anyhow, the Wiggles are a phenomenon to be sure, but after catching the show I can safely say their appeal is not about the music.

It's the group's colourful, funny outfits, wide array of props, silly choreography and over-the-top performing that wins the day.

In short, they are a contrived, well-oiled marketing and merchandising machine aimed at the post-diaper crowd. And it works to perfection. They have become a worldwide phenomenon driven by a wildly successful TV series.

Seeing all this cleverly orchestrated Wiggles pandemonium brought back memories of the first time a musical group used this formula to catapult into the public eye, albeit for an older group of kids.

It was a band called the Monkees.

The Monkees was invented by the marketing department of a U.S. TV network that, having seen the impact of Beatlemania, set out to package an American version. They auditioned zillions of actors and singers and ultimately came up with their answer to the Fab Four.

There was a slight difference. Unlike the Beatles, only one of the Monkees could really sing, lead singer Davy Jones, and only one was considered a real musician, guitarist Peter Tork. The other members, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith, were a former child movie star and a songwriter, respectively.

Still, they were moulded into a band, and a TV sitcom was created around them that set the wheels in motion and the marketers took over from there.

The show was a smash, their albums took off - indeed they sold more albums in 1967 than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined - and concert dates were packed. The Monkees became a phenomenon, although their shelf life was short.

They are now touring again and doing well as part of the summer nostalgia circuit. I'm sure 20 years from now they'll still be going strong, likely playing on a bill with the Old Kids on the Block and the Beach Grandpas.

So as I think of Ella wearing her Wiggles jacket, Wiggles T-shirt, Wiggles jeans, Wiggles shoes and Wiggles socks, I don't laugh too hard. In fact, I don't laugh at all. It's hard not to get sucked in by all the hype.

Take it from one who knows.

After I wrote this, I leaned back in my Monkees rocking chair, adjusted my Monkees Obusform, put on my Monkees bifocals, had a sip of my Monkees Metamucil, set my Monkees alarm clock, put on my Monkees pajamas and took my mid-afternoon nap.

What can I say, I'm human.