Roxette on top again - but no tour
Written by george_1983 on February 25, 2003 to Roxette.
STOCKHOLM - Roxette is rushing up the charts again. At the moment Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson are #11 on the U.K. album chart. But there will be no tour.
“Marie may decide to take it easy for a few years, and that may well be,” Per Gessle says to Svenska Dagbladet, one of Sweden’s major morning papers.
It’s been eight years since Roxette was on the U.K. album chart with “Don’t Bore Us - Get to the Chorus!”. This time it’s the new collection “The Ballad Hits” which is a sudden success.
“I grew up with British music so it feels a bit different compared to being number 11 in Holland,” Per Gessle laughs.
“Is there a new Roxette wave coming?”
“I can feel that we’ve been doing this for so long and that it’s a circle being closed. Our songs start to feel right and great, very eighties.”
“Do you still get as happy as before, when things go your way?”
“You never get tired of success, but you get sick of the [record] business. It’s not as fun doing 42 interviews in Frankfurt.” Per states to Svenska Dagbladet’s Harry Amster.
- Svenska Dagbladet (In Swedish)
Later this spring the collection “The Pop Hits” is released and Per Gessle is a bit surprised that he’s singing the lead on so many up-tempo hits such as “The Look” and “Joyride”. So far Roxette has sold 40 million albums.
“1995 we had toured for almost a year and worked without any breaks for 8 years. Then we talked about moving to the US to break through there once and for all. But we decided to take a break instead,” Per says.
“How do you feel about ’The Look’ today?”
“It’s still sounds like a super-hit. Even back then it had this odd, but positive, sound.”
“Any of your hits you can’t stand?”
“I don’t listen to them! Same thing with Gyllene Tider, I don’t sit around listening to ’Sommartider’”, that would be terrible.”
“Will there be a tour next year, when Gyllene Tider celebrates 25 years?”
“Nothing has been decided, although we have had a meeting. It can happen.”
Per concludes that it’s harder working with Roxette since Marie Fredriksson has been ill.
“We decided early last year to release these compilations. Nothing has changed but this thing that has happened is terrible. We can’t do promotion together.
“Have you yourself decided if you are to continue or not? Maybe it’s not as important anymore”
“No, we plan to continue with Roxette. How and when, I don’t know, but we’ve been doing this all our lives, so we can’t stop it.
Other articles with the same topic
- Roxette live in Yekaterinburg: the set list (March 5, 2011)
- Samara was a smash (March 4, 2011)
- Roxette tour moves south to Samara, Russia (March 3, 2011)
- North America and Australia on the Roxette radar for later this year (March 2, 2011)
- Roxette live in Kazan: a promising start to the World Tour (March 1, 2011)
28 comments
Sascha said on February 25, 2003 10:42:
Oh, seems like we shouldn’t expect Marie to tour for a couple of years! But I hope they will go on recording albums.
The actual article is much longer, would be great to have a full translation!
tevensso (moderator) said on February 25, 2003 10:49:
What’s left out of the article is just things already said a thousand times about Marie’s illness. I’ve translated all the fresh things.
zeeshan said on February 25, 2003 10:49:
“No, we plan to continue with Roxette. How and when, I don’t know, but we’ve been doing this all our lives, so we can’t stop it.”
yaaayy!! the Roxette legacy shall continue!!
onlywhenidream said on February 25, 2003 10:52:
@ Steven, I’m guessing that when the interview was conducted Roxette were still at number 11 in he UK charts. (i.e pre sunday evening.)
coyboyusa said on February 25, 2003 13:30:
the closing of a circle indeed ..now all the success and they can’t backit up thanks to fate..their record deal with mi also closs soon....will they be resigned worldwide or just for scandinavia?
daniee said on February 25, 2003 14:26:
South African fans only had the opportunity 2 c Roxette once during their CBB tour. So NO tour is really a pity. But it’s great 2 c that they are still able to climb the charts (tour or no tour). I think its time that fans all over the world stop being so selfish, rather understand the circumstances and be thankful that you still have news on Roxette to comment about.
Rich-UK said on February 25, 2003 14:50:
Well said Daniee - first priority is Marie’s life and good health - second priority is more music and a tour - best wishes from Rich
royalball said on February 25, 2003 19:30:
I think taking a long break is a very good thing. I think they should even delay the US release. I know Per and Marie can’t promote the album and honestly, I don’t expect Capitol or some promoting company to promote this album.
Hopefully I’m wrong and “A thing about you” will get loads of airplay.
I want Rox back here in the US more than any fan...but what scares me is that “The Ballad Hits” (Roxette) won’t get the recognition it deserves and the album will be just thrown out in stores.
But I don’t know the entire situation and hopefully this is the right timing.
camillarox said on February 25, 2003 22:25:
maybe somebody at Roxette.nl should check the grammar and spelling...and if some of the translations have a meaning at all...
First lesson: Kul = Fun
martin_nl said on February 25, 2003 23:07:
Well, camillarox, a mistake is easily made. Maybe you should send in your own translation next time :)
Martin
Mfan28179-Jason said on February 26, 2003 03:02:
Considering there are no plans for a tour and apparently Roxette is taking a break, instead of leaving the market dead for a year or 2 or for however long Roxette decides to take a break, it would be the perfect opportunity to give something more back to the fans - that is, release rarities albums or how about a box set of rare material? Maybe I’m dreaming, but I can’t imagine Roxette leaving the market dead for a couple of years without any music releases, even if it is old rare material. Opportunity Nox. Take advantage of it. My concern is not about a tour or new albums but going completely “new” material for a few years.
Th_Th said on February 26, 2003 12:50:
Camilarox:
It is so easy to slagg of other peoples translations, isn’t it?
I guess you can do it, as you are perfect.
daniee said on February 26, 2003 13:22:
Guys guys... you stress 2 much. I can understand that everyone is afraid of Roxette packin’ up and leavin’ the music business (Quote Per on “we’ve been doing this for so long and that it’s a circle being closed”) but we can only speculate. Remember when the word came out that Marie was pregnant with her first child... everyone went into a state of panic. We all thought that THIS was the end of Roxette. Marie’s already got 2 little, possible upcoming rockstars and still Roxette is climbing the charts. The same happened with Per. And they’ll still be climbing the charts.
They’re getting older, we’re getting older (God, it feels like an eternity - years ago that I heard Roxette on the radio for the first time) ... it’s part of life. That’s why we need to be thankful for ANYTHING that gets released under Roxette’s name nowadays. Let Marie have her break, let Per fight his fights in court over who wrote what and who sang it first... point being: RELAX. They’re still around.
camillarox said on February 26, 2003 22:17:
I’m not perfect but at least I know how to use Word grammar and spell check ;)
Btw, I DO translate, just that I send the translations to TDR.
onlywhenidream said on February 25, 2003 10:38:
hey per, you take it easy now. your songs do feel great once again...give it a year or so and come back and kick the arses of some of the rubbish that’s around!