Boards
wikipedia entries written by the bands mum
Rootjoose were a funk rock band from Cornwall. They had a unique style of music, their live performances gaining them significant popularity in the South West of England during the late 1990's. Performances including lightshows and semi-choreographed grooving wowed cornish crowds and influenced hundreds of young musicians for nearly ten years.
Signed to Rage Records, the band released Rhubarb, their debut album, in 1997. Local legend has it that the album even outsold the Spice Girls, the girl-band who were at the time at the height of their popularity, in Cornwall.
Band members Rob Elton, Jamie Crowe, Fez (James Hardacre?) and Harry Collier achieved celebrity status in the South West and appeared on Local and at one point National television with the band.
Their most notable track - Mr Fixit - reached number 54 of the UK music charts during the late 90s. Other singles included Can't Keep Living This Way, which made number 73 and Long Way which made number 68. The band were unlucky - just as they were tipped to break through into the mainstream, their record company went bankrupt. They were unable to get a new deal, as the fashion at the time was for introspective indie music rather than their more upbeat style, and the band eventually called it a day in 2001. However, the story does not end there, as Harry Collier, bassist/vocalist for the band, went on to form piano-led pop-rockers Kubb who released their debut album, Mother, in 2005. Jamie Crowe & Rob Elton, former Rootjoose guitarists have now gone on to form rairbirds