Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Rednex is a Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band. They had an international novelty hit with the song "Cotton Eye Joe" in 1994. Very popular in Germany, where the band holds the record of most total weeks (25) at number one on the German singles chart over the past 30 years—scoring such hits as "Old Pop in an Oak", "The Spirit of the Hawk” and "Wish You Were Here".
History
Band history
Rednex was initially the brainchild of Swedish producers Janne Ericsson, Örjan "Öban" Öberg, and Pat Reiniz, who decided to try mixing country music with eurodance. The name "Rednex" was chosen as a deliberate misspelling of the word "rednecks". They reworked the traditional folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe" into a dance song and released it in 1994, to huge worldwide success.
A debut album titled Sex & Violins followed the hit single Cotton Eye Joe, and Rednex went on to score other hits in Europe from that album (notably the up-tempo "Old Pop in an Oak" and the ballad "Wish You Were Here"). However, "Cotton Eye Joe" remains their only U.S. hit as of 2006 (#25 on the Billboard charts March 1995).
A follow up album entitled Farm Out was released in 2000 and found some success in Europe. Their single "The Spirit of the Hawk" was the most successful, finding particular popularity in Germany.
In 2001, the single "The Chase" was released, charting in Germany, and Switzerland and a further top 30 position was earned in Austria, later with the release of Cotton-Eye Joe 2002. In 2003, a greatest hits album was released entitled The Best of the West. It contained a selection of the hits mentioned above (the original versions), plus new material co-written and recorded by singer 'Scarlet'.
Band line-ups & personnel
The first female vocalist was Mary Joe (aka Karin Annika Ljungberg, who sang vocals on Sex & Violins). The second was Whippy (singing on Farm Out). The third who joined in 2001 was Scarlet (aka JulieAnne Tulley who is singing on Best of the West). At the end of 2004, Scarlet left to pursue a solo career and has worked with top DJs, and Producers like Jan Wayne, Jekyll & Hyde, DJ Gollum, Paul Oakenfold, Robert de Fresnes (Narcotic thrust). To kick off the 2005 season, Mary Joe returned.
Old members Crock, Dagger, and Ace remained within the group throughout female vocalist changes, until later being replaced or leaving due to disagreements within the group.
They recorded their songs with studio musicians, and a group of redneck role players to represent the group on stage and in music videos was put together. Over the years, these performers have come and gone, and as of 2007 there have been 15 different role players. Though these stage actors were not involved in the actual music making in the beginning (except for the female vocalists, who have always sung on the records), they are responsible for the Rednex image and live shows as a whole, and thus are considered just as much part of the group as the actual musicians.
2006 comeback
The group launched something of a minor comeback when they entered the song "Mama Take Me Home" in Semifinal 4 of the Swedish Melodifestivalen on 11 March 2006 in Gothenburg. They qualified for the final via the Second Chance Round, finishing an overall sixth in the final. The song "Mama Take Me Home" was subsequently released as a single in a few select European countries.
Their comeback continued as they released the single "Fe Fi (The Old Man Died)" in November 2006, after having performed it at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. It was surprisingly successful, reaching #4 in the Swedish Charts.
They also sang at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, in Helsinki.
In 2007 they were going to take part in the Romanian national final in the preselection for Eurovision, together with the Romanian band Ro-Mania. The song planned for the performance was Well-o-Wee. However, Rednex was disqualified since the judges deemed that several parts of the song had been published and performed as early as 2001.
In 2008 they entered the Romanian Eurovision selection once again, in another collaboration with the band Ro-Mania. The song RailRoad, RailRoad qualified for the semifinals, but failed to qualify for the final. After the withdrawal of another song however, it reentered the final contest to be held in Bucharest on February 23.
The new Song "Football is Our Religion" was an unofficial Song for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship which took place in Austria and Switzerland June 2008. Subsequently the song went to number 1 in the Swedish charts late summer of 2008.
In 2007, Rednex AB was put on sale on eBay, starting at $1,500,000.
2009 trademark coup
According to a Rednex press release, the band members Annika “Mary Joe” Ljungberg, Anders “Maverick” Lundström and Jens “Snake” Sylsjö were exchanged on January 1, 2009, bringing back former members Scarlet, Dagger, Ace Ratclaw and Joe Cagg. Mary Joe, Maverick and Snake were still touring as "The Cotton Eye Joe Show presented by the Rednex Band Ltd". This has caused the trademark owners Rednex AB to threaten them and concert organizers with legal action resulting in the cancellation of some shows.
Annika Ljungberg's trademark coup includes claiming the rights to the domain name rednex.se. Rednex AB accuse Annika Ljungberg of “spreading economical damage, lies, ulcer and insomnia like a plague not only within the Rednex group but also other parts of Swedish show business and it is growing”.
2009-10 releases
A new video was recorded on August 27 in Norrbyggeby in Sweden for the upcoming single "Devil's On The Loose". The song is the first single from the upcoming album "Saturday Night Beaver". On 7 January 2010 the single was released in a partnership with The Pirate Bay for free and legal download worldwide.
