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The Wiggles, an Australian band that found fame and fortune (as in 23 million DVDs) by aiming at the preschool market, didn’t miss a beat after replacing their lead singer.

IF YOU GO

THE WIGGLES

WHEN: 3 and 6:30 p.m. today

WHERE: Cumberland County Civic Center, 1 Civic Center Square, Portland

HOW MUCH: $10 to $40

CONTACT: 775-3458; www.theciviccenter.com

How does somebody go from playing in a rock band called the Cockroaches to being part of a kiddie entertainment mega business?

Well, in the case of Jeff Fatt, he and his bandmates basically grew up.

Fatt, 56, had been the drummer in the Cockroaches, an Australian rock band, throughout the 1980s. Then his bandmate, Anthony Field, decided it was time to get a real job – a more "legitimate" job, in Fatt's words. So Field went back to school and studied to be a pre-school teacher.

Soon, Field melded his music background with his interest in education, and the result was the Wiggles. The Australian group formed around 1991, and thanks to a series on public television, videos and thousands of live performances, they've been entertaining pre-schoolers for almost 20 years.

The Wiggles have sold 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs, and their shows can be seen on TV in more than 100 countries.

"I think our popularity is due to a combination of factors – the group's grounding in early childhood education, that we absolutely love what we're doing, and I like to think our songs are catchy enough for parents to appreciate," said Fatt during a recent phone interview. "It's rewarding when teenagers or young adults tell us how much they liked us when they were younger."

When the Wiggles play two shows at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland today, they'll have a different lead singer than the one that appears in most of the Wiggles' videos.

The original lead vocalist, Greg Page, was a pre-school education major along with Field. He left the group in 2006 due to a chronic illness which caused a "disconnect between what his body needed to do and what his brain was telling it," said Fatt. Basically, the physical rigors of performing were too much for Page, who is doing "much better" now that he is off the road and has the time to manage his illness, Fatt said.

Page was replaced by Sam Moran, another Australian who was Page's understudy for many years. Fatt says the transition went smoothly, partly because Moran knows all the songs and because the Wiggles as a group are "bigger than any one individual."

In fact, the individual Wiggles are probably better known by their shirt colors than their names. So the Wiggles, on air, officially passed the yellow shirt from Page to Moran, and Moran forever more became "the yellow Wiggle."

"In a lot of ways, getting Sam has been a breath of fresh air, injected some new energy," said Fatt. "He's got a great understanding of what we're all about."

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com