Rootjoose were a funk

Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...

 rock band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 from Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. They purveyed a lively style of music reminiscent of surf rock bands such as contemporaries Reef

Reef (band)

Reef are an English band from Glastonbury. The band members includes Gary Stringer on vocals, Kenwyn House on guitar, Jack Bessant on bass and Dominic Greensmith on drums.-Early days:...

, their live performances gained them some popularity in the South West of Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 during the late 1990s. Signed to Rage Records, the band released Rhubarb, their debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, in 1997.

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

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

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

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 with the band. Coming first in the national Battle of the Bands competition, an event sponsored by Capital Radio

Capital Radio

Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...

, the band performed at Earls Court

Earls Court

Earls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...

.

Their most notable track - "Mr Fixit" - reached number 54 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in August 1997. Other singles

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 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 (Rootjoose's record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

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

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

, 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

Kubb (band)

Kubb are a British indie rock band from London, who had two UK top 40 hits in 2005/6 and a top 30 album. Original member Ben Langmaid went on to become half of the duo La Roux.- Biography :...

, who released their debut album, Mother, in 2005. Crowe and Elton went on to form the dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 band Rairbirds.

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

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

.

However, the EP Money and Time was released afterwards.

Track listing

1. The Joose Is Coming Soon
2. Pie in the Sky
3. The Parradiddle Song
4. Never Knew You
5. Taxman
6. Mr Fixit
7. Holiday
8. Long Way
9. Inspiration
10. Place So Near
11. Can't Keep Living This Way
12. Anniversary
13. Virtually Fat Free