Beloved Local Band Announce
The End of An Amazing Era
Story by Matthew St. Amand
Photography by Gene Schilling
Drummer Mike Cooper didn’t realize he wanted to form a band until he worked the bar at his family’s tavern one night, and heard a guy sing. It was just another karaoke night and Mike was used to drowning out the auditory assaults on popular music. He was twenty-eight years old and had recently left a successful career in amateur baseball—five national championships—when Jerry LeBlanc took the stage.
“The moment I heard this guy sing,” Mike remembers, “I thought: ‘Holy cow! He’s got an unbelievable voice! This might be something we could put together.’”
From his earliest years, Mike’s life was guided by two passions: baseball and drumming.
“I started with drum lessons when I was eight years old,” he explains.
At age eleven, he began playing baseball, coached by the venerable Father Cullen of Assumption high school.
The following year, Mike’s mother passed away at age forty-two. Everyone deals with grief differently and Mike’s father and older brother dealt with theirs working at the family tavern.
“They weren’t home much,” Mike recalls, “and the drums were my babysitter. After coming home from school each day, I’d watch TV for a while, then play the drums. I’d go back and forth like that until about midnight. I’ve always had a passion for the drums.”
When baseball entered his life, there was time for little else.
“I was too busy to get involved in a band,” he continues. “I dabbled with a wedding band when I could make it from baseball, but it didn’t really go anywhere.”
Then he heard Jerry LeBlanc sing.
“I approached Jerry,” Mike says. “He had a very soulful voice. He was a natural entertainer. We put together a three-piece band with a keyboard player.”
The keyboardist left after about a year. Mike felt passionate enough about the band to search for a replacement.
“I was fortunate enough to meet Dave LaBute,” Mike says. “Dave was a teacher who played keyboards and guitar. He was interested in joining, but told me, ‘I don’t think I can do it. I’m getting married in a few months.’”
That appeared to be that.
The next day, however, Mike heard a segment on AM800 where callers spoke about people who had a positive impact on their lives.
“One caller shared how much an old teacher, Dave LaBute, had impacted his life,” Mike recalls. “And I thought: ‘This has got to be a sign.’”
It was. Mike called Dave again and Dave joined the band.
“He has been my best friend for over thirty years,” Mike says. “Dave has been our Wall of Sound. He is a great musical director and he does an amazing job arranging as well as performing the songs. He has been so integral to our success.”
The original singer, Jerry, left the band on good terms after twenty-five years. Although he could never be replaced, talented singer/guitarist, Luc Michaud, joined the band eight years ago to fill that role.
“Luc’s in his thirties, the youngest band member,” Mike says. “He’s been a very welcome addition, bringing his era of music—the 1990s—to our catalogue.”
Rounding out the line-up is John (JD) Drew, lead guitarist who also provides vocals.
“JD has been with us for twenty years,” Mike says. “He’s in the Windsor Music Hall of Fame.”
Bigg Wiggle based its name on its central purpose: to see its audience “wiggling” (dancing) on the dancefloor wherever they play.
“Our motto has always been: ‘A little something for everybody,’” Mike says.
Over thirty-three years, Bigg Wiggle has developed an incredibly diverse and wide-ranging repertoire.
“Throughout our career we have performed about five hundred songs,” Mike continues. “The genres we play include dance, old school R&B, funk, rock, classic rock, pop, retro—old 80’s stuff—and country music.”
When a band performs onstage, it often appears to any audience like effortless fun. Many times, it is.
“What audiences don’t see, though, is all the work that happens behind the scenes,” Mike explains. “To learn a song, to get it right, takes a lot of work. We work on a song, give it two or three tries playing it live to see if it works or not. Sometimes, our take on it is a dud, but we still put all of that work in. That’s just how it goes.”
Bigg Wiggle’s first big break came in their early years when they were invited to perform during the Challenge Cup at St. Clair College.
“There were about two thousand people there, partying their butts off,” Mike remembers. “A lot of people saw us and we got a lot of jobs through that—weddings, festivals, corporate gigs from here to Toronto. I haven’t called anyone for a job in over twenty years. In the past ten years, we have played between ninety and a hundred shows a year.”
Mike says that festivals are the most fun. They have played the Essex Fest fourteen times, ten years playing at the Tecumseh Corn Festival and the Taste of Tecumseh Festival since its inception. The festival that is closest to the band, though, is Bigg Wiggle Fest.
“We wanted to give back to the community,” Mike says, “so we created WiggleFest. This is our fifteenth year. We keep things simple: good music, BBQ, adult beverages. We’ve raised more than $150,000 which has benefited the Special Olympics, Family Respite, Mayor’s Youth Leadership, Farrow Miracle Park, FINA, Rotary Club and the Kinsmen Club.”
As the old saying goes: All good things must come to an end.
Bigg Wiggle has decided that 2025 is their last year of performing.
“We’re bringing it to an end because what is there left to do?” Mike says. He pauses before adding: “I have mixed emotions like you can’t believe. When it actually happens, though, I’ll finally be able to spend a weekend with my wife, Aline. I will retire the Bigg Wiggle name and enjoy thirty years of great memories!”
He continues: “We want to thank our audience, everyone who hired us for their weddings, festivals and corporate events, everyone who came out to support us. And much respect to our DJs and roadies over the years, particularly Rachael Hammond who was with us for ten years.”
Bigg Wiggle’s final show will be on New Year’s Eve at the St. Clair College Centre for the Arts.
To learn more about the band, and for further details about Bigg Wiggle Fest 2025—which happens this year on September 20, at Colchester Harbour—and information about its final show, check out Bigg Wiggle’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/biggwiggleband.
Published in the September 2025 Edition.
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