“Wish I Could Fly” video has had its premiere on MTV Nordic. The video was shown on Nordic Top 5 and Per & Marie were at the studio. Nothing new there, but they confirmed that a remix single will be released.

The Argentinan TV is going to show an interview of Roxette on Sunday. Per and Marie were interviewed in Cannes last weekend for the TV show Versus. It will be shown at 11 PM Argentinan time (that’s 2 AM GMT).

Roxette will also visit Hit40 (TV2) in Norway on February 2 and Musikbyrån (SVT1) in Sweden on February 3.

The Official Fan Club has published the schedule of Roxette’s promotional tour. Here it goes:

January

• 26-27 Hamburg
  
• 28 Cologne
  
• 29-30 Brussels
  

February

• 1 Sweden
  
• 3 Napoli
  
• 4 Milan
  
• 10-11 Sweden
  
• 12-13 Helsinki
  
  TV recordings: Dynamo on Friday and Miss Finland on Saturday
  
• 15 Sweden
  
  Grammis gala, Roxette will perform “Wish I Could Fly” live
  
• 16 Italy
  
• 17-19 Vienna
  
• 20 Cologne
  
• 22-26 Germany and italy
  
• 27-28 London
  

March

• 1-2 Amsterdam
  
• 5 Oslo
  
• 6 Zürich
  
• 7-12 England
  
• 13 Frankfurt
  
• 17 Madrid
  
• 20-21 London
  
• 23-28 Japan
  
• 29 Sweden
  

April

• PR in South America or South Africa. DECISION ABOUT TOUR.
  

May

• More PR in Southeast Asia
  

Interesting news on yesterday’s Svenska Dagbladet: Roxette has bought 51 per cent of the Swedish pop group Ace of Base on Monday. The article wasn’t very clear and they didn’t e.g. tell how this deal will be done in practice. Roxette, as we all know, isn’t just one company, but perhaps Ace of Base is and thus Roxette was able to buy 51 % of the stock.

However, this whole thing sounds like an April fool and it isn’t even April now. The most peculiar thing is that next to the article is a strange pie chart (titled “Cash-flow”) without any explanations. And, has anyone ever heard of credit rating company PoorStandards?

Aftonbladet has again an article on Roxette. This time it’s about the promotion hassle which is going to start soon. “The worst thing I know are the long flights”, says Per. “But the higher you are in the music business the better hotels you get. Four Seasons in New York. Hyatt in Buenos Aires, Carlton in Cannes. And Bristol in Paris, one of the coolest hotels there is.”

Per and Marie think that nowadays one has to do promotion and tour around the world to get the albums sold. “If Elvis Presley would come back today, he would also have to do promotional work”, says Per.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

A 30-sec clip from the new video is available at fan club’s site. They also have some new pictures. Don’t forget to check out the info on the new membership options.

According to Rox Britannia there might be an official single release in South Africa in April/May. I told earlier that the single would only be released as a radio promo.

The official Roxette site www.haveaniceday.nu has been updated. The site features now a biography of Roxette and new graphics.

Here are some more dates from EMI Electrola’s site:

• February 20: Interaktiv Spezial (VIVA)
  
• March 5: Jam Special Bits (VIVA)
  
• March 7: Jam Special (VIVA)
  

Rox Britannia has some information on the German TV show Verstehen Sie Spaß (ARD, March 13) and how to get to see Roxette at the show. EMI Electrola tells on their web site that “Wish I Could Fly” and “It Must Have Been Love” are going to be shown.

Roxette was presented yesterday on the TV news broadcast of TV2, Norway’s biggest commercial TV station. A clip of “Wish I Could Fly” video with Marie rolling around in a bed was shown. Marie and Per were also interviewed and, according to our reader from Norway, the interview was from the same session where their Christmas greeting (available on fan club’s site) was recorded.

Roxette has reached #3 at Norway’s official radio chart Hit40.no. “Wish I Could Fly” entered the chart last week at #26, and now “the Norwegian radiostations are playing them as never before (or at least in a long time)”.

As Per has said, “Have A Nice Day” is less guitar-based and more hi-tech. The overall sound of the new album is very smooth and peaceful. A lot of strings are used, both real and sythetic. If you liked “Vulnerable” or the ballads on Per’s solo album, you’ll probably like this album too.

