STUTTGART - Per Gessle’s promo efforts outside of Sweden are paying off. His solo-project Son Of A Plumber is attracting more and more interest. On the SWR3-charts, a show of the biggest radio-station in Baden-Württemberg, the single “Jo-Anna Says” has climbed to #3!

• SWR3 chart

STOCKHOLM - Per Gessle will be interviewed by Swedish TV4 during this year’s Polar Music Prize gala on May 22. Russian conductor Valery Gergiev and British rock group Led Zeppelin are this year’s honorees.


  The event starts with the gala ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall, where the prize winners will accept their award from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf. This will be followed by a celebratory banquet at the Grand Hôtel, where TV4 – which broadcasts the event – will have its studio and where host Rickard Olsson will meet Per and members of The Soundtrack of Our Lives for a talk.


  The Polar Music Prize, which awards artists or institutions in recognition of their musical achievements, was founded in 1989 by the late Stig Anderson, known primarily as ABBA’s manager, who played a great role in their success. Anderson donated a large sum of money to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music with the aim of creating a musical Nobel prize, what was to become known as the Polar Music Prize.


  The name of the award stems from Anderson’s legendary record label, Polar Records.


  Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, are among the artists who have been awarded with the prize. TDR readers might remember Marie’s performance at the 1996 edition when Joni Mitchell received her award.

• TV4 article
• Polar Music Prize

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - A new Son of a Plumber single, “I Like It Like That,” will be released in Sweden on May 17. The B-side is, as previously reported, the second installment of the series “Plumber in Progress.”

  On a side note, May 17 also happens to be celebrated as the independence day of Sweden’s neighbor Norway.



Plumber in Progress #2:

1/ Are you an old hippie, sir?

2/ Late, later on

3/ Making love or expecting rain

4/ Brilliant career

5/ Brilliant career, alternate refrain

6/ Speed boat to Cuba

7/ Something happened today

8/ Ronnie Lane

9/ Carousel

10/ Come back tomorrow

  Update May 5: The single has been delayed until May 24.

(UPDATED) AMSTERDAM - Per Gessle will visit Holland and Germany this week as part of his “Son Of A Plumber” promotion tour through Europe.


  Today Per is in Holland, where he’ll attend Radio2 DJ Hans Schiffers program, which is broadcast between 14:00 and 17:00 CET. You can listen to the show via their website clicking on “Luister live naar radio2.” The program will also be available on Real Audio format after the show (see link below.)


  Tomorrow Per will be on German Radio SAW. You can also listen to this radio station online via their website by clicking on “Jetzt live hören.”


  Remco contributed to this article.

  EDITOR’S NOTE: Per had some trouble with traffic jams in Amsterdam today that threw his schedule off, but The Daily Roxette managed to spend some time with him nevertheless. Look for another TDR exclusive interview with the Son of a Plumber within the next few days! — LEO


  Update May 4: Per will join SWR3, one of the biggest radio stations in Germany, tomorrow evening. He will be guest on “SWR3 Clubs” which runs between 19:00 and 22:00 CET. The program can be followed online via SWR3 website (click on “SWR3 live einschalten”)

  Hiphappy contributed to this article

• Radio 2 - Schiffers FM (In Dutch, Real Player needed to listen to the program)
• Radio SAW (in German)
• SWR3

MARANELLO (UPDATED) - After a recent successful exhibition highlighting the links between Ferrari and the cinema, the company’s Galleria has just opened a similar show entitled “Ferrari and the Music” that features Per Gessle as one of the contributors. “I’m very excited that they asked me, it was like Clapton and me…” laughs Per.

  Stars from the world of music are featured alongside four-wheeled automotive legends with a themed exhibition exploring the cars, myth and music at the home of the Prancing Horse. Per comments “I’m a big Ferrari fan and have visited their factory five or six times over the years. I was invited to Bologna a few months ago, for the world premiere of the new 599 GTB (yes I ordered a dark gray one…).”

