LONDON – EMI Group and Warner Music on Thursday abandoned their existing plan to create the world’s largest music group after tough negotiations with Europe’s competition authorities. The merger concept had been in trouble almost from the very beginning.


But Britain’s EMI and Warner Music’s U.S. parent Time Warner emphasized their belief that a merger made sense and said they would keep talking in an effort to reach a deal acceptable to regulators.

The long-awaited Roxette discography book is still on hold. Robert Thorselius, the author of the book, told The Daily Roxette that the publishing has been delayed for editorial reasons, e.g. proof reading. “We are now in the final stages of producing the book and we expect to release the book by the end of this year or early next year,” he says.

Some time ago, the publisher was looking for a new title for the book, but they didn’t receive any suitable suggestions, so the book will be published under the original title “The Look for Roxette”.

“The Look for Roxette” will be published by a Swedish company called Premium Publishing.

• Premium Publishing

No smörgåsboard. No Wisconsin cheese. WZEE Radio in Madison, Wisconsin, has cancelled their “Lunch with Roxette” contest – a week before the event itself was to occur.

Rich Davis, the program director for the station, wrote to those who had already won today explaining that “unfortunately the Roxette show was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts.” The station has offered those few listeners who had already been invited to the lunch on October 10th, a pair of tickets to another concert as a replacement prize.

The promo tour calendar at roxette.net has been updated to reflect this, and other, changes.

• RoxNorthAmeriFans (Tour Calendar)

Gyllene Tider reunited briefly for TV4’s 10th anniversary on Friday. They performed a playback version of “Gå & fiska”. Their performance wasn’t broadcasted live, as Per was in the USA on Friday. A RealVideo clip is available on TV4’s website.

• TV4
• RealVideo clip (requires RealPlayer)

BALTIMORE – After the performance, Per sipped on a Corona in the lounge while signing autographs. The rest of the band, according to Paul Blacklock, a RoxNorthAmeriFAN, seemed relaxed as well. “It was rather laid back,” he said.

“There weren’t many hard-core fans there,” Paul reported, “only a few. The whole experience was almost exactly the opposite of what we had in New York.”

Roxette performed basically the same set of songs they did at Times Square.

As it turned out, just about anybody could have gone to Planet Hollywood that evening and been able to get in to see Roxette.


Photo by Paul Blacklock

Roxette had a busy day in New York City Wednesday. After an acoustic, live perfomance on WPLJ and numerous interviews with both the American and Swedish press, they appeared at the long-awaited “in-store” at Virgin Megastore, Times Square. They performed five songs, in same order they chose for the ’MixFest’ music festival last Saturday in Boston. The playlist was “Wish I Could Fly”, “It Must Have Been Love”, “Joyride”, “Listen To Your Heart” and “The Look”. After a quick break, they graciously signed autographs for fans.

In the evening, the Consul General of Sweden, Olle Wästberg, hosted a reception and buffet dinner for Roxette that was attended by the media and other Swedish celebrities in New York, including Crown Princess Victoria, who wore tight, form-fitting tan pants and a simple, modest sweater-blouse. Our News Editor was there, and spoke at length with Billboard Radio’s Chuck Taylor. TDR readers will recall that Chuck, along with Fred Bronson, had chosen “Wish..” to be their “Pick to Click” when Edel America first released it to radio.

(Images courtesy of JJ)

• Expressen’s Swedish article

The latest issue of Billboard has a superb review of the revised US version of “Don’t Bore Us, Get To The Chorus”, which was officially released yesterday. This is the actual review:

It’s ironic how some acts just rack up hit after hit, seemingly under the radar of pop culture. It’s also interesting to note how easy it is to take such acts for granted. During its early-’90s heyday, no one took Roxette seriously. And yet the masses happily consumed one tasty treat after another by the act — as evidenced by this hit-packed compilation. Remarkably, much of the material has aged well. “Listen To Your Heart” continues to be as potent as any power ballad to top the charts in recent times, while “Dangerous” still has a wicked little hook that seems perfect for car stereos. Does it still have the golden pop touch? If the new track, “Wish I Could Fly,” is an accurate indicator, the answer is resoundingly positive. The track is awash in moody synths, timely shuffle beats, and vocals that are seductively sensual. Given the slow-but-steady rise the track is currently enjoying at radio, it looks like Roxette will be adding to that pile of much-deserved (if guilty pleasure) hits.

The review is also available on Billboard Online.

• Billboard album review

RoxNorthAmeriFans, an organization of American, Canadian and Mexican Roxette fans, got together after Roxette’s in-store appearance at Virgin Megastore in Times Square, New York City, last Wednesday evening. The fans enjoyed fun and fellowship at the Harley Davidson Cafe, just north of Radio City Music Hall.

RoxNorthAmeriFan Sebastion Siciliano, who flew up from Miami to attend both the Boston and New York performances, hosted the event.

• Harley-Davidson Cafe New York

Fans around the world were able to listen to New York City’s WPLJ – via the Internet – to hear Roxette begin what was, perhaps, the most important day of the U.S. promotional tour.

This 8:30 am “in-studio” appearance occured during peak “rush hour” traffic. Many people in the U.S. only listen to the radio when driving to and from work each day.

Hosts of the show are Todd Petingill and Scott Shannon. It’s one of the most popular radio stations in the country, and they – up to this point – have not added “Wish I Could Fly” to their playlist. Hoping that this will now change, the RoxNorthAmerifans’ RoxAttaqUSA campaign asks that you call ’PLJ and request they play the “new” Roxette song you heard them sing live, this past Wednesday morning. The station’s request line is 1-800-321-9755.

• WPLJ (Photo courtesy of WPLJ)

Read more…

After a week of heavy promoting on Norwegian televison Marie climbs on the VGTopp40-chart (the official Norwegian album chart) from last week’s #19 to #9 this week.

Marie’s success in Norway comes as a bit of surprise, since her solo career has never really had much attention in Norway. But after Maries appearance on the Momarkedet show a couple of weeks ago, the Norwegian EMI launched a little “Marie Campaign” which seems to have been a success.

• VGTopp40 / week 38