Rednex
Rednex is a
Swedish manufactured
band that had an international novelty hit with the song "
Cotton Eye Joe" in
1995.
Rednex is the brainchild of Swedish producers Janne Ericsson, Örjan Öberg and Pat Reiniz, who decided to try mixing
country music with
techno. They decided to rework the traditional
folk song, "
Cotton-Eyed Joe", into a
dance song. They recorded the song with
studio musicians, put together a fake group of
redneck role players to represent a group, and released it in
1994, to huge worldwide success.
An album titled
Sex & Violins followed the hit song, and Rednex went on to score other hits in Europe from that album (notably the uptempo "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. Their single "Spirit Of The Hawk" from the album "Farm Out" topped many charts in Europe in 2000, including Germany.
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.
Rednex is a pun on the real spelling of the word "
redneck" in
plural form.
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Sex & Violins (
1994)
*
Farm Out (
2000)
*
The Best Of The West (
2003)
*
List of songs with particularly long titles*
Music Video of Rednex's "Cotton Eye Joe" at YouTube.com*
Rednex official website