Michael Ilbert has brought in the buzzing guitars and Christoffer Lundquist the heavy bass guitar wall. Nice. Read more…

Norwegian newspaper VG has published an article on Roxette today. There doesn’t seem to be anything really new in this interview. Per tells that Gabriel changed his life. Marie tells that she became more harmonic and happy after Roxette had some time off. There’s a picture of Roxette in Cannes.

• VG’s Norwegian article

A 30-sec streaming video clip of “Wish I Could Fly” is now online at www.haveaniceday.nu. Several readers have reported problems with the video. Its quality seems to be very poor.

• www.haveaniceday.nu

According to EMI Electrola Roxette is going to visit two German TV shows in March.

• Bravo Supershow (RTL2): February 27
  
• Verstehen Sie Spaß (ARD): March 13
  

• EMI Electrola

Aftonbladet tells about the new video: “It’s a beautiful video. Calm and elegant. But with a blue, melancholy feeling. It’s night. Everybody and everything are asleep: the city, its people, the department store, the pubs, the streets. Only a black cat and Marie Fredriksson are awake and for a while - Per Gessle and his son.”

In the video Per stands by the window with his back to the camera. He has Gabriel on his arms. Gabriel looks over his shoulder straight to the camera. “Jonas [Åkerlund, the director] had an idea that I could stand and hold a baby… I can’t hold anyone else than Gabriel, no other child wants to be near me”, says Per laughing.

The video will be shown on TV4 Nordisk’s Nyhetsmorgon tomorrow.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

EMI Electrola has published an image of the “Have A Nice Day” album cover on their web site. Per told on Aftonbladet that they have to make a different cover for some countries (Dubai, for example) because there they can’t release a picture of a naked child. By the way, the child on the album cover isn’t Gabriel Gessle.

According to a South African reader, “Have A Nice Day” will be released there on February 22. There won’t be a retail version of “Wish I Could Fly” single at all. It will be only released as a radio promo single.

A rumour has it that when Roxette plays at Miss Finland gala in February, their “band” (it will be a playback gig) will be as follows:

• Per & Marie, of course
  
• Clarence Öfwerman, keyboards
  
• Christer Jansson, drums
  
• Tomas Hultcranz, bass guitar
  
• plus 6 people playing the strings
  

They will be accompanied by Åsa Gessle, Lisa Därckert (for the make up) and Marie Dimberg (their manager).

I’ve also been told that it’s possible that they won’t give any interviews while they’re in Finland.

According to Rox Britannia, Roxette will be visiting at least these TV shows:

• January 28: VIVA Interaktiv (VIVA, 3pm CET)
  
• February 12: Tracks (ARTE, 7pm CET)
  
  (Roxette’s new video will be shown)
  
• February 15: Grammis gala, Sweden
  (Roxette’s going to play “Wish I Could Fly”)
  

Finnish reporters interviewed Marie and Per on Wednesday. Today at least Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat published an article about the duo. MTV3’s morning TV broadcast showed more of the interview, but unfortunately I missed most of it. I called MTV3 and they gave me the interview on a video tape. However, there wasn’t anything really interesting in the interview.

Per and Marie told that it’s fun to come to Finland again. They visited Finland last time in 1994 when they launched the Crash! Boom! Bang! tour in Helsinki. Per and Marie say on Iltalehti that Roxette is going to have a world tour in a couple of years. “It’s possible that we start in Helsinki again”, they say.

In Finland they are going to perform “Wish I Could Fly” at Miss Finland finals, probably playback. Per and Marie are also going to visit a new TV show called Dynamo which is produced by Finland’s Swedish television FST. Roxette is going to spend altogether a couple of days in Finland.

Per tells about his birthday party on Ilta-Sanomat. “Marie sang me a very beautiful song and Gyllene Tider played five songs. We had a little circus performing, good food and a lot of drunken people!”

“It was a very pleasant day, but also a long and tiring one. It continued non-stop till 6 AM.” Per doesn’t think the age matters. “It’s a big misunderstanding that rock and pop are teenagers’ priviledge. That’s just a cliché. Bob Dylan is soon 60 and I find him still interesting. It’s about the work process and development, which happen despite the age.”

