MAKING AUDIENCES SQUIRM AUSSIE BAND HAS THE WRITHE STUFF FOR KIDS AND PARENTS.

Byline: Vicki Smith Paluch Correspondent

DOWN UNDER, the Wiggles are as big as Barney.

And the band's popularity in the United States is growing by leaps and bounds due, in part, to its air time on Disney's Playhouse. The Wiggles bring their fun and educational brand of kiddie-pop to the Universal Amphitheatre on Thursday. Weekend shows in Long Beach and Oxnard are sold out.

For those who have not seen them on television or video, the Wiggles are a four-man pop-rock group for the under-8 set. Based in Sydney, the Wiggles have broken records for video and record sales over the past decade in Australia, as well as attendance records at their stage shows - mini-rock concerts for moppets.

As the Wiggles, Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Greg Page and Jeff Fatt have toured the United States on six previous occasions, including working as the intermission entertainment for Barney's stage show.

Judging from their latest video, ``The Wiggles Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party,'' the band produces child-appropriate songs ranging in styles from polkas (``Hoop-Dee-Doo!'') to waltzes (``Marie's Wedding'') to rock 'n' rock (``Caveland'' and ``Move Like an Emu.'')

The Wiggles are accompanied by characters - Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and Capt. Feathersword, a friendly pirate who wields a long, maroon feather instead of a sword.

The characters add to the fun, keeping the stage action lively. Capt.Feathersword (actor Paul Piddick) brings lots of silliness with him. For example, when one of the Wiggles presses one of his ``magic buttons,'' it causes him to speed up and slow down, or display various emotions.

Field, Cook and Page hatched the idea of blending educational concepts with contemporary music while they were studying early-childhood education at Sydney's Macquarie University. They began writing children's songs as one of their university projects, and later enlisted the help of Fatt, who played with Field in the 1980s band the Cockroaches. The Wiggles released their first album in 1991.

``We were musicians and preschool teachers,'' recalled Cook. ``At the time in Australia, most children's entertainers were solo singers. We wanted to do something that was age-appropriate in a band for children.''

The group is named after what children do best and most often - wiggle.

``When children dance, they wiggle. When you ask them to listen, they wiggle. That's why we're the Wiggles,'' Cook explained during a break between shows in Arizona.

Children who have seen the Wiggles on cable television on ``Disney's Playhouse'' will know the group members by their first names and the color of their shirts. Murray wears red, Greg wears yellow, Jeff wears purple and Anthony wears blue.

During the concerts as well as on video, the Wiggles involve the audience, demonstrating dance steps and rhythms to clap. The ``Hoop-Dee- Doo'' asks the child to stand on one leg and lift the other to the side. Then clap, clap, clap, clap. ``Move Like an Emu'' is reminiscent of Steve Martin's ``King Tut,'' especially the arm movements.

``Children like and recognize that we are genuinely having fun,'' Cook said.

While some children might not know what a cricket bat is, American children have been responding well to the Wiggles, Cook said.

``Despite the cultural differences, children behave in similar ways,'' Cook said. ``The American audience - children and adults - participate more. They are not as reserved, shall we say. They get up and dance.''

THE WIGGLES

Where: Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City.

When: 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

Tickets: $19 to $24. Call [phone] or [phone].

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no caption (The Wiggles)