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Opportunity Nox: why did it flop?

50 replies

Room_service said on December 19, 2005 11:23:

I’ve been wondering this for a long time, I think it’s time to start a discussion about it.

When “Opportunity Nox” was out I was immediately hooked with the song. Even more when I watched the video for the very first time. “What a production!”, I thought. I believed it was the real Roxette comeback to the charts, but it didn’t happened. It had all the necessary ingredients to be a hit:

- It’s short (3 minutes) and very effective song. No hidden meanings, pure pop.
- It has a very mainstream and up-to-date sound. Very electronical, but you can hear the classical Roxette’s guitar riffs (specially from 1.46 to 1.58 - I love that part!).
- Like it or not, electronic music has loads of fans today. Shows like Creamfields became bigger and bigger every year, at least here in Buenos Aires. And that’s not the only festival. I don’t like that type of music, but I believed O. Nox would be appealing (why not?) for that kind of public.
- If remixed, the song would guarantee the dance floor filled, don’t you agree?
- I know we all would love a video featuring “real” Per and Marie, but that was not possible at that time (due to Marie’s illness). Anyway, we didn’t get a cheap montage of old clips. The video is stunning and very up-to-date. An excelent production.

It had all the ingredients, but “Opportunity Nox” was a flop. It only charted in Germany (#69), Switzerland (#87) and Sweden (#11). Not a bad mark in Sweden (the best chart performance since “Anyone”, if you don’t consider “TCOTH”). But it deserved to be a hit, I won’t say worldwide, but at least in Europe. I think the song is as good as Madonna’s “Hung Up”, or even better because it’s 100% original (Madonna used an ABBA sample). I guess all has to do with promotion, Madonna has a big promotion machine behind her, but O. Nox was hardly aired.

I’d like to hear your comments about this.

PerAndren said on :

Swedish critics liked it alot!

joyrider said on :

the video was not played by music tv stations and a lot of radios didn’t play the song for some reasons and that’s probably the main reason: people did not know about a “comeback” ... i think that was strange because normally a “first single” out of a new album is always getting a lot of airplay – but not that time.

to conclude: a bad promotion from emi ... again.

denny said on :

The people in Serbia stopped noticing Roxette since CBB... Dunno why though.... I was really surprised how much I took part in just bringing songs like TCOTH, Stars and O.Nox to our archives. Otherwise they wouldn’t even exist on our radio... Just so you know our radio station is the biggest in region and it literally dictates what people will listen... it’s only foreign - mainstream music and a bit of old dance and disco sound. Anyway, the biggest success I had with A Thing About You, when our music director put it on the high rotation list.... But that’s it. No making hits out of other songs... I was wondering why the whole time! Still wondering....

But on the other hand, whenever people hear something old from Roxette - like LS or Joyride days... they went crazy! They go like —oooh, I used to love this song so much... :/

Wicf said on :

ON si such a great song and it was only a hit in Sweden, I don’t understand it! But #69 in Germany is still better than Real Sugar at #96!!! When I first found RS position in Germany, I actually fainted!!!

rox-kuryliw said on :

ON didnt get any promo at all ! its simple

AddeColciago said on :

Sad, could have been a real super hit..

PerAndren said on :

Didn’t Marie get ill at the same time, and the whole promothing just lost its air?

Edit: Or hmm, wasn’t this the first song Marie appeared on after her illness???

cskendras said on :

I think OPPORTUNITY NOX had a lot of potencial to rox the charts, but in my opinion the videoclip was really strange...tending to crap (sorry!) But it was a nice try. The song itself was great, fresh roxettish, but if no people get to hear it because radiostations don’t play it you can’t possibly have success in a music-market.

ally77 said on :

The video sucked!

tavo said on :

i really liked the song when i first heard it and i still do, but more promotion was needed. regarding the video, i never liked it, not because per and marie don´t appear there, but because there´s not a story behind it. that is, there´s no connection between the images.