The Finnish media tell very mixed stories about Roxette’s record deal. According to Iltalehti the record deal is still just a rumour. Roxette denies that they would have signed a massive, 10-year contract with EMI. “The press exaggerated this whole thing. Most important is that we can continue working with our dear project”, says Marie.

“At the moment Roxette has work for many years. I’ll be already 50 then. You shouldn’t talk about money yet. I could tell, however, that this record deal is better than Abba had”, says Per with a grin.

Ilta-Sanomat says that Roxette has already renewed their contract with EMI. “It’s a deal of many albums and it will take 10 years to fulfil it - if we release albums with the same pace as we’ve done”, says Per. “We’re going to have many grey hairs before we have fulfiled the deal!”

“Wish I Could Fly” single is now available at the official fan club’s fanshop. The price is 10 NLG (single) or 12,50 NLG (maxi). The order comes with a free postcard and a sticker. MasterCards and Visa cards are accepted.

The largest music expo in the world, Midem, opens its doors tomorrow in Cannes, France. The expo is launched with Swedish music: Cardigans, Meja and many other Swedish stars perform at the opening ceremony. During the expo there will be also a conference with many famous speakers. Per Gessle is one of the panellists at “The Swede Sound of Success” conference on Sunday.

Roxette’s new video for “Wish I Could Fly” will probably have its premiere at Midem.

• Midem / The Swede Sound of Success

Sofia Björk and Maria Gahm of Roxworld have made an exclusive interview of Per Gessle. It’s quite interesting, check it out! There are both Swedish and English versions available.

• Roxworld

Per tells on Roxworld’s interview that Roxette is going to release a remix single of “Wish I Could Fly”. The single contains 4 different remixes of the song, because the radio stations especially in the UK want more tempo to the song. “[…] it was at first planned to be released only in the UK, but then [we] thought like what a hell we can release it everywhere because they became really good”, says Per according to Roxworld.

• Roxworld

Yesterday’s Ilta-Sanomat told that Roxette is going to perform at Miss Finland gala on February 14. EMI Finland has confirmed this, but they didn’t give any further details yet.

I was also told that “Wish I Could Fly” was played on Radiomafia on Monday, for the very first time in Finland.

According to Rox Britannia EMI Holland has told that the release of the video for “Wish I Could Fly” has been delayed. It will be out in the middle of next week.

“Wish I Could Fly” single is going to be released in Australia on February 17. No news about the album yet.

Earlier this month Karin Häggblom of EMI Svenska told me that the Australian release dates are going to be the same as in Sweden…

According to HMV record store chain “Wish I Could Fly” will be released on March 8 and “Have A Nice Day” on March 15. These dates are not confirmed by EMI, but they should be pretty accurate.

There’s not going to be one single with the same track listing as the Swedish 3-track version (no CD 1/2 as it often has been in the UK).

Roxette’s 10-year contract with EMI was one the news headlines on today’s 10 o’clock news on MTV3 channel in Finland. This contract is the largest record deal in Scandivia ever. Per was interviewed briefly and parts of “How Do You Do!” video were shown between Per’s statements. Per told that Roxette has always been a band that surfs between different styles of music. There was no mention of the new album.

MTV3’s 10 o’clock news is the most popular news broadcast in Finland. It is watched by a million people (a fifth of Finland’s population) every night.

Per and Marie visited Radio RIX’s morning show today. RIX’s web site has a couple of pictures from the studio.

I have just received a press release from EMI. As usually, this release tries to be a humorous conversation between Marie and Per. Read it and judge yourself if it’s funny or not… :-)

In the end of the press release is “Have A Nice Day” Track by track which means Marie and Per talking about the album tracks.

Here’s also a bigger version of Roxette Recordings logo.

About 400 European musicians, including Roxette, Robbie Williams, Aqua, Boyzone and The Corrs, have signed a petition for better copyright laws. With this they are trying to end piracy of music recordings on the Internet. The petition was given to the European Parliament today. Next month EU is considering the new copyright directive.

Here’s again a couple of new Roxette banners found on Swedish web sites.

