If there was any doubt that Billboard.com’s resident trivia guru Fred Bronson is a fan of Roxette, he’s definitely cleared that up. Bronson, who runs the online publication’s Chart Beat section as well as a similarly-named column in the printed version of the magazine, has listed Marie Fredriksson’s “Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons Bästa [1984-2000]” as the 19th best album of the year.

  Bronson frequently mentions Roxette-related trivia in his column and was a big supporter of “Wish I Could Fly” when it was released in the States earlier this year. In case you’re wondering, Danish artist Sanne Gottlieb’s “Uden Dig” and Aqua’s “An Apple A Day” were numbers one and two on his personal chart of top tracks for the year.

• Billboard Chart Beat Bonus

The accompanying publicity photo was released yesterday showing Per, Marie, Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist and Ronny Lahti at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm where they are busy finishing the recording and post-production of the new studio album.

  The yet-to-be-named album (it continues to be referred to as the “Forthcoming Album” or “FA”) is due out this Spring on EMI, except in the United States, where it will be released by Edel America (EAR).

  Per and Marie, seemingly full of enthusiasm, took time out from their schedule to record a holiday video greeting. With the recording studio in the background, they wish everyone a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” The short message concludes with Per saying “See you out there in 2001!” The video was sent today to record label offices around the world and to The Daily Roxette. It is available for download by clicking on the link below.

• Download video greeting from Per and Marie (Uses Real Player)

TV4’s documentary on Marie and her summer tour will be broadcasted today at 8.30pm CET (UTC+1) on the Swedish TV4. The documentary includes footage from her Stockholm concert and an interview by Mats Jankell.

A quick rerun will be broadcasted on Saturday morning, 9.30am CET.

• TV4

In yesterday’s edition of Expressen, Per comments on a recent incident in Sweden where it turned out that the signer Tess Mattisson wasn’t actually singing herself for the most of her songs. The person singing was her backing vocalist Monica Löfgren who, according to Expressen, has also worked for E-Type and Dr Alban.

Technical advancement has helped musicians. In the article, Per and other music business professionals discuss Autotune, a piece of software that is able to correct false singing. According to Per, using Autotune is “more ordinary than people think”.

“But I’m not going to give you any names,” he adds. Per isn’t against using technical gadgets in making music, but he is sorry for the buyers of music who feel betrayed. “When I was little, I felt really sad when it turned out that Monkees weren’t actually playing the instruments on their albums,” says Per.

• Expressen’s Swedish article

Per shares his thoughts about Napster, the free MP3-sharing network, in today’s Expressen. While it may come as a surprise, he thinks that “Napster as a phenomenon is brilliant”. He doesn’t see Napster as a threat.

  “When I was little, it was the same discussion about recording cassettes at home,” says Per. “But if I download U2’s latest single, I may think ’Damn this is cool song’ and go and buy the whole album. There’s this ’magnet effect’ people don’t often think about.” However, Per thinks that something has to be done. “In the long run, people have to do the right thing and pay for the music. Not too much, because then people will find ways to avoid it, but a little.”

  Per uses the Napster software himself. “Not very often, but mainly to get music I wouldn’t be able to get from the shops.”

• Napster
• Expressen’s Swedish article

REVISED – With a cover featuring an obviously happy Marie Fredriksson performing on stage – in concert – for the first time since 1992, the live video from this summer’s concert tour finally appeared in stores on December 15th. The release date had been delayed several times due to “technical difficulties in the encoding process.”

  The package, as previously reported, contains both a DVD and an audio CD. The DVD encoding includes a commentary track, where Marie talks about each of the songs in seperate interviews.

  With footage primarily from the concert outside of the Marine History Museum (Sjöhistoriska museet) in Stockholm, this release marks the first time DVD technology is being used for a Swedish artist’s concert video. Interactive possibilities include the choice of camera angles. Audio quality is also improved, with Dolby digital surround sound being used for the soundtrack. EMI has even included all of Marie’s earlier videos on the DVD.

  The bonus CD is an audio recording of the Stockholm concert.

  International fans wishing to purchase this item will be able to do so – beginning December 8th – through several online e-tailers, despite the fact that Boxman is now out-of-business.

  Skivhugget.se and Swedetown.com both will ship internationally. Since its launch a little over a year ago, Swedetown has proudly promoted Swedish pop music – including a prominent Roxette section. The site’s owner, Roger Ekelund, serves as a kind of international “evangelist” for the Swedish music industry.