AddeColciago said on :

Haha, the video is really cool ! Thinks about it everytime I hear the song ,,

Room_service said on :

I think ythe video is brilliant. I don’t understand why people is so negative about it. I was reading the news archive, and it got a lot of negative feedback! Sorry, but what’s the story behing the videos of The Look, Dressed For Success, Dangerous, Crash Boom Bang, The Big L, The Centre Of The Heart and SDLHA? (just to name a few) There is no connection with the lyrics either, so that’s not the point.

I love the video, is very up-to-date, we can’t expect another video “a la 80’s”. I prefer the animated video under those circumstances (Marie’s illness). Another option would be a montage with old clips/photos, but I would have hated that! Many artists have done that before, and the result is very *cheap* and boring. Long live animated videos!

By the way, I believe ON floped due to the lack of promotion. But ATAY was not too much promoted either, and it got more airplay anyway. I consider ON has more hit potential than ATAY, because it’s totally catchy, fast, short and powerful. But it’s performance was poorer than ATAY.

I’m sorry for that, I consider the song deserved to get more airplay because it’s damn good (even better than TCOTH).

Nox1983 said on :

Hi,

Yes, the video is “up-to-date”. It had more success in tv programs than in radio stations because (in my opinion) the song is not “up-to-date”

I think ON has the typical rox guitar riffs that made them so successful during 88-93 and that guitar style does not work anymore. For us, as roxers, ON is perfect because is a very good mix between old and new sound, but for teenagers, whom decides what is a hit nowadays, I guess it sounds very strange...

The video is not bad, but at that time there was better animated videos.

denny said on :

I totaly agree with this sentence - “I’m sorry for that, I consider the song deserved to get more airplay because it’s damn good (even better than TCOTH).”

EmEx said on :

i think O-N is one of the weakest roxette songs but it sounds very commercial so i guess it could have been a hit

PiR_GeSSLe said on :

I think it’s one of the best Roxette songs ever (definately in the Top 5)

Here in Argentina it got no promotion AT ALL. I agree it would’ve been a hit if it had got a little bit of promotion.

I remember reading a swedish critic who said it was the best Roxette song he had heard in years... still I enjoy playing it with my guitar and listening to it, has a lot of potential. But a bit more of Marie would’ve made it even better.

Zargo said on :

worst rox video clip ever, that’s for sure... they should have just run the song over the old soul deep clip... couldn’t have been worse.

coyboyusa said on :

it flopped cause its a crappy song

Room_service said on :

You see. The ’fans’ are very conservative. I know the promotion was pretty poor. But another reason to the lack of success of later Roxette releases (like O. Nox, Stars, HAND) is most of the fans are still stuck in the Joyride days. Wake up, we are not still in the early 90’s! Things have changed fast, specially the musical scene. Every time they try to make something different, they only get negative feedback from the so-called fans.

Doesn’t blame EMI at all. Even with good promotion the fans are always complaining. And coyboyusa, we all are used to your negativity, that’s not a surprise.

By the way, the O-Nox video ROCKS! It’s among the better videos they ever filmed. Like another fan said: “Why did you want? Another video with Marie sitting in the bed?”. Wise words!

pwbbounce (moderator) said on :

Another disagrement. I don’t know why people argue their views soo much. People aren’t always gonna agree on things all the time. Just say your piece and let it go. Just adding my piece. A lot of the fans don’t still live in the 90’s. There’s a few good songs that have been made this century that are better than ones from their “peak period”

Opp Nox was a good song. Maybe not their best ever, but it certainly stood out from others on the radio. It got radio play where I live, after lots of texting/phonecalls to local radio station from me asking them to play it. After the massive support from UK radio stations (hmm - not), the single was actually cancelled and never released in the UK. ATAY did actually get released in the UK, and did receive a little airplay on Radio 2, but didn’t chart :-(

edits; typo’s

RobS said on :

I’m sure if Marie and Per could do the promo for it, it would have been a different situation. Sadly that wasn’t the case.

I still think it’s one of their best pop songs. You just can’t get it out of your head once you play it.

Superbullie said on :

Just to let you know that ON had it’s succes in Germany even if its not succes by sales:

Opportunity Nox was nr. 1 for a few weaks on the listener charts of germany’s biggest radio station SWR3 and was on one of the first three position’s in the listener’s year end charts. Same in the listener’s chart of the second biggest station JUMP where they play the song even in nowadays sometimes.

