Sam Moran www.sammoran.com/
The Colour Of Love
When he accepted The Wiggles’ yellow skivvy in 2006, Sam Moran knew it was the point of no return. On the road for thirty-five weeks of the year with hundreds of appearances on stage and screen leaves time for little else in the hectic schedule of Australia’s most successful entertainers. But Sam was born to entertain and was ready for any challenge that lay in front of him. Three years after that moment and now recognised as one of Australia’s most gifted performers, he unveils a solo project for his older fans, entitled The Colour Of Love.
It’s an incredible journey from his first vocal lessons at school in Wagga Wagga. Sam recalls, “There’s not that many music teachers in Wagga, but we found a singing teacher when I was fourteen, and I started taking opera lessons.” After graduating, he continued his vocal training at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he studied classical voice and music education with the intention of becoming a music teacher. However, his passion for performing was overwhelming, and through heavy involvement performing in musicals he ended up meeting John Field, a songwriter for ‘The Wiggles’ and brother of Anthony (the blue Wiggle). Only six months later Moran got a career break when he successfully auditioned for the role to host the spin-off production Dorothy The Dinosaur Show.
After quitting his studies to tour with the production, his natural affinity for The Wiggles’ performance style and their educational theory saw him perform several characters in their show, and filled in on occasion for the then yellow Wiggle and lead singer Greg Page. When Page eventually retired as a result of a chronic illness, The Wiggles decided to continue on, and Sam was offered the role. Now he is one of the busiest entertainers in the world, and he has never looked back.
A solo project for a Wiggle is a nearly inconceivable endeavour. Unlike normal music tours which might run around a specific release, The Wiggles are constantly overseas and perform six days a week for eleven months of the year. Be it television in the U.S., live shows in the U.K. or filming in Australia, it’s very difficult for a Wiggle to have time for non-Wiggly interests. So how Sam Moran might expect to create an album on his own, including recording and releasing it in Australia, is more ambitious than it seems. But it’s a project he’s passionate about because it reaches a whole new audience. “What we do with The Wiggles is fantastic,” says Sam, “When we’re performing for children, we sing mostly for joyous expression and dancing. In contrast, this album gives me a chance to explore more adult emotions.”
It’s fitting then that as Sam prepares to begin a family with his wife Lyn, he has chosen to celebrate the theme of love. The result is an album which explores these emotions within a collection of carefully selected covers. “It’s looking at love from different perspectives,” Sam explains, “The inspiration came from an unusual place. I came across a discussion board on the internet where there was a lot of people debating and arguing over which colour love is. It was then that I realised that each person’s experiences had coloured their perspective of love.” And so The Colour Of Love was conceived.
Sam’s renditions range from playful to solemn in songs which include Fleetwood Mac’s You Make Loving Fun and Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody. It’s a special collection performed with beautiful yet simple instrumentation in moving renditions of classics such as God Only Knows by the Beach Boys, The Scientist by Coldplay and Fire And Rain by James Taylor. Sam’s voice and personality shines through in both the high and low moments of the album, which truly is a journey through the different colours of love.
