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Interesting facts & figures - Roxette vs Cardigans

9 replies

eBay said on March 28, 2006 10:55:

After all the comparison was done between Roxette and the Cardigans, I thought I might as well put together some interesting numbers from each Roxette and the Cardigans. Let’s have a look at how both bands did in the UK. The reason I am choosing the UK market is, because the UK market has been one of the most successful international markets for the Cardigans and one of the least successful international markets for Roxette. If this confuses you now, read on and you will see my point a bit later.

Let’s have a look at the songs that entered the UK charts.

The Cardigans:

1994 “Rise & Shine” UK # 29
1994 “Sick & Tired” UK # 34
1995 “Carnival” UK # 35
1996 “Lovefool” UK # 2
1996 “Been It” UK # 56
1996 “Your New Cuckoo” UK # 35
1998 “My Favourite Game” UK # 14
1999 “Erase/Rewind” UK # 7
1999 “Hanging Around” UK # 17
1999 “Burning Down The House (Tom Jones Feat. The Cardigans)” UK # 7
2003 “For What It’s Worth” UK # 31
2003 “You’re The Storm” UK # 71
2005 “I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer” UK # 59

Roxette:

1989 “The Look” #7 UK
1989 “Listen to Your Heart” #6 UK (double A-side with Dangerous, 1990 release in the UK)
1990 “Dressed for Success” #18 UK
1990 “It Must Have Been Love” #3 UK
1991 “Joyride” #4 UK
1991 “Fading Like a Flower” #12 UK
1991 “The Big L” #21 UK
1991 “Spending My Time” #22 UK
1992 “Church of Your Heart” #21 UK
1992 “How Do You Do!” #13 UK
1992 “Queen of Rain” #28 UK
1993 “Almost Unreal” #7 UK
1993 “It Must Have Been Love” (re-issue) #10 UK
1994 “Sleeping in My Car” #14 UK
1994 “Crash! Boom! Bang!” #26 UK
1994 “Fireworks” #30 UK
1994 “Run to You” #27 UK
1995 “The Look” (’95 remix) #28 UK
1999 “Wish I Could Fly” #11 UK
2005 “Fading Like a Flower” (Dancing DJ´s Vs. Roxette) #18 UK

Cardigans Albums:

1995 “Life” UK #51
1996 “First Band on the Moon” UK #18
1998 “Gran Turismo” UK #8
2003 “Long Gone Before Daylight” UK #47
2005 “Super Extra Gravity” UK #78

Roxette Albums:

1989 “Look Sharp!” #4 UK
1991 “Joyride” #2 UK
1992 “Tourism” #2 UK
1994 “Crash! Boom! Bang!” #3 UK
1995 “DDUGTTC” #5 UK
1999 “Have a Nice Day” #28 UK
2002 “The Ballad Hits” #11 UK

The Cardigans had 5 Top 20 hits of which 3 were Top 10. Roxette had 12 Top 20 hits of which 6 were Top 10.
The Cardigans had 2 Albums in the Top 20 of which one was Top 10. Roxette had 6 Top 20 Albums of which 5 were not just Top 10 but Top 5!!

Now, getting back to my earlier point, the UK being one of the Cardigans most successful international markets and one of the least successful international markets for Roxette; isn’t it interesting that Roxette has outperformed the Cardigans with one of Roxette’s weakest market in one of the Cardigans strongest market by far???

Sascha said on March 28, 2006 11:26:

Proves the point that Roxette is underrated.

animalkingdom said on March 28, 2006 11:47:

Note also that Radio Sweden claims “Lovefool” topped the US & UK charts, it certainly didn’t! ;)

And Roxette has been WAY more successful in the US, for instance. Let alone other big markets, such Germany or Spain.

eBay said on March 28, 2006 12:29:

Yes, Roxette has been much more successful in other markets, but the reason I chose the UK for tis analysis is because this one of their weakest markets internationally, but one of the strongest for the Cardigans. Still, Roxette outperformed the Cardigans by far! It seems, the more successful you become, the easier it gets to become totally underrated.

@animalkingdom:
Roxette has been one of the most successful bands in Germany, ever. That is a fact. And comparing them to bands like ABBA for instance, they have much bigger sales figures for Germany. Germany is probably Roxette’s most successful and biggest market. Did you know that 25% of the Joyride albums sales were actually from Germany alone!?? Interesting, isn’t it?

GT_85 said on March 28, 2006 13:27:

In a swedish tv-show the other day they talked about Roxette´s intenationall succes. They said that in america the people know about Ace of Base and Abba. But not Roxette. No one knows about them. They are It must have been love, but It must have bben love is not a Roxette song, it is the pretty woman song.

I think it´s the same in the UK. The people, fpr sure, knows some songs, like Joyride and so, but they don´t know who Roxette are.

Emil__BG said on March 28, 2006 21:49:

At least 4 times :-) american people have heard about Roxette :-))

animalkingdom said on March 29, 2006 11:50:

Are the Swedish reporters a lil stupid or what?

Roxette hit the #1 spot FOUR times, Abba NONE.

Ace of Base sold LOTS of albums in the States but their peak time lasted only about 1,5 years whereas Roxette had success from 1989 till 1992.

Room_service said on March 29, 2006 14:45:

@animalkingdom:

You are wrong. ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” was a #1 in the US (January 1977). They only achieved one #1, but other singles ranked very well too. Some ABBA figures in the US:

Billboard Hot 100:

Waterloo: # 6
S.O.S.: # 15
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do: # 15
Fernando: # 13
Knowing Me, Knowing You: # 14
The Name Of The Game: # 12
Take A Chance On Me: # 3
Does Your Mother Know: # 19
The Winner Takes It All: # 8

Billboard Adult Contemporary:

Mamma Mia: # 12
Fernando: # 1
Knowing Me, Knowing You: # 7
The Name Of The Game: # 9
Chiquitita: # 15
The Winner Takes It All: # 1
Super Trouper: # 14
When All Is Said And Done: # 10

ABBA was never too popular in the US. Their strongest market was the UK, where they got 9 #1’s. Sadly, Roxette never had a chart topper there. Roxette was stronger in the US, ABBA was in the UK.

Emil__BG said on March 29, 2006 18:33:

We don’t compare success of Abba and Roxette,same with Roxette and Gardigans..
let’s be realists.

ncurran said on March 31, 2006 13:50:

ebay, yes roxette have had more success than the cardigans, but to make the list a bit less biased you also should have included the singles that didnt make the top 40 at all here (the 1st issues of Listen to your heart and Dressed for Success, then Vulnerable, You dont understand me, June Afternoon, Stars, Milk&Toast&Honey, A Thing about you).

Also I still think that while the Cardigans would certainly not be guaranteed a hit single in the UK nowadays, they would certainly be more likely to have one than Roxette.