Sex & Violins

Cotton Eye Joe is a song by the Swedish Eurodance group Rednex, released in August 1994 by Jive and Zomba as the lead single from their debut studio album, Sex & Violins (1995). Based on the traditional American folk song "Cotton-Eyed Joe", it blends the group's Eurodance style with traditional American instruments like the banjo and fiddle. The song was written by Janne Ericsson, Örjan "Öban" Öberg, and Pat Reiniz, and produced by Reiniz. The vocal verses are performed by Annika Ljungberg Read more on Last.fm.

Rednex is a group formed in Sweden, known for mixing pop and Eurodance sounds with elements of country, folk and bluegrass. The group enjoyed success throughout the 1990s with novelty hits such as Cotton Eye Joe, Old Pop in an Oak, The Spirit of the Hawk and Wish You Were Here. Rednex are also known for their several, controversial line-up changes. The group originally consisted of the Annika Ljungberg (Mary Joe), Kent Olander (Bobby Sue), Arne Arstrand (Ken Tacky), Jonas Nilsson (Billy Ray) and Patrick Edenberg (Mup). Edenberg would soon be replaced as a group member by Urban Landgren (BB Stiff). In 1996, female lead singer Annika Ljungberg was fired, partly due to disagreements with the other band members, and replaced by Mia Löfgren (Whippy). During the Farm Out era in 2000, Patrick Edenberg decided to shift the group's focus toward live entertainment, which led to a total rehaul of the line-up. All members of the group were replaced, bringing in Julie-Anne Tulley (Scarlet), Anders Sandberg (Dagger), Roy van der Haagen (Joe Cgg) and Jean-Paul Engeln (Jay Lee) instead. Roster changes continued to plague the group, with Roy van den Haagen and Jean-Paul Engeln leaving in 2003. They were replaced by Tor Pentén (Ace Ratclaw) and Björn Scheffler (Boneduster Crock). A year later, Julie-Anne Tulley parted ways with Rednex. A decade after leaving the group, original female lead singer Annika Ljungberg returned to Rednex in 2006 and was assigned exclusive rights to license the Rednex trademark until the end of 2008. She replaced Björn Scheffler with her husband, Jens Sylsjö (Snake), and Anders Sandberg with Anders Lundström (Maverick). On 1 January 2009, when Annika Ljungberg's management licence expired, control of the Rednex brand returned to the founders of the group. All members of the group were fired by the returning management following a dispute, and were replaced by members of Rednex Tribute, who were all themselves former members of Rednex. In January 2012, Rednex announced that they had shelved the concept of a permanent line-up. Instead, the group now uses a larger pool of characters, from which one female and three male performers are chosen for each performance, depending on the location and the availability of the members. Current members Mia Löfgren (Whippy): 1998-1999, 2014-present Cecilia Karlsson (Misty Mae): 2012-present Christine van de Ven (Abby Hick): 2012-present Cassidy: 2017-present Rattler: 2017-present Puppy: 2017-present Anders Sandberg (Dagger): 2001-2005, 2009-present Tor Pentén (Ace Ratclaw): 2003-2006, 2009-present Roy van der Haagen (Joe Cagg): 2001-2002, 2009-present Björn Scheffler (Boneduster Crock): 2003-2005, 2012-present Pontus Söderqvist (Rufus Jones): 2012-present Jan Blumentrath (Spades): 2014-present Anders Arstrand (Ken Tacky): 1994-1999, 2014-present Urban Landgren (BB Stiff): 1994-2000, 2014-present Jonas Nilsson (Billy Ray): 1994-2000, 2014-present Former members Patrick Edenberg (Mup): 1994 Kent Olander (Bobby Sue): 1994-2000 Jean-Paul Engeln (Jay Lee): 2001-2002 Anders Lundström (Maverick): 2006 Jens Sylsjö (Snake): 2005-2008 Annika Ljungberg (Mary Joe): 1994-1995, 2004-2008 Julie-Anne Tulley (Scarlet): 2001-2004, 2009-2011 Nadja Flood (Dakotah): 2012-2015 Rednex NZ In November 2012, Rednex began a franchise operation in Australia & New Zealand. Four new performers from Auckland and Wellington were recruited to form a second Rednex with a non-exclusive license to perform in Australasia. Performers in the NZ/Australian line-up include Theresa Murphy (Rayanna Randy Payne), Anthony Sibbald (Rawtooth Rick), and Pascal Roggen (Slimboy) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.