Gessle Music AB, Gessle Records AB, Music For Money AB and Jimmy Fun Music AB have all registered .com domains this week. The contact person of gessle.com, gesslerecords.com, musicformoney.com and jimmyfunmusic.com is Lena Beime of Desert AB. Desert AB handles the administration of Roxette.

The domain gabrielgessle.com has been registered for Per Gessle/Music For Money.

Gessle Music AB has also registered the Swedish domain gessles.se. Music For Money AB owns the domain mfm.se.

On Tuesday Per got an email from his wife Åsa. The message told that he should get ready for a trip abroad. Per got in his car and he was taken to the harbour. A boat took Per, Åsa and their son Gabriel to Copenhagen where they celebrated for a night. From Copenhagen they continued to Paris. All this in two days!

Yesterday a big party was held in Hotel Tylösand, Halmstad. The party was arranged by Åsa with a little help from the music video director Jonas Åkerlund. About 150 people were invited; Marie, Eva Dahlgren, ex-Abba Björn Ulvaeus, Niklas Strömstedt… “But this isn’t a party for celebs”, says Per. “I have invited just good friends of mine.”

Per got plenty of gifts from fans. “Everything from dolls for Gabriel to boxes of chocolate, crackers and wine and books… You name it, I got it. One fan even bought me ten trees in a rain forest”, tells Per. “The dolls I of course give to Gabriel, the chocolate I eat myself… unfortunately.”

Aftonbladet asked Per to name the biggest events in his life. “[The biggest event] was surely when Kjell Andersson from EMI Svenska called me and offered us a record deal in January 1979. It was exactly 20 years ago. Since then Roxette has been like a long silk scarf. One of the biggest memories is when we played for 60000 people at a football stadium in São Paulo. And of course the day Gabriel was born.”

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Here’s the track listing that should be the real thing. This is taken from the EMI’s internal advance listening CD.

1. Crush On You
   
2. Wish I Could Fly
   
3. Youcantputyourarmsaroundwhatsalreadygone
   
4. Waiting For The Rain
   
5. Anyone
   
6. It Will Take A Long Long Time
   
7. 7twenty7
   
8. I Was So Lucky
   
9. Stars
   
10. Salvation
    
11. Pay The Price
    
12. Cooper
    
13. Staring At The Ground
    
14. Beautiful Things
    

Notice that the order of the songs is different. “Star” has now been changed to “Stars” and “It Will Take A Long Time” to “It Will Take A Long Long Time”. The correct form of “Beautiful Thing” is “Beautiful Things”.

Aftonbladet didn’t like “Wish I Could Fly” in its review, but Expressen’s Måns Ivarsson does. He likes Per’s “clever pop a lot”. “The sound is bold and even fantastic, dominated by a leaden bass against the sometimes severe, sometimes terrible strings. Roxette has never sounded this before (even though the chorus sounds familiar).”

“I don’t know if Steve Earle fans listen to Roxette, but the two minutes with the guitar and the strings have an exact ’quotation’ from the Earle song ’The other kind’. Cool.”

Expressen gives three bees to “Wish I Could Fly”.

Jan-Owe Wikström has written a large interview of Per Gessle to Hallandsposten, the local newspaper of Halmstad region.

Per tells: “If we would have had children when our house [Villa Gessle in Halmstad] was being built, we would have done many things different. Now there are dangers in every stairway, hideout and hard floor. But we prefered architecture to functionality and that’s why the house is a bit delicate.” Gabriel comes and plays with a miniature motorcycle. Per grabs it away from him, places it on the top of a shelf and says: “That one you shouldn’t take.” It appears that the motorcycle is a fully functional toy from the year 1910!

Villa Gessle is rounded with a high brick wall. “Of course it’s annoying. But without it you couldn’t relax - and you have to remember Gabriel. He has to have a life of his own and that’s why we have avoided publicity and pictures of him. But sure, it is going to be harder when he gets older. And he does appear on the new ’Wish I Could Fly’ video.”

As we all know, Per owns several companies. How well does he operate each of them? “I’m more like a generator who starts projects, but I need Janne Beime and other skilled people to put them into practice. It’s the same in music. I need a Marie [Fredriksson], an MP [Mats Persson] and a Clarence [Öfwerman] to take me where I want to.”