;-)

AddeColciago said on :

Totally agre with you Room_Service.. Some of You guys are stuck.. Haha

ncurran said on :

Well the song is pretty naff really. It sounds very uninspired. TCOTH on the other hand had a very fresh sound and was a fantastic pop tune

coyboyusa said on :

i wasnt being negative at all nox sucks plain and simple fans cane become very conveluded as to what is a hit and what isnt. Hand was more successful in general than rs but everyone raves over rs...half of rs sounds liek ti was recorded using kids toy, nox is per doing solo work under the guise of roxette, its a misguided effort and frankjly i bet he canned 2 or three amazing songs in the hopes nox would bite someones ear and it didnt

roxtexanet said on :

I thought “Nox” could have been a huge hit, but there was just no label interest in pushing either it or “The Pop Hits” album... obviously Marie was in no shape to be doing promo and I’m sure Per was quite happy to just let it go, too. It did get a lot of airplay in Sweden, though... it entered the Tracks chart at #2 as some might recall. I personally love this song, it’s as typical of the Roxette sound as “Joyride” is... nothing too original, I suppose, but originality can be highly over-rated (-:

Bunio said on :

Don’t you think that this song is a little bit tacky?

Don’t get me wrong i love this song. It’s great and easy (even too easy) pop tune but radio stations didn’t play it at all because it’s tacky! more guitars, less (in this case) tacky electronics and it would be a great hit because it has a great and catchy melody!

Vixzter said on :

i’ll tell you why it flopped.....cos no one has my sense of humour.....

I mustve bought 5,000 copies! ;-) and i’m the only one who liked the video cos it made me laugh (yes you know most of you hated it, if i could find the thread about it I would just to prove it but i can’t be arsed)

“well i liked you, i couldn’t think of anything but you, for a week i was in love with you’re hair do”

girl7twenty7 said on :

Agree that the video is up-to-date. I don’t like it though as well as any other animated videoclip. The song itself had a potential killed by the total lack of promotion. I can clearly understand it from the side of Roxette due to Marie’s illness. But the record company did its best as usual. So bravo EMI once again.

ChrisWilliams said on :

It flopped ’cause it’s just not a great song. The production’s particularly awful - OK, it’s got a few guitars, but it’s a pretty noisey little song without much a tune to it.

Pretty awful lyrics, too - Is it any wonder Real Sugar ended up on Room Service instead of this one? They’re pretty similar, but Real Sugar’s a bit better.

Call me Mr. Controversial.

Room_service said on :

The lyrics of TCOTH are even more awful too. I think ON is better, it deserved to be a hit but the promotion was poor. What else can we expect? I haven’t got the single yet (I only have the cardsleeve version). The one in slim case is hard to find even in eBay. If the single is hard to get, we can’t pretend the song in a high place in the charts.

Sascha said on :

“It flopped ’cause it’s just not a great song. The production’s particularly awful - OK, it’s got a few guitars, but it’s a pretty noisey little song without much a tune to it.” *agrees*
Promotion would have helped but the song just isn’t hit material on it’s own. Would have been a good b-side... ;-)

TheRain1981 said on :

Nearly 3 years after it’s release, “Opportunity Nox” is one of the few newer Roxette songs (from the “hits” compilations) that I still have a craving to hear every now and then. It seems to have more longevity with me than a lot of other tunes. It’s one of my favorites.

As for the lack of success, I think it really broke down to a lack of promotion due to Marie’s illness. EMI knew there wasn’t going to be any promo from them due to her, so I think the song was pretty much just put out there.

lauw1976 said on :

I’ve not see nor hear it in The Netherlands!!!

imazombieinthem... said on :

I think it was also a lack of promotion and the fact that Roxette hadnt had much success behind them at that point for the past few years that didnt make it a success. For example View From A Hill would of been a top 40 hit from Look Sharp had it been released because of people are sheep :)

ChrisWilliams said on :

@ Sascha
Thanks for being amongst the few people who ever agree with me :) It’s refreshing to hear someone else admit that Roxette have released a rubbish song not included on the HAND album, and that it isn’t just EMI’s fault it wasn’t the best selling single in the history of recorded music.

