Rootjoose were a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. They purveyed a lively style of music reminiscent of

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

bands such as contemporaries

Reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

, their live performances gained them some popularity in the South West of Britain during the late 1990s. Signed to Rage Records, the band released ''Rhubarb'', their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, in 1997. Band members Rob Elton, Jamie Crowe, Fez (James Hardaker) and Harry Collier achieved minor

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

status in the South West and appeared on local and at one point national

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

with the band. Coming first in the national Battle of the Bands competition, an event sponsored by Capital Radio, the band performed at Earls Court. Their most notable track - "Mr Fixit" - reached number 54 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in August 1997. Other

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

included "Can't Keep Living This Way", which made number 73 and "Long Way", which made number 68. Just as the band was tipped to break through into the mainstream,

Rage Rage may refer to: * Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger Games * Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game * Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell * ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first-per ...

(Rootjoose's

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

) went bankrupt. The band was unable to secure a new

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

, as the fashion at the time was for introspective indie music rather than their more upbeat style. The band broke up in 2001. Collier later went on to form Kubb, who released their debut album, ''Mother'', in 2005. Crowe and Elton went on to form the

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

band Rairbirds.

Albums

''Rhubarb''

''Rhubarb'' is the only studio album to be produced by Rootjoose. It was released on 6 October 1997 and reached number 58 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. However, the EP ''Money and Time'' was released afterwards.

Track listing

# The Joose Is Coming Soon # Pie in the Sky # The Parradiddle Song # Never Knew You # Taxman # Mr Fixit # Holiday # Long Way # Inspiration # Place So Near # Can't Keep Living This Way # Anniversary # Virtually Fat Free A cassette tape "The Sting" containing four tracks was produced and sold privately by the band around 1995. Produced by Jo Partridge and James Cassidy for Airfield Productions it featured the tracks Anniversary, Long Way, Pie in the Sky and The Sting of which only the last was not included later on the Rhubarb album. The tape has a white label and carries no catalogue number.

References

External links

Rootjoose page on last.fm
English indie rock groups Musicians from Cornwall {{UK-band-stub