“The Ballad Hits” finally hit the U.S.
Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on April 22, 2003 to Releases.
NEW YORK (UPDATED) - 
Without any fanfare – and at retail stores at least, totally overwhelmed by the hype surrounding the release of Madonna’s new album – “The Ballad Hits” was finally released in the United States today.
This release marks the return of Roxette to the EMI family of labels in the US, after a many years of separation. During that period, Roxette released “The Greatest Hits” on the Edel America label, just before that company went out-of-business two years ago.
According to The Daily Roxette’s correspondents, only a handful of copies of “The Ballad Hits” could be found at Virgin Megastore in New York City’s Times Square (where Roxette performed just a few years ago), and not with the new releases in the front of the store, but in the bin with previous Roxette albums. In the Miami area, the CD is nowhere to be found. Many stores there have not even heard about the release.
Capitol does not intend to release “A Thing About You” as a radio single to promote the album. A sticker on the CD package reads “15 of the International duo’s biggest love songs including the #1 smash It Must Have Been Love.”
Thomas Evensson and Jackie_Radiorox contributed to this article.
Other articles with the same topic
- More from Down Under (February 14, 2011)
- Roxette's iTunes sales solidify chart success in Europe (February 14, 2011)
- Young Swedish remixers have their way with "She's Got Nothing On" (February 14, 2011)
- Roxette gets good promotion in Denmark (February 12, 2011)
- "Charm School" - album review (February 8, 2011)
57 comments
daniel_alv said on April 22, 2003 21:37:
EMI, are you stupid? You have to market the CD to sell it....
crashroxer said on April 22, 2003 21:53:
LOL
I HATE MADONNA ... a ZOMBIE with hundrets of liftings...
Salvation7-20-7 said on April 22, 2003 21:57:
Well....This is certainly a disappointing turn of events. Not surprising, but disappointing none-the-less. Normally, I love Madonna, but after hearing her albumn, I am sickened that her albumn (Which is CRAP btw) is getting more promotion that Roxette’s Ballad Hits. These are truly beautiful songs, and are worth at least a little attention.
EMI, you suck!
Salvation7-20-7
LittleSpooky said on April 22, 2003 21:58:
I’ll go and take a look tomorrow while on my break and see if Utah has anything. It might happen. Utah is NOTHING like any other state in the Union, that’s for sure ;o)
Oh yeah... remember the Gessle-ism: EMI (USA) EVERY MISTAKE IMAGINABLE
Jackie_Radiorox said on April 22, 2003 22:11:
Get it from BestBuy, that is what I am going to do because I am not venturing out again.
I order from them ALL of the time, it takes about a week to arrive sometimes less, shipping is free and it is $14.99 which I doubt you can beat.
If you have a Best Buy store near you try to see if they can have it for pickup... Several items on the bestbuy.com site you can pick up at local stores the very next day. Call Bestbuy.com thou to do this... becase if the store doesn’t carry it then they will cancel your order and you’ll have to replace it which means you’ll lose a day or two.
Man, I should work for them. :P NOT!
Good Luck. ;)
PS: I do like Madonna, always have. However, I went to 5 stores all of which were playing American Life... if I hear that song again today I will have ot hurt someone or something badly... I do mean BADLY. Very bright to release TBH along with Madonna’s album that has been promoted up and down for at least a month.
To add insult to injury one of the sales morons was like “Ummm who?” Then again, the person did look like a replica of Snoop Doggy Dogg, just slightly less stoned. *SIGHS*
Emil__BG said on April 22, 2003 22:57:
Without fanfare but at least finally in USA–lets hope for more soon...
steven said on April 22, 2003 23:36:
This is such a shame, especially when you consider that the UK enjoyed such frenzied promotion with this album.
Still, on the plus side... you can walk into your music store and buy this album without the ordeal of ordering. That has to be worth something.
And as for the comment comparing the voice of Maire and Madonna... Sorry, but there is no comparison... Marie is as you say sweet, but Madonna rox!
kiwijazza said on April 23, 2003 00:04:
Regardless the fact that they finally released a Roxette album after so long, it looks like EMI USA has screwed it up yet again.
EugeneChen said on April 23, 2003 02:24:
Again, I got my hopes up for yet another Roxette album release, without any promotion. I thought EMI would have learned from what they did when they promoted the album in the UK Europe. It sold well, and the songs went on the charts.
I know The Ballad Hits were already released here in Canada a couple months ago, without any promotion as well.
I guess I’m not surprised, but still disappointed. I was hoping that Pop Hits would get some promotion, but at the HMV here in Canada, I couldn’t find it in the stores, and they told me I would have to order it in, or order it online.
Mfan28179-Jason said on April 23, 2003 03:29:
Well, at Meijer, where I work, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, ’The Ballad Hits’ was nowhere to be found. Let’s just say I was disappointed after I couldn’t find it. :( Thursday I’ll go out to look for it and see if it’s even in my area!
Shame on Capitol USA! What’s the whole point of releasing it in the USA when you can’t even stock it in every store? People are better off ordering the import online than trying to find a USA release in stores! Ha! It’s such a joke. Then again, I’m not really surprised. I just had a little more hope for this release.
