Join James Valentine in conversation with the world’s most famous early childhood teacher, Murray Cook.

Join James Valentine in conversation with the world’s most famous early childhood teacher, Murray Cook.

Friday March 14, 2014 • Sydney Opera hOuSe bigFatSMile.cOM.au/cOnFerence

Murray is a musician, teacher and one fourth of The (original) Wiggles. He met his fellow band mates at Macquarie University while completing an early childhood degree. They formed the iconic

children’s band in 1991 and Murray worked as a preschool teacher before wiggly success forced him into full time band mode.

Murray’s schtick in the band was his obsession with his guitar. All that practice paid off and he is now ranked as one of the nation’s top guitarists.

As a member of The Wiggles, Murray wore the red skivvy, he was considered the intellectual member of the group (something referred to in several episodes of their TV show). The Wiggles have earned 17 gold, 12 platinum, three double-platinum, and ten multi-platinum awards for sales of over 17 million DVDs and four million CDs.

In 2011 the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and in 2012 Murray retired from The Wiggles front line (although he is still very much involved with the iconic brand he helped build).

Murray was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2010 for service to the arts and to the community as a benefactor and supporter of a range of charities. He is ambassador for the charity Action Aid, whose education programs in Cambodia provide children access to quality education.

Murray continues to be heavily involved in the Sydney music scene. In addition to playing for the band Bang Shang A Lang, he was the guitarist for Luke Russell and The Proposition and was involved in the production of the play Sons of Sun. He loves it when young people on the contemporary music scene cite The Wiggles, as their inspiration (Yep. It happens a lot).

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James is a broadcaster, writer and musician. He presents Afternoons on 702 ABC Sydney, writes regularly for The Australian and a weekly column for the Northshore Times. He plays saxophone and

his quartet has performed weekly at the Golden Sheaf for the last three years. The band has released two CDs, the last entitled The Power and The Passion.

He is the writer/narrator of Come Dine With Me for the Lifestyle Channel. He recently produced and presented Exhumed a television program on amateur music for ABC TV.

James has been part of Australian media and entertainment his entire working life. He was a

musician in the 1980s and a member of bands such as Models, Absent Friends and the Wendy Mathews Band. He toured and recorded with Jo Camilleri, Steve Cummings, Kate Ceberano, and a host of others.

On television, he’s been the host of the children’s program The Afternoon Show on ABC TV, presented Showtime Movie News for over ten years, been a regular on Sunrise, Midday and Good Morning Australia, a judge on It Takes Two and a Playschool presenter – he struggled to make a spider out of pipe cleaners.

He’s the author of six books. The JumpMan series is a science fiction trilogy for young adult readers, The True History of Stuff is for children and The Form Guide and Spotfull are two books of adult humour based on his radio show.

He lives in Sydney, is married to Joanne a clinical psychologist and they have two children.

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