Per’s birthday party is going to be held in Hotel Tylösand on Saturday. “I know most of it [the programme], but not all. I believe so.”

The new Roxette album is going to make Per busy in doing PR work. “Yeah, it’s going to be fun to give interviews again. I haven’t given them for a long time and I’m really looking forward to it. But ask about this in May and I perhaps answer differently.”

I found yet another Roxette banner. This one was at Passagen and it was linked to www.haveaniceday.nu just like the others.

The UK division of the official fan club has launched its own web site. The site is huge and it looks great, too.

“Turning 40 doesn’t mean me a shit”, says Per, 40. “The important thing is that your life has contents.” Per thinks that when one is tired and fed up everything’s lost. “I was about to become like that. I was fed up with the future and tired of the music business. I felt like Pete Sampras, burned-out and discouraged.” Fortunately, an angel saved him. The angel is called Gabriel and he’s the 17-month-old son of Per and Åsa. “Suddenly I noticed that I needed something to my life. After Gabriel was born I felt like a totally different person. I’ve got my purpose: a family.”

Per doesn’t think the new album would be a of test of Roxette’s popularity. “This is the best [album] we’ve done. […] Marie sings better than ever. I feel myself super cool, I don’t think anyone’s going to ask ’why did you still make an album?’ It’s just the opposite, I think we’re going towards a very intensive period.”

Per isn’t afraid of the criticism even though the new single hasn’t get very good reviews. “We have written 40 songs, recorded 19 and 14 are on the album. Five of them are strong single candidates. It’s entirely a matter of chance which will be the first single. You can’t know if it’ll be a hit, you can’t see it in advance.”

“[My singing voice] is an absolute disaster. But I have to admit that I sing quite well on the new album…”, says Per. He would like to have the voice of John Lennon or Otis Redding or Steve Marriot (Small Faces).
Per is asked on Aftonbladet how he’s going to spend his birthday. “Åsa has arranged something, I have no idea what it is going to be.”

Five questions to Per:

• Drugs
  
  “I’ve never been a teetotalist. But I’m also a little shy to try anything new. I’m the kind of person who likes to have the control. It can be useful in this business.”
  
• Abba
  
  “A definitive role model. They were naturally superb, I can see it now. But I didn’t like them when they were pop. I specially hated ’Waterloo’.”
  
• Picasso
  
  “The greatest artist of the 20th century. […] He gave the impulse for my interest in art.”
  
• Diapers
  
  “Changing diapers is overrated entertainment. But a Nobel prize to the one who invented the T-shaped diapers!”
  
• Plastic surgery
  
  “Hmm, I think it’s time for a liposuction soon.”
  

The “Picture of the Day” in Aftonbladet is a funny picture of Per and a champaigne bottle. (Maybe he does need a liposuction, what do you think? :-)

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article
• Dagens bild

The track listing of the new single is not a rumour anymore as it’s also available on Boxman’s site.

Cheaper single (probably in a cardboard sleeve)

1. Wish I Could Fly
   
2. Happy Together
   

More expensive single (probably in a plastic cover)

1. Wish I Could Fly
   
2. Happy Together
   
3. Wish I Could Fly (demo)
   

Here are the lyrics of “Wish I Could Fly” from haveaniceday.nu site:

Halfway through the night

I wake up in a dream

Echoes in my head

Make every whisper turn into a scream

 

I dreamed I could fly

Out in the blue

Over this town

Following you

Over the trees

Subways and cars

I’d try to find out

Who you really are

 

In the middle of the night

Cool sweatin’ in my bed

Got the windows open wide

Thinkin’ about all the things you said

 

I wish I could fly

Out in the blue

Over this town

Following you

I’d fly over rooftops

The great boulevards

To try to find out

Who you really are

Who you really are

 

I wish I could fly now

Wish I could fly now

Wish I could fly now

 

I wish I could fly

Around and around

Over this town

The dirt on the ground

I’d follow your course

Of doors left ajar

To try to find out

Who you really are

 

To try to find out

Who you really are

Words & Music by Per Gessle / Published by HipHappy. All rights reserved. © 1999 Roxette Recordings

• www.haveaniceday.nu

The Swedish promo site for “Have A Nice Day” has been updated again. This time you can find the lyrics of “Wish I Could Fly” and a new picture of Roxette. There’s also a link section which features links to the official fan club’s site and to Jimmy Fun Music site.

