STOCKHOLM - After 11 weeks of being the solid #1 in Sweden, Per Gessle’s album “Mazarin” finally folds for Britain’s heavy metal band Iron Maiden. However, it only falls two spots, to #3. Maiden’s new album, “Dance of Death”, goes straight into #1 after two days’ sales. “We have very loyal fans in Sweden,” Iron Maiden says.

STOCKHOLM - As reported previously Swedish TV1 will broadcast a documentary on Per called “Per Gessle - Ta en kaka till (Have another cookie)”. The makers of the film accompanied Per while travelling through Halmstad by local bus. Furthermore, we’ll meet Per’s friend, and famous photographer, Anton Corbijn, while Per himself will talk about his solo CD “Mazarin”.

  The documentary will be broadcast on Thursday, September 25th at 20:00 CET. Per will have to set his VCR though, as he’ll be in Helsinki performing. There are still tickets available for this, the final “Mazarin” concert.

STOCKHOLM - It’s been a year now since the fainting incident that brought Marie Fredriksson to the hospital…. a year that Marie has spent recovering from the concussion, the surgery to remove the tumor found in the back of her head, and undergoing the aggressive treatments used to fight cancer.

  As was to be expected, this recovery has taken some time, but Marie felt well enough at the end of January to attend a ceremony at the Royal Palace and accept an honorary medal from the King of Sweden. Since then, according to sources close to Marie, when she feels so inclined, she’s been working on new material – using the recording studio in her home to lay down tracks. As readers of The Daily Roxette already know, she contributed back-up vocals for one on the songs on Per Gessle’s “Mazarin” album.

  In February, Marie filed a libel lawsuit against Expressen, one of Sweden’s major newspapers, for publishing a story that claimed she had an additional lump believed to be a tumor. “Expressen’s information is totally untrue. We would, of course, not start a legal process if we weren’t telling the truth ourselves,” states Marie Dimberg, who is Marie Fredriksson’s (and Roxette’s) manager.

  “Marie’s condition is, like Per Gessle sometimes says, ’not the flu.’ She’s undergoing the necessary standard procedures, all normal in cases like this,” Dimberg tells TDR. “Sometimes she feels very good, and sometimes a bit worse, due to her treatment. The doctors say it’s all like it should be.”

  To those impatient for news about Marie’s recovery, Dimberg tells us “It will take the time it takes, and we all have to be patient and support Marie - and not spread more rumors.”

STOCKHOLM - In today’s Aftonbladet Per praises the Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund. “Of all the big names we’ve worked with Jonas and Anton Corbijn are the best. It’s not always easy to work with a friend, but with Jonas it has only helped.”

  Per and Jonas met for the first time in 1992. Per wanted him to direct Roxette’s “The Big L.” video, but the first video Åkerlund directed for Roxette was “Fingertips ’93” a year later.

  “Both Marie and I were fans of Jonas’ wild but beautiful ideas. And after all, we were the only Swedish band with a budget to create such videos,” Per says in Aftonbladet’s interview. “He was - and is - an incredibly gifted person. Pleasant, but determined, professional, honest and just enough crazy. He has a good taste in music, a very personal taste in clothes and he’s unbelievably creative.”

  Last times Per and Jonas Åkerlund worked together were when Roxette’s version of the song “Stupid” was played in Åkerlund’s movie “Spun” and when Åkerlund provided art direction for Roxette’s “Ballad Hits” and “Pop Hits” album covers.

• Aftonbladet article (in Swedish)

STOCKHOLM - After an incredible reign of in total 9 weeks as double #1:s “Här kommer alla känslorna” finally releases the #1 spot and falls to #3. “Mazarin” on the other hand keeps the #1 spot in a firm grip. “Mazarin” entered the charts as #1 in June and has remained there for 11 weeks, so far.

  Monday Sept. 8th the next single, “På promenad genom stan”, will be released to the radio, and it has already entered the Rix FM’s chart “Topp 6 at 6”, at #5. Official release is Sept. 17, as reported before.

  Per is also indirectly #4 on the singles charts with female duo Miio’s cover of Gyllene Tider’s 1980 super hit “När vi två blir en”.

STOCKHOLM - On Wednesday September 10th, Per will appear as a guest on Swedish TV show Ola 21:30. It’s a live talkshow where Ola Lindholm and a small audience interview famous Swedish people. The program will be on at 21:30 CET, as the name implies, on SVT 2.

  The show will be broadcasted simultaneously on SVT Europa.

  The Vice-Chairman of EMI, David Munns, has defended his company’s stance on record prices and the state of the music industry.

  In his statement, Munns defends his prices by saying, “There’s a lot that goes into the retail price - VAT, retailer’s cut, distribution costs, advertising and other marketing costs, producers’ fees and studio time, not to mention the artists and songwriters who need to be paid.”

  On the subject of the Internet and music piracy, he was equally frank. “Whatever any of us feel about the price of anything, that doesn’t justify stealing. Illegal file-sharing is theft under copyright law. Is it okay to shoplift if you disagree with the prices a shop charges? Would you steal a Mercedes and justify it by saying it was because you couldn’t afford one?”

  In a related story, the day after a report suggested the compact disc is heading the way of the 8-track tape, the world’s largest music label conglomerate promised a steep cut in CD pricing.
  Universal Music Group on Wednesday said it will cut its wholesale prices and reduce its suggested retail pricing for CDs to $13, from between $17 and $19. The company, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, is home to a number of record labels, including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Interscope, Geffen, Island Def Jam, and Philips.

• BBC’s story
• c|net’s story

Read more…

STOCKHOLM - After 10 amazing weeks Per Gessle’s hit album, “Mazarin”, is still at the #1 spot in Sweden. It has to date sold triple platinum (more than 180,000 units), and is reportedly closing in on quadruple. The first single “Här kommer alla känslorna” has been a #1 hit for 8 weeks, and consequently they both have been #1 together during those 8 weeks. That too is a record in itself. “Känslorna” has now sold gold (15,000 units). Per’s hope is to stay #1 at least until Christmas, he said jokingly in Aftonbladet.

  The only Swedish album that has sold this much during the last few years is Kent’s “Vapen & ammunition”, which has sold five times platinum, but that is since April 2002.

Editor’s Note: TDR has learned that tickets are still available (as of September 1st) for Per’s upcoming shows in Oslo and Helsinki. – LEO

• GLF’s album charts, via Aftonbladet
• GLF’s single charts, via Aftonbladet

STOCKHOLM - Sweden’s chancelor of justice, Göran Lambertz, suspects that someone at the Karolinska hospital leaked information about Marie Fredriksson’s health condition to Expressen while she was being treated there. Swedish news bureau TT reports that the chancelor of justice has therefore decided to initiate a preliminary investigation to determine if there was a breach of professional privacy standards by the hospital.

• Aftonbladet’s article (In Swedish)

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - The Daily Roxette mistakenly reported last week that “På promenad genom stan” wouldn’t be the next single from the “Mazarin” album. Our information was incorrect. While “Födelsedag” was being considered, the final choice for the second single is indeed “På promenad genom stan.”

  The new song will go to Swedish radio September 8th as “Här kommer alla känslorna” is still at #1 on the Swedish singles chart (for the 8th week in a row).

  Update Aug 25: The b-side of the single will be “Inte tillsammans, inte isär” (2 timmars T&A Demo 28 juni 2003). Release date is September 17th.