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Big article 'bout Roxette in Dutch newspaper AD

23 replies

Dutch newspaper AD runs quite a big story about Roxette today in their weekend special. Further there are two pictures, a review of Hits-cd (they get 4 stars out of 5!) and there’s a contest which offers the chance to win a RoxBox. They have 10 of them on offer. You just have to answer an easy multiple choice question.

Rennen dus naar de kiosk! :)

ooooo gonna run out right now and get it! :D

Can we get some scans of this article??

I just had a glance at the article in the groceriestore but didn´t think it was that interesting. I didn´t read the whole article, though.
The pictures were just in black and white.
But hey, of course it´s nice promo for Roxette.

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

I’ll try scan it. it’s quite big and my scanner sucks... so... i’ll try!

i bought 2 copies:P
the woman at AKO was like, 2 maal?
and i was like, uhh ja, Roxette, hallo? :P

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.

Thanks for your effort! Nothing new to read but nice anyway.

my pleasure:)

Wow, madonna went to a Concert?? Didn‘t know that. Well, seems like she‘s got a little bit of taste after all...

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

I think the article is nice. Thanks for translating it for us!!! :-)

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

quote “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)?”
This should read: A note from Per Gessle’s fiancée...
(or is “significant other” another word for “fiancée”?)

This means the answer is: Hello you fool, I love you.

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

THANKSSS,
now I hope I’ll win...

Galadriel, you are right, found this:

Per Gessle (the male member of the duo) wrote this for his girlfriend. He came home late and she had written a note that said, “Hej din tok, jag alskar dig”, which means “Hello you fool I love you” in Swedish. Gessle used the line in the song. (thanks, Philip - Ahus, Sweden)

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

well, I don’t have a good memory for this,
so thanks anyway!!

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

Yes, pretty easy question.
That’s why I knew the answer without understanding the question completely. *smile*
But I took a look into the scanned article to be sure. ;-)

btw. Thanks for translating! :-)

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

how is a Diva like Madonna attend a crowded concert? must have had seperated seating and 20 security guards around her?

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

OMG, I’m Dutch, but I didn’t knew anything about this article, probaly because I never read newspapers.
But thanks for the translations!

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