• www.haveaniceday.nu

According to Aftonbladet, Per’s fortune is 200 million SEK which - of course - makes him one of the richest men in Sweden. Per also pays a lot of taxes: 17 million SEK in 1997. Per owns the copyrights to all his songs - 250 in total, he says.

Per’s wealth isn’t all exactly his own, because most of the business he does is run through several companies. A Swedish newspaper called Månadens affärer said in 1995 that his fortune would be as much as 500 million SEK, but Per said later in an interview that it’s totally made up.

Gyllene Tider’s Återtåget tour in 1996 brought 60 million SEK to Per. His albums has sold about 40 million copies around the world and the new album is going to increase the number with “at least 4 million”, says EMI Svenska.

Aftonbladet has made a list of Per’s companies:

• Gessle Music
  
  Sales: 12 860 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 4 069 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 100 %
  
• Music For Money
  
  Sales: 52 043 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 8 402 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 100 %
  
• Jimmy Fun Music
  
  Sales: 80 283 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 12 707 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 100 %
  
• Happy Accident Music
  
  Sales: 1 847 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 82 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 100 %
  
• Tres Hombres
  
  Sales: 2 700 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 35 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 33 %
  
• Funbag
  
  Sales: 1 766 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 46 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 100 %
  
• Roxette Produktions
  
  Sales: 12 230 128 SEK
  
  Profit: 516 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 50 %
  
• Tylösandskompaniet
  
  Sales: 34 337 000 SEK
  
  Profit: 83 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 40 %
  
• Tylösands havsbad
  
  Sales: 62 661 000 SEK
  
  Profit: -91 000 SEK
  
  Per owns: 40 %
  
• Roxette Recordings
  
  Sales: no information yet
  
  Profit: no information yet
  
  Per owns: 50 %
  

This is how Per spends his money (according to Aftonbladet):

• Has a 27-million-SEK villa (500 sq metres) in Halmstad and luxury apartment on Strandvägen in Stockholm.
  
• Has a Ferrari, Harley Davidson motorcycle and an Indian Big Chief jeep, but they are not in use. The family Gessle uses two Mercedes, a 420 and a 600.
  
• Collects art. First piece of art in his collection was a sculpture from the 60’s by Fernandez Arman bought in 1981. Per has masterpieces by Picasso and other famous artists.
  

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

The first article of Aftonbladet’s series tells about Per’s childhood, school and earlier bands.

Per was the youngest of three children and that’s why he was a bit sissy. He liked to read, paint and - most important - listen to the music. Aftobladet tells about his first album, Kinks’ “Kontroversy” which he bought from his brother and which is still in his record collection. Per also used to read all the American and English music charts very carefully.

Aftonbladet writes about his poor success in school. Per got a 1 (the worst grade) in maths, but “little did he know that he would ’get a 1’ in the USA”. The only subject he was really good at was music. It wasn’t a surprise he started his own band, first called Grape Rock, but soon the name was changed to Gyllene Tider.

Per met Marie first time in the early 80’s. Gyllene Tider and Marie’s band Strul shared a rehearsal room. “First time I saw Per I thought he looked unbeliavably stylish. I had a little doubt, though. We were more like hippies and he was an elegant and well-raised young man. […] After all we became quite a good friends”, Marie tells on Aftonbladet.

Then the article tells about Åsa Nordin, the woman who Per was to marry and about their son Gabriel Titus who was born in 1997. After Gyllene Tider had split up in 1985 (the article says 1983…) Per wasn’t really remembered anymore. However, in 1986 a duet with Marie Fredriksson brought him back to the spotlights. “Neverending Love” became a massive hit in Sweden. But for the international success they had to wait until 1989 and for the album “Look Sharp!”.

“After all this he hasn’t really changed much. He is still the same boy, only spoiled with millions. One gets so much stuff and money and the habits change”, says Rolf Nygren, ex-managing director of EMI Svenska. He believes in Roxette’s future. “Per won’t ever give up, it’s not his style.”