  Another possibility is the Netherlands-based OIRFC’s “Fanshop”. They’ve recently upgraded the e-commerce section of their site.

  Fans living in Sweden or Norway, can order from Ginza.se where the it’s selling for about $27 dollars. CDon.se is another online source for Swedes (who of course can go to a local store and buy it as well).

  Public demand for Marie’s greatest hits album “Äntligen - Marie Fredrikssons bästa
1984-2000” was unexpected. According to EMI, sales figures now exceed 220,000 copies. This makes her “the year’s best-selling artist and, undisputably, Sweden’s leading female artist.” The 18-stop summer tour, seen by over 110,000 persons, no doubt served to help boost sales of the album.
Editor’s Note: TDR photos below by Lars-Erik Olson
 

• Swedetown
• Skivhugget
• OIRFC “Fanshop”

Some 30 Swedish performers, including Marie Fredriksson, have accepted invitations to be part of a January 16th concert at Stockholm’s Globen ‚ part of a campaign against racism.

  There will be a unique combination of artists that usually don’t work together,” said Tomas Ledin (a well-known Swedish male vocalist). The group, “Artists Against Nazis,” has talked about a having a song written especially for the event.

  The concert will be taped and shown on Swedish TV4 on January 27th. Plans also include the release of a “live” CD featuring the unusual artist combinations Ledin mentioned.

STOCKHOLM - She thinks “it’s a little crazy,” but Marie Fredriksson is the Swedish Artist of the Year. At 42, she has begun to summarize a glowing pop career.

  “Now is the best time”, says Marie. “Now all the worrying is over”.

  Marie is commuting just now between home in the luxury Stockholm suburb of Djursholm and the Polar Studios at Kungsholm, in the city’s center. The new Roxette album is nearing completion and finally she has more time for the family.

  “When you pass the age of 40, all the worrying is over. When you’re 20, you wonder if you will meet someone. Now one can sit down and relax. It’s actually great to be older, you see yourself differently, you can see things from a distance and have more of a perspective on life.”

• Expressen’s article

Read more…

RoxSpain launched its brand new site today, with an enhanced design and innovative features.

  Visitors will have the ability to subscribe to a news service that will send SMS messages – in Spanish or English – to their mobile telephone. Also, WAP phone owners can access the latest news published on the site directly from their handsets.

  Featured on the site is a forum in Spanish along with instructions on how to join the Spanish Mailing List, which already has about 200 subscribed fans.

  RoxSpain, which is not a division of the Netherlands-based OIRFC, was founded in June by a core group of fans because an active fanclub no longer existed.

• RoxSpain

HALMSTAD - Roxette fans wanting to save the Tits & Ass Studio here have reason to celebrate. At least for now, the building will remain standing.

  Several recent press reports have given attention to the online campaign to save T&A - with quotes from actual messages from fans - and this has led to a decision by individuals affiliated with the Tourist Board not to raze the building.

  Apparently, the campaign - which was endorsed by The Daily Roxette - has helped the Tourist Board come to realize that T&A should be spelled “Tits & Asset,” at least as far as they are concerned. Many fans wrote to say they have travelled a great distance just to see this building (and perhaps leave their mark on it, as T&A is covered with messages from fans around-the-world as can be seen in the photographs below).

  As readers of this e-newspaper already know, T&A is the little, remotely-located studio where Roxette developed and recorded many of their famous songs. Halmstad has received well over 70 e-mails from concerned fans.

  Mats “MP” Persson and Per Gessle still plan to move the recording equipment to a new studio under construction in the basement of Mats’ new house in Halmstad. Per told TDR while he was in the US that the current T&A building no longer meets their needs. One problem for those who would like to see the site saved from the wrecking ball permanently, is that the building itself is not in good condition. Long-term preservation efforts would be costly.

  The studio is still in use. Just last week, Mats - working as the producer - had a young, local group known as the “Student Drivers” there recording tracks for a new album.

Photos of T&A show graffiti-covered facade, including a message left on a window pane by Nicole Breuer of Cologne, Germany. Photos by Lars-Erik Olson/TDR.

Editor’s Note: “Roxer-the-Sunflower” contributed to this story.

• HP article (Swedish)
• Expressen article (Swedish)