CoyRoy said on November 11, 2006 15:09:

Can we get some scans of this article??

stevier said on November 12, 2006 11:37:

I thought it was quite funny and relatively positive about Roxette. :)
Liked the cd-review and the heading which named them ’ancestors of abba’..

Jules-SouthAfrica said on November 12, 2006 13:28:

OK!
The scans aren’t that great, but I tried.

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8288/pictureji7.jpg

edit: the caption on the picture says: “Roxette: music that’s more important than a hip pair of jeans.”

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/7287/articlenz7.jpg

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9040/reviewwx3.jpg

And here’s my translation:

The Heirs of ABBA

In 1986, an ex-manager of Abba suggested a former boyband-idol work with a female rock singer. 20 years later, Swedish duo Roxette glance back at a career full of hitparade pop classics.

When a fan once asked Roxette singer Per Gessle (47) where he could buy the rare CD with dance versions of the first hits of the Swedish popduo, his answer was, “Don’t bother. It’s a worthless record”. (This refers to Dance Passion).
At the beginning of the ’90s, this duo would develop into Sweden’s biggest export since Abba.

In the US, Gessle and his musical partner, Marie Fredriksson (48), exceeded the success of their predescessors. The pair scored four number 1-hits in the years ’89, ’90 and ’91: The look, Listen to your heart, It must have been love an Joyride.

The Roxette songwriter is the last one to comment about his success. He laughs the hardest in interviews about the GForce (wind strength is GForce right? haha I wasn’t sure) 10 hairstyles from the ’80s (“What possessed us?”), calls his most famous ballad It must have been lunch and declares himself a mediocre singer in comparison with his colleague, Fredriksson.

Roxette have sold 70 million albums and singles worldwide. After the appearance of Joyride in 1991, the duo were among the global top 3, Tom Petty declared himself a fan and popqueen Madonna attended a concert. A sharp contrast with Roxette’s start in 1986. Gessle’s success was drying up - from the end of the ’70s as Sweden’s biggest girls’-idol in new wave formation, Gylenne Tider - to as a solo artist in rap tempo.

Shortly before he ended up as the Gary Barlow of Scandinavia, the manager of Abba-singer Frida gave a suggestion.
Would he like to record a song, that Gessle wrote for Frida, with successful and serious singer Marie Fredriksson?
Neverending love became a big Summerhit in Sweden, but an international breakthrough would have to wait another 3 years. Then an exchange student gave a cassette with the song The Look to a local DJ back in Minneapolis. The smooth pop song stood at number 1 in America within 3 weeks and Roxette conquered the New World.

Countless hits and some world tours followed. The duo even performed in Peking in 1994, a venue where Western popgroups almost never performed. Only Wham! played in the Chinese capitol before then.

Behind Roxette’s success, according to Gessle, hides friend Jonas Akerlund (a filmer), and photographer Anton Corbijn, that made both videoclips for the duo, no complicated secret. “We’re always doing the same thing. We’ve never followed a trend. People won’t enjoy us because we’re wearing the hippest pants, but because they like the sound of our music.”
That last comment is especially true about Gessle: he recently ended up in the top 5 of Sweden’s worst dressed men.
For Gessle, just one of the many stabs he’s received in his career.
Roxette’s music would have been throw-away-pop. It leaves the singer indifferent. “Commerical pop according to some, has no quality. But I have never found anything wrong with using your songs to reach out to as many people as possible.” In 2001, Roxette’s last album Room Service was released. It was a small miracle that the duo recorded 2 new songs over the last Summer - the catchy light-weighted popsong One wish and the slow ballad Reveal. In 2002, Fredriksson was diagnosed with a malicious braintumour. A heavy operation rescued her back to health. Gessle: “We never thought about Roxette during this time. There were moments when nobody believed Marie had a chance.”

Fredriksson has since recovered. Gessle: “She’s a changed person. Her family now gets most of her attention. Marie will decide if there’s a future for Roxette after this jubilee celebration”
-Stefan Raatgever

The article is followed by a competition to win the RoxBox. The question being: A note from Per Gessle’s significant other lead to one of Roxette’s biggest hits. What did she write (in Swedish)?
A. Hello, you fool, I love you! (Joyride)
B. How do you do? (How do you do)
C. You’ve got the look (The look)
D. I wish we could fly to a sunny country (Wish I could fly)

My translation of the review:

4 stars = WE WANT MORE!
With 3 hit compilations and one new album in the last 5 years we have Roxette. Naturally, this jubilee celebration is worth the trouble. Just like Abba, for example, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson are more successful with hit singles, rather than full albums. These 20 songs offer up til now, the best of their talent, which rests on 2 pillars: the mega catchy melodies of Gessle, and Fredriksson’s strong vocals. Fading like a flower (1991) pleases every possible hitparade cliches, but is pop of a high level. The choices, however, get less over years that follow. From 1999, Roxette only further achieves Wish I could fly and Milk & Toast & Honey in their top form.

Jules-SouthAfrica said on November 12, 2006 18:07:

my pleasure:)

rfdl said on November 15, 2006 20:10:

Does anyone know the answer of the competition question?
I really don’t know what it is.

abysmo said on November 16, 2006 09:56:

I like this paragraph with No. 3 worldwide, Tom Petty and Madonna.

Jules-SouthAfrica said on November 16, 2006 20:47:

yes significant other is another way of saying that;)
but you’re right, fiancée is a better choice

Jules-SouthAfrica said on November 16, 2006 20:50:

ja it wasn’t a hard question;)
most fans should know this already

Nox1983 said on November 16, 2006 23:34:

Thanks!
I heard about Madonna attending a Roxette concerts during the Joyride Tour. Was it in the US?

Jules-SouthAfrica said on November 17, 2006 15:59:

You’re welcome. I did my best. I should try re-scan it though... my *new* scanner really sucks.

japeke said on November 17, 2006 21:00:

VIProom? Skybox? (IF the story is true...)