Tomorrow Aftonbladet is going to inspect Gessle’s million imperium.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Per turns 40 next Tuesday. To celebrate his birthday the newspaper Aftonbladet has started a series of articles about Per’s career “from 1 [the worst grade] in maths to #1 in USA”. There will be an article about him every day until January 12.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Last year’s (and maybe this year’s, too) megahit movie in Sweden, “Fucking Åmål” (that’s English, no need to translate :-), has been nominated for five Guldbagge awards. The categories are best film, best director, best manuscript, best actress and best supporting actor. Rather strange is that the stars of the movie, Alexandra Dahlström and Rebecca Liljeberg, are nominated together in best actress category. “Fucking Åmål” features old Gyllene Tider tune “När vi två blir en”.

EMI Electrola’s web site tells that “Wish I Could Fly” will be heard in Germany already on January 18, when the Australian Open tennis tournament begins. “Wish I Could Fly” is going to be the theme song of the tournament on German TV channel ARD. Thanks everyone, I got about 20 translations of the German article :-)

• EMI Electrola

EMI Argentina tells that “Have A Nice Day” will be released there on February 22. EMI Brazil tells that there the album release has been delayed a couple of days from Feb 22, but it will be released in February-March. The airplay is going to begin in Brazil on January 15. Thanks to our South American readers for this piece of information!

Roxette still doesn’t have a record deal for the USA. Per and Marie were never satisfied with EMI USA which, maybe fortunately, doesn’t exist anymore. Now they have to find a new record company to release “Have A Nice Day” in the States. However, Per seems to be hopeful: “The album will be released in the USA in the summer/late summer.”

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

“Roxette is going towards grandeur”, says Per on Aftonbladet. Per isn’t a bit uncertain on the new album’s success. “I have no plans on quitting before I’m 50”, he says.

“Have A Nice Day” won’t definitely be the last album. “No, for heaven’s sake. Marie sings better than ever”, says Per.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Today’s Aftobladet tells that after the release of the new album Roxette is leaving for a large PR tour. The duo will be visiting at least some South American countries, Japan, England and Germany. One of the events will also be Midem expo in Cannes, where they are promoting Swedish pop music.

Per also tells that the world tour is already being planned.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

According to EMI Svenska Australia and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are going to get “Have A Nice Day” on February 22. This is quite interesting, as I just yesterday told that there’s no release date for Australia.

Aftonbladet says in its article that Roxette would have recently signed a 10-year record deal with EMI. The same story was told already two years ago. I called EMI Svenska to ask what’s going on.

Li Eriksson tells: “Roxette hasn’t signed a 10-year contract with EMI. However, the negotiations are still going on. This record deal is huge and it’s been going from EMI to Per and Marie and to lawyers. It’s possible that you’ve already heard about it two years ago.”

EMI confirms that Roxette is going to have a big promotional tour, but they didn’t want to give any further details yet.

A reader from Argentina tells that “Wish I Could Fly” has already been played on the radio in Buenos Aires. Very good news! There’s no details on South American releases, but probably the album is going to be released there already in the early 1999.

According to a reader EMI Mexico has confirmed that the release date for Mexico and other Latin America is “the same as in United States”. That means that the album will be released there in fall 1999.

A rumour tells that the UK release has been delayed for a week and it’s still uncertain if there will be any release. No EMI confirmation on this one.

The release dates in Finland are the same as in Sweden (single on February 1 and album on February 22). Radio play is going to start “pretty soon, maybe next week”. EMI Finland hasn’t yet received the promo singles, but they have a few “unofficial advance listening CD’s which are only for EMI internal distribution”. EMI Finland is planning to promote the album on MTV3 web portal where Real Audio files will be available for download.

EMI Electrola’s new media department tells that they are going to use roxette.de domain for a site that promotes the new album. No further details available yet, sorry.

The release dates for Germany are now confirmed. They will be the same as in Sweden: Feb 1 for the single “Wish I Could Fly” and Feb 22 for the album.

• EMI Electrola
• roxette.de

Gesslel@nd tells that EMI Hungary has announced the release dates for the album and the single. Airplay is going to start on the week of January 13. The single “Wish I Could Fly” will be in the shops on February 3 and the album release follows a month later, on March 3.