Dragonox said on April 23, 2003 04:04:
Well I’m glad that the CD has finally made it in the US. Roxette is the best and even though I’m only 20 years old, I love them so much that I wouldn’t change them for any other artitis. Even though I do like Madonna and Celine Dion, I would like to hear some promotion for Roxette just like I hear from Madonna and Celine Dion. I live in San Francisco and so far I have not hear anything from Roxette. But I do wish to see the video for ATAY on MTV or VH1. It’s sad that their album has not been promoted. How do we expect Roxette to do well when EMI or Capital USA can’t do shit to promote their material. I wish Roxette to be a success in the US again because their music is quality and the best.
Yashar said on April 23, 2003 06:05:
EMI looks at Roxette as a dead band! What a shame!
They can earn so much money by Roxette if they had BRAIN.
rox-kuryliw said on April 23, 2003 09:32:
They shouldnt bother releaing if its not gonna go nowhere, just hurts the roxette name.
WHO GIVES A STUFF ABOUT AMERICA MUSIC. EUROPE ROX’s forever
tevensso (moderator) said on April 23, 2003 10:15:
It says “Remember where you heard it first” and it means just that.
TheFriendlyMan said on April 23, 2003 11:41:
My opinion is: when you release an album, do it with a good marketing campaign OR skip the US!
Ally87 said on April 23, 2003 13:06:
rox attaqs are only gonna work if enough ppl are prepared to support them... and if they’re vaguely organised... didn’t we have sites for it at one point?
uk didn’t do too bad in the end but we had the additional help of valentines day
Lars-Erik_Olson (moderator) said on April 23, 2003 13:14:
@ Jason: Call the buyer at Meijer’s and get him/her to order it for all the stores!
dennisrox said on April 23, 2003 15:37:
Well, i guess it’s quite normal.
E very M istke I maginable
On the other side: If you want to sell records, you have to promote them. They didn’t do any promotion here in Germany as well, so The Pop Hits dropped down to #57 in the 2nd week.
Due to several reasons (Marie’s illness, family...)
the do not spend as much time for promotion as in the early 90s. As Robbie Williams said some month ago: “I am successfull, I am rich. Why should i work so hard just to sell records in the US?”
Maybe Per should rap down some lyrics from “the look” and Marie is doing some “yeah, biggie biggie biggie, ahah that wuz cool” or so. It’s sometimes so easy to sell in the US.. :-)
Michaela said on April 23, 2003 16:17:
And I thought I was the only one BLASTING Roxette music through out San Francisco! Rox On Drangonox!
Glad to hear that the Ballads have been released here, but honestly, I bought it from overseas when it was first released. I just can’t count on EMI’s maybe or maybe not releasing efforts.
So, instead I just consider myself a missionary for Roxette. I share the music with people who say “Roxette Who?” and then tell them to buy the album online.
Cheers from S.F.
-Michaela
Vixzter said on April 23, 2003 18:04:
@steven : I’d hardly describe the promo for the UK as frenzied, adequate maybe but not frenzied.
@whoever it was that posted about EMI USA: EMI USA doesn’t exsist anymore (does it?)
UrbanEscape said on April 24, 2003 00:20:
Well, at least it’s a start...I think. I have yet to see it here, but I didn’t do much more than go to work today. I stopped off at Meijer for a few things, and they didn’t have it. I didn’t bother to ask anyone as they’re worthless (“Bread? Maybe in hardware, I dunno.”). Like someone already said, EMI has to promote it to sell it, and that ain’t happening yet. Sad.
powerpoplarry said on April 24, 2003 05:07:
Well, I saw 10 copies of the disc at my local Tower Records as early as this past Saturday. I checked today, how many were sold, and guess what?? NONE were sold. Could be either: no promotion OR them not placing copies at the front in the new releases, or both. I think I will move some to the front next time I am there, to make people aware of TBH in the US!!
Um, normally, I woulda bought it, but cuz of their iffy status on US releases, I always buy imports, and TBH is no exception. PLUS, the US release doesn’t have the EP, so that’s a negative. And I feel why should I buy the US version just to get sales, when I have the import already?? That would be a waste of 15 to 20 bucks!!
L00kSharp said on April 24, 2003 21:25:
Seriously, US fans– and I am being serious here– why do we care?
If we can buy these CDs for 8 pounds 99 on the UK websites (like CD-Wow)... the week they are released in Europe... why would we buy them here in the US?
Who cares if Roxette is promoted, OR popular here?
We keep buying the music regardless, and enjoying it, right? You don’t have to make Roxette popular here. In fact, over the past ten years, I have enjoyed being a Roxette fan regardless of who thinks I’m “strange,” tattoo and all.
Nothing is gained by worrying about it, since we know that the labels have given up, Per has given up, and the stores have given up trying to promote the music here. Per knows he has fans here, and so does Marie, but they also know it is not cost-effective to try to cover the 10,000 of us that would actually pay to see them in concert.
