Pat Wilson

Pat Wilson

Pat Wilson is an Australian singer and journalist, born in 1948. She is also known for her work in the 1970s music magazine Go-Set, where she writes under the pen name “Mummy Cool”.

As a singer, Wilson releases several singles in the early 1980s and is often described as a one-hit wonder. Her best-known recording is “Bop Girl”, written by her then husband Ross Wilson of Daddy Cool. The song satirises 1980s fashion and pop music, and reaches number two on the Australian charts, becoming one of the highest-selling singles of 1983. It also receives airplay in several other countries, including the United States.

Wilson’s later singles do not match the success of “Bop Girl”. The song’s video is also notable for featuring the screen debut of Nicole Kidman, then 15, playing a young “bop girl”. Director Gillian Armstrong casts Kidman in the role, and the video later returns to Australian music video playlists in 2004 after being used in a BBC documentary about Kidman’s career and in an American Cinematheque tribute.