If you thought 'Best Friend' was love-it-or-hate-it...
#66. Rednex - Cotton Eye Joe - 6.228
After 5: #36
After 10: #38
After 15: #46
After 20: #70
After 25: #66
After 30: #56
Final: #66
(Seriously, you guys were ALL over the place on this one.)
Highest: 10 x 5 (
@iheartpoptarts,
@Daniel_O,
@Eric,
@Ray,
@phily693)
Lowest: 0 x 5 (
@CasuallyCrazed,
@31entrance,
@Empty Shoebox,
@Untouchable Ace,
@Conan)
Album: Sex & Violins (1995)
Best Charts: #1 (UK), #1 (Austria), #1 (Belgium), #1 (Denmark), #1 (Finland), #1 (Germany), #1 (Netherlands), #1 (New Zealand), #1 (Norway), #1 (Scotland), #1 (Sweden), #1 (Switzerland)
(Take that, haters!)
Producers: Mup a.k.a. Pat Reiniz (of Rednex)
The biggest hit we've eliminated to date, 'Cotton Eye Joe' was an old folk song turned dance bop, and did it ever pay off. And I didn't even bother writing the non-#1 chart positions down, so there's more where all that success came from.
(Take that, haters! Again.)
Rising to fame by portraying rednecks (obvs) in the most stereotypical sense of the word, the Rednex originally consisted of Mary Joe, Bobby Sue, Ken Tacky, Billy Ray, and Mup. Not their real names (obvs).
I say "originally" because they've had a ton of lineup changes over the years. I mean, honestly. I'll just leave this here, shall I?
In their heyday, the Rednex had it all, including music with Max Martin and Denniz PoP, as everyone amazing and Swedish should try for at least once in a career. Sadly, it turns out this is a ballad, so it's not as exciting as it sounds.
They even had their own computer game (included with their EP a la Toy-Box), a point-and-click adventure entitled
Inbred with Rednex.
I didn't make this up. Y'all can check it out if you want. It looks not exactly terrible for 1995.
I used to know the steps to the 'Cotton Eye Joe' dance. I wish I could remember them these days. And yes, I do realize this is the kind of thing I could probably YouTube in two seconds.
As for my co-host, when
@DJHazey was much younger, he was under the impression that 'Cotton Eye Joe' was a rap song. Apparently his brother didn't let him live that down for quite a while. I hope I'm allowed to tell that story.
Heart:
@Hudweiser (9) - Twisted genius
@berserkboi (9.6) - Classic Red Neck bop (obvs)
@roborovsky (8) - I’d give Old Pop In An Oak the full 10/10.
Behold the sequel to 'Cotton Eye Joe', in which the guy barbecues his wife's pet skunk, so he goes to hide in a tree.
@Sprockrooster (8) - A problematic fave. Why something with those desastrous lyrics sounds so damn great. *Goes into hiding.
I'll go with you! And so will a lot of people.
@Ray (10) - I know this is objectively awful, but hearing the song made me replay the album AGAIN. Despite its…cover…art.
...Oh. Oh dear.
@phily693 (10) - I only very recently discovered what this song was about and now when I hear it I just have to let anyone around me know that pearl of wisdom because I don’t think it’s as obvious as one might think. It will always remind me of the dance machines at the arcades/amusements.
I could DDR to this!
@Cutlery (7.6) - This is bottom 10 fodder but I genuinely enjoyed how batshit it was. Country has never sounded this awkward and quirky
And indeed, some notable country-inspired pop came up...
@One Stop Candy Shop (8.5) - I wish Kylie had taken notes from this one. I probably would've liked Golden a lot more.
@ohnoitisnathan (8) - Enjoyable in a novelty kind of way. Whoever created Steps and decided to launch them with '5, 6, 7, 8' was obviously a fan of this song.
We've got good memories...
@sfmartin (9) - Infamous. I always thought the memories I had of this song were better than the actual song itself but its actually extremely well put together.
@Eric (10) - I love the blend of country and techno, and there's obviously the countless memories of do-si-doing with strangers at weddings and clubs - it's irresistible.
Hate:
And bad memories...
@Empty Shoebox (0) - Kill it etc. I've never liked this song, and the number of bad experiences I had at parties in the '90s which I now relate to this song just makes it worse. Maybe I'm not from the right part of the world. Maybe you need to be from somewhere where people can recognise line dancing to appreciate the joke here. I can't say. I just know that whoever it is they were aiming for, it wasn't me.
...So the entirety of the UK didn't in fact learn line dancing thanks to '5,6,7,8' by Steps?
@OspreyQueen (1) - I’ll throw one point at it for spawning some pretty funny memes.
@Seventeen Days (1) - Heard this EVERYWHERE back in the day. Repetitive, irritating, and god that fucking name. Next.
@CasuallyCrazed (0) - Literally in the running for one of the worst songs of all time. Kill it with fire.
A 5?!?!?!?!:
@WowWowWowWow (5) - Thank goodness we only had the one Rednex song make an impact over here. I'm not sure I could have handled multiple singles. Also for this rate I discovered that Lady Rednex also competed in Melodifestivalen under her own name -
- or rather, I knew of this song, but I didn't know she was Lady Rednex. She was one spot away from making it to the final that year! (And then Rednex came back in 2006 which is better left undiscussed....) Anyway Cotton Eye Joe has just overstayed its welcome in my life over the past 20 years. I get it, I understand what they were trying to do, I am sure I have bopped along or done a poor imitation of a line dance to it, but if it were to play on shuffle nowadays, I would probably take a sledgehammer to my phone. And that album cover is 100% cringe.
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