My point is, the Internet has made all of this irrelevent. Take advantage of that. Buy the audio, the video, the print materials. Download the pictures and interviews online. Just please, for the love of God, quit trying to make some big stink and think that you’re making a difference. You, your friends, and Roxette know how much you care; isn’t that enough?
Mfan28179-Jason said on April 25, 2003 02:51:
Hmmm...for the comments above...
The reason why Roxette is not and never was as successful is because Madonna has a major role in her own promotion and marketing. Roxette, on the other hand, don’t present themselves the same way Madonna does - that is, with image being one of the key tools in promotion. I don’t think it breaks down to putting out great music necessarily. Times have changed. Back in the day the music itself mattered more. Now it’s more so about image. But if you have both image and good music - as I think Madonna proves with her latest album - then I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
As for the other comment about how US fans should just forget the whole situation, I guess that’s a good point to some extent. I think most fans just find it irritating that they can’t watch Roxette’s videos on MTV or VH-1 and can’t hear their “new” songs on the radio stations here. Any news about Roxette is limited to logging on TDR every day. And I must say that as a fan, that is quite annoying.
Mfan28179-Jason said on April 25, 2003 03:02:
Oh yeah, here’s my update on ’The Ballad Hits’ situation in my area...
It was a complete joke looking to find a copy of ’The Ballad Hits’ in my area today - that is, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
First off, I stopped at Target. Not much of a surprise. No Roxette there!
So I moved on to Circuit City. I actually had hopes that I would find a copy there. No Roxette there at all - although a few weeks back they had a copy of the U.S. ’Don’t Bore Us.’
From Circuit City, I stopped at Best Buy. I thought for sure I would find a copy there - since they have it listed on their website. Yeah, they had Roxette, but only ’Look Sharp!’ (the sleeve facing the correct direction, by the way) and ’Tourism.’ So I left a bit mad.
By this time I was a bit irritated. What’s the point of even releasing it in the US if you can’t even find the damn CD!!!
I ended up at Sam Goody next. It was a bit difficult finding the Roxette section at first, since it was so disorganized. But at last, there it was! That raspberry heart I had longed to see all day! I picked it up and held it in my hands for a few seconds. Yes, the “it” referring to one copy. That’s all that was there. It had a price of $17.99. So I turned it over to see where it was manufactured. There it was, Capitol Records, Hollywood and Vine, USA! So I was happy to see it wasn’t an import, but more so shocked that they even put it in print considering how limited it is. They might as well imported it!! Also, the front of the CD did not have the info sticker that the front page of this article mentions.
Oh yeah, I did not buy it. I’m not paying 17.99 for it! I was hoping to support the release and buy a copy or 2 for gifts but seeing how extremely limited the release is, there’s no point!!! I’d be surprised if Capitol even put 1,000 copies in print!
And there’s my rant for you all.
ditroia said on April 26, 2003 10:09:
Wel lin Australia We got no Promo but at least you cpould eventaully find it in most stores.
EMI Never delivers on time.
Even now the Pop Hits has just been released and stores are only starting to fully stock it.
Dave
P.S Can Someone Emai lme and tell me the following
1. Does the US Version Contain Copy Portection?
2. Matte Or Glossy Insert?
Mfan28179-Jason said on April 27, 2003 03:10:
Let me add that I was at FYE (a pretty big chain) today and there was no ballad hits to be found! Instead, they had one copy of ’Tourism’ for 9.98 and one copy of ’Joyride’ for 13.98. :(
elita said on April 29, 2003 12:56:
I agree with the marketing campaigne but now is everybody tired, Marie was sick and Per cannot promote the project alone. I dont know what is happening in the states with EMI. They did not want to release the DBUGTTCH album and suddenly The Ballad Hits appears In The States. Hahaha..
Mfan28179-Jason said on April 30, 2003 03:53:
Keep in mind EMI USA did not want to release Don’t Bore Us in 1995 because Roxette did not want to spend 6 months of promotion in the USA either - and they didn’t like how EMI USA was handling the situation, so they postponed it.
I just don’t understand why “Have A Nice Day” and “Room Service” got the shaft yet we somehow get “The Ballad Hits.” Hmmmm.
Well, today I was at Best Buy. A lady who works there approached me and started talking to me. LOL. She’s like, “who’s your favorite band?” I said, “Roxette.” She looked all puzzled and was like, “who are they?” I said, “have you heard of ’It Must Have Been Love’?” She said she wasn’t familiar with many songs. Haha. So I basically told her they do pop music and so forth.
After that, I headed to the Roxette section and to my surprise, there it was - ’The Ballad Hits.’ One copy with the info sticker. It was $14.99. I considered buying it, but then I remembered that I already had 2 copies at home and Capitol USA is not even promoting it. So why bother? (Unless of course I plan on giving it for a gift).
bunny said on May 4, 2003 18:34:
i bought a copy from bestbuy.com for my friend a week ago, that’s 1 copy added to the 20 that has been sold in the US
Shane said on April 22, 2003 21:20:
I live in Seattle - did not see it in the stores but Amazon.com notified me that the cd is now available (2-3 shipping days).