The Raggs Band

**The Raggs Band**, originally known as the **RAGGS Kids Club Band**, is a semi-fictional band which was formed in 2001. Since the beginning, the band's lineup has always consisted of Raggs, Trilby, Pido, B. Max and Razzles, five colourful dogs. As well as featuring in the Raggs TV series, the band have toured across the US and internationally and have released a selection of albums and videos throughout the years.

## History

Although the character of Raggs was created by Toni Steedman back in 1990, and eventually became used as the mascot for a regional mall promotion, it wasn't until 2001 when the RAGGS Kids Club Band was made along with their first video; a 55 minute-long pilot called 'Pawsuuup!'. The band quickly came a success both inside and outside of the mall promotions, and for the next few years they started performing at various locations including fairs, festivals and performing arts venues.

During the band's early years before the TV series, their success mainly came from the video and CD releases. Five albums were released (Pawsuuup!, Raggs Rock, Unleashed, Holiday Jam and Red, White & Raggs) as well as three videos based on the first album as well as the last two. In 2004, they appeared on stage alongside Garfield in the Palace Theatre at Myrtle Beach. The costumes originally used for the dogs were a little different from the ones used in the TV series, resembling amateur fursuits.

Around 2003, Raggs creator Toni Steedman decided to take Raggs to the next level by starting pre-production on a TV series. Originally known as *'The Raggs Kids Club Band Show',* the series was set to air by fall 2004. However it wasn't until 2005, when Raggs and Southern Star International partnered up, that the TV series, which was now renamed to simply '*Raggs',* officially began production.

The first series finally aired on the Seven Network in January 2006. A lot of changes were made from the pilot, including but not limited to the character costumes (which used updated designs and fully animatronic heads) as well as the addition of Dumpster the Cat. Although the songs still featured the dogs' American voices, the dialogue was completely recast with Australian actors.

The show made its debut in the US one year later, where it aired on PBS. The US version was nearly identical to the Australian version, but the dogs' US voices were retained and the interview segments with Dumpster were re-filmed with local kids.

The show ended production in 2009, with three series and 78 episodes produced. However, the band kept touring and the show was distributed to more countries including Ireland and Latin America. In 2013, the Grand Palladium resorts introduced a new program called Play at Palladium with Raggs, which included character breakfasts, poolside shows and the highlight, a 90-minute concert-like live stage production called the Raggs Pirate Show. All of the original US voice actors came back to reprise their roles for the show, and for the first time ever, Raggs content was officially dubbed into Portugese.

2014 was a huge year for Raggs as, in partnership with content distributor WildBrain, the Raggs TV YouTube channel launched. The channel uploads full episodes of Raggs as well as exclusive animated nursery rhyme videos featuring the band. Official Raggs merchandise was also produced; including DVDs, new CD album releases and plush toys by Fiesta and The Bear Mill.

## Discography

Note: This list only includes the band's albums.

* 2000 - Pawsssup!
* 2004 - Raggs Rock
* 2004 - Wag & Wiggle
* 2004 - Holiday Jam
* 2005 - Red, White & Raggs
* 2006 - Let's Play
* 2007 - Dance Party!
* 2008 - Have a Ball!
* 2010 - Have a Ball! (Re-Release)
* 2010 - Let's Play (Re-Release)
* 2011 - Dance Party! (Re-Release)
* 2011 - Red, White & Raggs (Re-Release)
* 2013 - Raggs Pirate Show
* 2014 - Top Kids Songs, Vol. 1
* 2015 - 20 All-Time Favorite Kids Songs
* 2016 - The 45 Presidents
* 2017 - Preschool Series, Vol 1: Educationally-Themed Songs
* 2017 - Santa Paws!
* 2018 - Preschool Series, Vol 2: High-Energy Play Songs