According to Gesslel@nd Australia and the Asian countries have no fixed release dates yet. However, EMI Svenska tells that the Australian EMI has already ordered the material for the CD manufacture.

Aftonbladet tells that EMI Svenska is having a big draw for all the radio stations that play “Wish I Could Fly” a lot. The producers of 14 Swedish radio channels can win holiday trips, luxury goods and restaurant visits. EMI demands that the radio stations give “Wish I Could Fly” the highest priority between January 11 and 31, or they play it at least 17 times between January 11 and 17. “Damn suspicious. It’d be nice to test this in the court and see if they take this as bribing”, says Per Alexanderson, music chief of P3 radio station.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Roxette’s new single “Wish I Could Fly” didn’t get very positive welcome on Sweden’s largest newspaper Aftonbladet. “It is, as usually, well made and beautiful, with Beatles strings and strong voice of Marie Fredriksson and a little playful idea by Gessle. But that’s all, and I can assure you that we’ve heard it better and fresher before”, writes Håkan Steen on Aftonbladet. 2 pluses to Roxette.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Jan-Owe Wikström, also known as the author of “Roxette - The Book”, has written a review of “Wish I Could Fly” for Hallandsposten. “I’m a little disappointed that Roxette’s first single from the upcoming album ’Have A Nice Day’ is a ballad and not an up-tempo song”, says Wicke.

“It’s a power ballad of the classic Roxette-style. The sound is updated to the late 90’s in an industrial park. But after the neat suggestive role in the verse, on the second hand it reminded me of the start on EMF’s ’Unbelievable’ - then comes a big dramatic refrain with Marie at her best, as a distant cousin to megahits like ’It Must Have Been Love’ and ’Listen To Your Heart’. Roxette’s comeback sounds very much like Roxette.”

“’Wish I Could Fly’ may be the appetizer, but i’m convinced that there will be even more tasty popcandies on the album.” (translations by Marcus van Deursen, Gesslel@nd Reporter)

Gesslel@nd tells that the Official Roxette Fan Club is planning a new fan meeting and are having negotiations with EMI Electrola (the German EMI). The fan club had a succesful fan convention in Germany in May ’97. This time the meeting may be held in Holland, though.

The www.haveaniceday.nu site got some new stuff at the same time they uploaded the song clip. There are new graphics and a new section, pictures. However, there’s only one picture at the moment (the same one that was on Radio RIX’s site) and a message from Per. This is a bit late (I wonder why they didn’t release it earlier), but here it is:

HELLO FOLKS.

So it’s (finally?) time for a new Roxette album. We have worked with the album from late January and recorded 19 songs from the 42 songs written. According to the happy mathematician Clarence Öfwerman, we have spent over 200 days in the studio and one grabs the red Gretsch guitar as a reflex when he hears this [album]. Well, anyway, Have A Nice Day is the title of this epic and I can promise you that we have never been as satisified with the results.

 

Our ambition has been to preserve all the “trademarks” of Roxette, but at the same time to give you new freshness and an update of production and arrangement.

 

Roxette anno 1999 quite simple!

The first single (of the many, we hope!) is a rather classical Roxette song with delightfully young strings and with Gun-Marie Fredriksson at her best (she has never sung as well as on this album). Until the weekend we’re making a video with Jonas Åkerlund. It’s going to be cool.

 

Live well and I hope you all have a merry Christmas.

greetings Per Gessle / Lucia 1998 [Lucia = December 13]

• www.haveaniceday.nu

The 30-sec sound clips from Roxette’s coming single, “Wish I Could Fly”, are now available on the fan club’s site and on the official Swedish “Have A Nice Day!” site. The fan club’s clip is in MP3 format (480 K). www.haveaniceday.nu version is in Streaming Real Audio format (downloadable part 49 bytes, needs an active Internet connection). The fan club has also a picture of the single cover.

The Gessle World is the first site on the Internet to have a sound clip from “Wish I Could Fly”. The clip is recorded from TV and is in Streaming Real Audio format. The connection seems to be very slow, but I’ve got many messages from people all over the world who have managed to download the whole 11-sec clip.

• The Gessle World