  Singers and performers from all over the world who were attracted to Ferrari’s racing heritage, and loved the style of the road cars, have expressed this admiration in their songs and videos. With three rooms entirely dedicated to the exhibition, the Galleria Ferrari pays tribute to the 60-year-long link between Ferrari and artists who left their mark on the history of music.

  More than thirty international music artists accepted the invitation to participate: Italian singers and songwriters as well as world-renowned artists from various musical genres: classical, opera, jazz, rock and pop music.

  These artists contributed to the event by placing their portraits and some of the most meaningful symbols of their artistic careers at the curator’s disposal including musical instruments, awards, stage costumes and other personal items. Along with one of Per Gessle’s guitars, there are Miles Davis’ trumpet, Placido Domingo’s Othello costume, Nick Mason’s (Pink Floyd) drums, the crazy hat of Jay Kay (Jamiroquai), and an Eric Clapton guitar on display.

  Throughout the exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to see a special collection of video clips, including “Joyride” by Roxette, “Supreme” by Robbie Williams and “Material Girl” by Madonna.

• AskAPrice article (with additional photos)
• Galleria Ferrari
• Ferrari World

Read more…

COLOGNE - Per Gessle as Son of a Plumber played “Jo-Anna Says” on the TV show “Chartbreak-Hotel” last month. The performance will be broadcast on May 13 at 10:15 pm on German TV station Sat1.

• Capitol Germany’s SOAP page

VIENNA - Per Gessle, a.k.a. Son of a Plumber, will present more of his favorite songs, this time in video format on Austrian GOTV’s “Hosted by”. The program will be broadcast on April 29 from 22:00 to 23:00 CET and re-run on May 2 at the same time.



Per will present the following videos:

The Thrills - Big Sur

The Sounds - Song With A Mission

Sigur Rós - Svefn-G-Englar

David Bowie - D.J.

Air - Sexy Boy

Roxette - The Centre Of The Heart

R.E.M. - Man On The Moon

Johnny Cash - Hurt

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Sister Surround

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Don’t Come Around Here No More

The Subways - Rock N’ Roll Queen

• gotv

STOCKHOLM - From out of nowhere, Bad Hair Day is back. This time around a The Lonely Boys song is released - “Keep the Radio On (This is the Perfect Song)” or as Per says himself; “The song itself was written for Gyllene Tider back in 1980 (called ’Gå hem innan du lägger dej’ which means something like ’Go Home Before You Go to Bed’…) but GT never used it. Mainly because of the terrible Swedish lyrics if I remember the history right. However, it was recorded by the Lonely Boys for the LB album but I’m sure y’all heard that! And just recently it became rejected once more when we mixed the SOAP album. That version didn’t really make me tick!”

  Per also reveals that the next SOAP single will be out in Sweden soon; “I Like it Like That” with a b-side named “Plumber in Progress #2”.

• Download here (Son of a Plumber.com)

VIENNA - Per Gessle will present some of his favorite songs on the Hitradio Ö3 show “Freundeskreis” (“Circle of Friends”). The Austrian station will broadcast the show tomorrow, April 22, from 23:59 to 01:00 CET.

Playlist:

Joanna Says - Son Of A Plumber

Till The End Of The Day - The Kinks

A Question Of Temperature - Balloon Farm

Free Fallin’ - Tom Petty

Ever Fallen In Love - Buzzcocks

The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon & Garfunkel

The Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric

Hey Mr. DJ - Son Of A Plumber

  You can listen to the show over the Web as well (www.oe3.at, click “Ö3 Live”).

• Ö3 (In German)

MADRID - EMI Spain has announced in a message on the Son of a Plumber website in Spanish that Per Gessle will visit Spain next month as part of his promotion tour, which has already taken him to cities like Cologne and Vienna.


  Per will be in Madrid on April 5 to present “Son of a Plumber” to the Spanish press. “Per doesn’t forget the country that has always welcomed him with open arms and where he has experienced, together with Marie, so many good and happy moments,” reads the note.


  The album “Son Of A Plumber” is out on March 27 in Spain.

• Son Of A Plumber (In Spanish)
• Spanish Roxette Fanclub