:-D

Room_service said on :

ChrisWilliams:

That’s only your oppinion, it doesn’t mean you are right just because someone else agreed with you. I am very pleased 90% of the fans really like the song (I am with them). You are just a part of the other 10%, be real...

ThePopHits said on :

ha!

Sascha said on :

No, ChrisWilliams is right! ;-)

Kiwein1 said on :

I agree with Sascha and ChrisWilliams. The song isn’t a tune that’s good enough to be a single..

ChrisWilliams said on :

@ Mrs. Attitude
I don’t profess to being right - It’s simply MY opinion!

Should I really have to say “this is my opinion” every time I post a comment? A forum *is* opinions.

Krischan said on :

It’s a typical Rox tune, not bad at all but nothing special either. Not one of their strongest moments. It’s so overdone that it reminds me of a parody. But nevertheless I like it. To be a hit it was too obvious and predictable for the masses, I guess.

Rich-UK said on :

I agree with Krischan. It seemed very exciting at the start but soon it felt quite ordinary to me. Nice but not too special.

Jud (moderator) said on :

they can try new things, but then do it right ;) It’s not enough to add some modern sounds to sound modern and up-to-date.

Gyllene Tider for example sound different in the 80ies, 90ies and 00ies, and they still rock with all of it.

And who says they have to/must sound “up-to-date”? What is “up-to-date” sound anyway? one thing is what the radio stations/tv channels play and they try to sell you, another what you find on the internet/ stores, many artists still release plain pop tunes, or rock, or heavy - many times it’s not about selling millions but about making good music.

I’m not saying Roxette’s RS + HAND are crap, I personally think Roxette got burned out, Per and Marie run out of ideas and inspiration and lust to work together, they wanted to, but the right feeling wasn’t there. Sometimes it feels as if they wanted to sound too modern that it resulted in a mess. HAND and RS have good songs, but I think they were recorded in the wrong moment, with the wrong feelings. Which doesn’t mean Joyride and all the others don’t have bad tracks. Soul Deep is one of them, I could certainly could do without this one.

Anyway, I’m sure the new material will be what we all were waiting for :D

And to ON: I think it’s ok, but not great. It might have been a bigger success if it would have been promoted properly, but the circumstances weren’t the most ideal for it. Still, TBH and TPH sold pretty well :)

animalkingdom said on :

@ Judith

TPH did not sell “pretty well”!
It probably sold less than Pearls Of Passion!

Jud (moderator) said on :

I really don’t remember (getting old..), but I thought it did OK, so well, it didn’t then, I’m sure you know better than me - and there is no second meaning here, I really mean it! :)

Still, the song is nothing special to me :)

Santi said on :

@Animalkingdom: When you have those songs in 3 other records and 2 of them are already compilations, you know, it gets a bit difficult to get together 21 euros to waste them on it. I didn’t buy TPH. I don’t think I’m missing much anyway.

About the song, maybe it’s for Gessle doing the falsetto backing vocals. I think it’s a nice song, but the video quite sucked. You can do animation things much better than that. Videos are very important for selling this days and for charts as well.
Then, charts are not about the quality of songs, but how much your record company pays for keeping it up, so obviously it flops if they don’t do enough... and we know that certain sections of EMI don’t do anything anymore for Roxette. So... all in all, why is that such a surprise...

animalkingdom said on :

“@Animalkingdom: When you have those songs in 3 other records and 2 of them are already compilations, you know, it gets a bit difficult to get together 21 euros to waste them on it. I didn’t buy TPH. I don’t think I’m missing much anyway.”

Umm..I wasn’t about that at all! I just said it didn’t sell that much. On the other hand, why did TBH sell over a million copies? It’s compiled exactly the same way that the Pop Hits is.

Krischan said on :

I tried today in my car and I must say, this is a great song for driving (too fast, too risky...)!

Kathrin said on :

Well, I hear that song on the Radio Station called SWR 3 all the time since it came out and they said it was a hit
OVER HERE!

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