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My Roxette letter is posted on Billboard.com!!!!!
27 replies
eBay said on August 16, 2005 07:03:
This morning I logged onto billboard.com and went into the ’ask a question’ link and to my HUGE SURPRISE and HUGE SHOCK (!!!!!!!!) they posted my Roxette letter!!!!!!
Interesting to read what they said about Roxette. They have got some missunderstanding about roxette in the US but.. oh my god.. this is just so exciting to be posted on Billboard.com!!!!!! This has made my day!!! lol
eBay said on August 16, 2005 08:40:
Hello Spookster!
It is on www.billboard.com under the Ask Billboard section. or try this link: http://www.billboard.com/bb/ask/index.jsp
Guys, let me know what you think??!!! I have been telling everybody about this, as Billboard is probably the most read music site on the web and even TDR uses it a lot for resources!!! Yay! :-)
rox-kuryliw said on August 16, 2005 08:44:
beat me to it lol, interesing though, emi no good brains i have to say :-S
People can not buy the records if not released its simple lol
tevensso (moderator) said on August 16, 2005 08:49:
Neat.
ROXETTE’S ROCKY U.S. RELATIONSHIP
Hi Keith,
First of all, let me tell you, I have been reading your column for the last few years, it gives us something to look forward to every week!
Now, there is something I have been wondering about. The group DHT recently released the cover of Roxette’s song “Listen to Your Heart.” This week it is at No. 8 on The Billboard Hot 100 chart. Here in the U.K. and Europe, Roxette has found some unexpected success with Dancing DJs’ dance reworking of their “Fading Like a Flower” (It spends a second week in the top 30 on the Official U.K. Singles chart this week).
Do you know if we will have a re-release of the original singles? Or maybe their “Greatest Hits?” Or any of the albums that never got issued in the U.S.?
I believe Roxette has sold millions of albums, but some were never released in he U.S. Why is that? Also, if it’s not too much of a hassle, which Roxette albums have been released in the United States and how many copies have they sold?
Mathoni Torke
Dublin
Hi Mathoni,
There are no announced plans for Roxette to release a new greatest hits compilation in the United States nor is the group working on new material. The duo’s Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson are said to be working on assorted solo projects.
Here in America, Roxette has only one hits collection in print – “The Ballad Hits,” which does include “Listen to Your Heart.” In 2000, Edel America released “Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorus-Greatest Hits,” a complete Roxette hits album. However, that label has since folded, and the album has gone out of print in the United States (although it is available as an import from other countries).
You can still pick two of Roxette’s U.S. studio albums – “Look Sharp!” and “Joyride” – as well as “Baladas En Espagnol” (a set of Spanish versions of their ballad hits) and their live album “Tourism.” EMI distributes all five of the titles in America. However, other albums like “Crash! Boom! Bang!,” “Room Service” and “Pearls of Passion,” are either no longer available in the United States or were never released there.
Perhaps with the new interest in Roxette’s older hits, EMI might consider looking into issuing “Don’t Bore Us.”
For the record, Roxette scored 12 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including six top 10 singles. They are: “The Look” (No. 1), “Listen to Your Heart” (No. 1), “Dangerous” (No. 2), “It Must Have Been Love” (No. 1), “Joyride” (No. 1) and “Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)” (No. 2).
Here is a roundup of Roxette’s U.S. album releases and how much they have sold to date:
“Look Sharp!” (1989; certified platinum for U.S. shipments of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1990; it has sold 402,000 since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991)
“Joyride” (1991; 1.3 million)
“Tourism” (1992; 273,000)
“Crash! Boom! Bang!” (1994; 46,000)
“Baladas En Espagnol” (1996; 13,000)
“Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorus-Greatest Hits” (2000; 78,000)
“The Ballad Hits” (2003; 14,000)
eBay said on August 16, 2005 10:00:
As I mentioned, there seem to be some misconceptions in the US concerning Roxette. They dont even seem to be aware that Roxette had an Album called ’Have a nice day’!
But still, I am just so ecited that his has been posted as Billboard.com only ever posts letters on there about Hot topics, thihngs that the public is interested in and would like to know more about!
It might be sad, but I am still so excited that my letter has been posted! :-) Yay!!!!
tevensso (moderator) said on August 16, 2005 10:26:
C!B!B! was indeed released in the US, however, record stores refused to carry it as McDonald’s had their version out months ahead. McDonald’s version sold about a million copies.
ncurran said on August 16, 2005 10:27:
LaMan, he says that those albums “are either no longer available in the United States or were never released there.”
C!B!B! was definitely released, but its possible that it was deleted by EMI and is no longer available in the US. That is quite feasible, as it was a pretty low seller, and they may have only kept in print the original albums which sold reasonably well.
Roxette-atic said on August 16, 2005 10:45:
DBU2000 sold 78.000 copies?? And TBH 14.000?? Thats much more than I thought.
eBay said on August 16, 2005 11:14:
@ Roxette-atic
I have to agree with you, it is much more than I thought as well!!
Actually, just one thing that came to my mind, if Look Sharp was certified for 1 million copies being sold in 1989 and in 1991 when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data, it sold another 400.000, sure it must have sold at least half a million in 1990 as well. So Look Sharp seems to be much of a bigger seller in the US than I ever thought!
ncurran said on August 16, 2005 11:22:
but those figures are actually very low when you consider that platinum is 1,000,000 copies in the US.
