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'It Must Have Been Roxette' - Billboard Chart Beat

9 replies

TheRain1981 said on September 7, 2003 03:55:

http://www.billboard.com/bb/chartbeat/chat.jsp

IT MUST HAVE BEEN ROXETTE

Hi Fred!

Thank you for a great column.

I have a question about the Swedish duo Roxette. The group has had four No. 1s in the U.S. (“The Look,” “Listen to Your Heart,” “It Must Have Been Love” and “Joyride”) but now can’t even enter [the chart]! Roxette’s latest release (“The Ballad Hits”) was a complete failure in the U.S., but in the U.K. it peaked at No. 11! How come the group is doing so badly in the U.S.? Do you think that it could ever be on the charts again?

William Navarro

Dear William,

No one will be surprised to learn I am a Roxette fan, given my predilection for Swedish music. Unfortunately, the group have been absent from the U.S. charts for so long, that it’s off the radar. I think only devoted fans were aware of the domestic release of “The Ballad Hits,” and most of them had probably purchased this CD as an import, along with “The Pop Hits.”

Per Gessle’s latest album, recorded in Swedish, has been on top of the album chart in Sweden for weeks, but I don’t know when we’ll see Roxette back on the Hot 100 or The Billboard 200 again.

kiwijazza said on September 7, 2003 08:04:

The sad truth about the US music business. :(

rox-kuryliw said on September 7, 2003 10:15:

The just need to get there and Give them
The Roxette look . Right record, right image right time ( seems rap is big in US not pop/rock. ) & right backing by a record company. ;)

MiracleMan said on September 7, 2003 19:15:

While I’m thrilled for fans who can buy TBH here, it would be nice to have the opportunity to get HAND and RS and TPH as domestic releases.

But I gave up lamenting about the lack of US distribution of Roxette years ago.

I can remember some time ago (after a domestic release of HAND was dangled like a carrot in front of our faces for months, only to have it snatched away, leaving us to scrounge elsewhere for it) an interview—probably at TDR (where else?)—in which Per was fed up with the US and wasn’t going to bother promoting or releasing anything more here. Europe and the rest of the world would support them, so why bother? They’d be a presence in places where they were appreciated. . .was the gist I got from that article.

I was rather angry at the time, after all, where was the love for the US fans? It seemed a purely financial decision to me. (What? Don’t Swedes get tax breaks for financial losses? We’d be a great tax write-off, if that’s the case.) At the time I was looking at a future of paying higher prices for imported music that I felt shoud have been made available to me as a purchasing member of the fanbase. I felt abandoned and unappreciated.

Of course, I’ve had a rather long time to get a grip on things and I can’t truly blame them for the decision. I’d’ve probably come to the same conclusion myself. That and the record company is more than likely even more responsible for the decision. Do I still wish they had an american distribution deal? Hell yes. But they don’t. . .that’s life. Rarely fair and full of disappointments. (That’s not pessimism, just realism. If I wasn’t at least a little optimistic, I wouldn’t ever be disappointed, now would I?)

So, since I’ve been buying stuff on line, or occasionally in an import bin in a well-stocked store. More expensive, sure, but one has to remember than fan is shortened from fanatic, and fanatics, collectors, whomever, end up paying more for the things they want, keeping a keen eye out for opportune moments and good buys.

It works for me, at least. I get the music I love more quickly. I understand the cost, and I’m willing to pay it. When TBH was released here, I’d already been playing the special-edition for months. As for TPH, got that too. No worrying about when it’s going to be released here.

Go where the music is. (I’m sure most of the US fans in here already have anyway.)

If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed. . .

Sascha said on September 7, 2003 21:00:

Well, in 2002 Roxette got a distributor for the US: Capitol America. I could imagine that there was some promotion planned for TBH, with a media-tour by Marie and Per. That of course was scrapped by the horrible tumour. So a proper release for the next Studio album isn’t really unlikely.

MiracleMan said on September 7, 2003 21:17:

Granted, there’s that possibility. And then there may even be domestic release for HAND and RS. But speculation and reality are two different things. (What’s the phrase? If wishes were horses, we all would ride. Or even: Shit in one hand, wish in the other—see which fills faster.)

And very true, if Marie had been in good health, the whole picture may have been different. Maybe ATAY and then Nox would have gotten some promotion and airplay and appearences on latenite talk shows would have been made. It all would have depended on Per & Marie’s willingness to commit to promoting here again if Capitol was behind the idea.

I was rather hopeful about that for TBH until I read about Marie’s tumor. (Which actually made a two/three line side note in USA Today—as much press as Roxette’s had here for donkey’s years.)

But seeing as all we’ve gotten domestically was the Edel DBU and TBH, new material may be a fairly long shot. It seems the record company would rather reap the cash from familiar songs repackaged rather than go out on a limb to promote new stuff from what now has become a “Whatever Happened To?” as far as most Americans know.

Still, I’ll agree with you about the future, but I won’t be holding my breath. (Again—realistic, not pessimistic.Well, mostly.)

TheRain1981 said on September 8, 2003 01:32:

I’m very interested in how much ’The Ballad Hits’ has sold in the USA. Yet nobody seems to know.

Also, don’t you guys think that ’The Ballad Hits’ would have charted on the Billboard 200 had it been released a week or two before Valentine’s Day? Capitol could have given the release more exposure with such a release date I think. It was so funny because I thought that Capitol USA waited purposely because they were going to promote it. Turns out they would have been much better off to release it when they had originally planned it - before Valentine’s Day.

MiracleMan said on September 8, 2003 06:39:

One would have thought that was the case. And if ever there was an albun to fit that day—heart-shaped pile of raspberries in cream, fifteen love songs. . . I really think ATAY could have done well, and for that matter Breathe’s a good song too. . .but it was not to be.

As for the sales figures, have you tried Capitol USA themselves?

Roxette-atic said on September 8, 2003 13:03:

HEY! Thats MY question!! Hihi. Im on Billboard with Roxette :)

TheRain1981 said on September 9, 2003 01:43:

Roxette-atic, so that’s you! Great. :) I was wondering if the person who wrote in was someone who posted here. How cool.

Yes, I’ve tried Capitol USA. No replies. I’ve also tried contacting other record companies about certain issues. It’s quite amazing. I have yet to get a reply from any - even when it was regarding a manufacturing defect.

Oh well.