I was actually surprised how LOW the figures for Look Sharp and Joyride were. I always thought that Roxette were much more popular in the US than they were in the UK in the late 80’s/early 90’s, but Look Sharp went double platinum in the UK, whereas in the US it wasnt even half way there to get a platinum award. It seems the bulk of their success in the US was in the singles chart.
EDIT: oh i just noticed that LS sold that amount since 1991. I wonder how many it has sold in total.
RobS said on August 16, 2005 11:39:
I was quite surprised about the totals listed as well. I thought that the US sales made up a large part of the total sales of their albums, seems i’ve been wrong.
KristinaDK said on August 16, 2005 20:29:
@ncurran: When did LS! go platinum in the States, then? *confused* ...I have the award somewhere, and actually I thought it was from 1990 or something...?!! Anyway, I’d like the correct info if possible :) Thanks!!! *just being curious*
ncurran said on August 16, 2005 20:51:
well according to the above article it was certified platinum in 1990 (1 million units shipped), and has sold 402000 copies since 1991, so I’m guessing that it has sold about 1.5 million copies. That is quite an impressive figure.....BUT comparatively to other markets its not really that much. LS went double platinum in the UK (600,000) units. I always thought that Roxette were pretty huge at that time in the US, but it seems that it was quite a mediocre success. 2 platinum albums is nothing to turn your nose up at, but its not exactly amazing success either.
Starrox said on August 17, 2005 01:27:
What surprised me most about those sales figures were actually the 1.3 million copies Joyride sold! I mean, I knew the at least 1.5 million copies(*) sold here made up a large part of the overall sales, but I had no idea more copies were sold in Germany than in the US! Pretty amazing considering the fact there were and are more than three times as many potential buyers and Roxette had more #1 hits in the States, I think...
* “At least 1.5 million copies” since I don’t know how many copies were sold in the last 13 to 14 years - or rather since they got that huge “star-award” that is (or was?) hanging in Leif’s Lounge that’s made up of triple gold for LS and triple platinum for Joyride...
(Gold equaled 250.000, platinum 500.000 copies back then)
eBay said on August 17, 2005 07:13:
True, Joyride has sold much more copies in Germany than it did in the US. But you can not really compare both markets to each other. Roxette was one of the biggest bands to ever enter the German market. Joyride has sold almost 3 million copies in Germany.. MUCH MUCH more than any ABBA album ever sold there, making Roxette the biggest and most successful scandinavian band to ever enter the german market. Their success in Germany was fuled by songs like Joyride, that stayed at the top spot of the charts a good quarter of the full year.
Roxette were big in the US, more for their singles however. They had a few number 1 hits there, but even Roxette’s biggest number 1 Hit, It must have been love, only stayed at the top spot for 2 weeks in the US. The look and listen to your heart only spent one week at the top spot. I am not sure how long Joyride (the song, not the Album) was at number one..
AURYTE said on August 17, 2005 08:48:
So Joyride sold 3 000 000 copies in Germany. It’s amazing!!! And it’s obvious that Roxette is very popular in Germany. Look back at Room Service tour. It was mostly German dates. :)
animalkingdom said on August 17, 2005 09:15:
According to Roxette’s Chart History I ordered from Billboard “Look Sharp!” never got further up the charts than #23 and “Joyride’s” peak was only number 12.
coyboyusa said on August 17, 2005 16:40:
those sales tallies are not right they didnt include the mcdonalds promo in the tallies of cbb which would have put it well over 1 million copies, cbb was released in the usa
you guys have to rember too that joyride hit here about a yr before grunge caught on so the sales were cut short very fast, if grunge took another yeear to become big they would have sold about 2.5 million in the states alone. i too was very surprised that the edel hits package sold nearly 100,000 copies, but i wonder howmuch of that is internet sales by importers?
TheRain1981 said on August 20, 2005 00:39:
’Favorites From CBB’ is only 10 tracks, whereas the full-length album is 15 tracks, hence why the McDonalds totals should not be added to the 15-track album. That’s why it’s not listed on the site, plus I don’t think the RIAA tracked sales of ’Favorites’ anyway.
Superbullie said on August 20, 2005 10:51:
grunge?
ah, you mean grunge with bands like ähm nirvana or soundgarden and so on
coyboyusa said on August 20, 2005 13:34:
the mc donalds ” promo” is longer thna an ep so by billboards own standards it should have been included in the tallies for the domestic album sales, regardless they still have a fan base here its just so damn sad per doesn’t seem to think so
AURYTE said on August 20, 2005 17:29:
I can’t believe that both Look Sharp! and Joyride never reached number 1 spot!!!
eBay said on August 22, 2005 07:43:
Ace of Base is the only Swedish Band ever to have a Number 1 album in the US, not even Abba reached the top spot.
eBay said on August 16, 2005 07:15:
In all the excitement I forgot how to spell!! lol It was meant to say, posted not postes in the header!! lol
For anyone who is going to read my Roxette letter that I sent to Billboard.com , I wrote it in a way, pretending not to be a HUGE fan, so it might be posted. I didn’t want them to think, this is just another fanatic writing to them.. lol Oh my god, this is just so exciting!!!!!