Per will leave for the US promotional tour in better shape than ever. He actually dropped his weight 10 kilos in a rather short time. “It was the slipped disc that forced me to change my lifestyle and start training,” he says in Aftonbladet. Now goes jogging and works out in a gym. He didn’t need a strict diet to lose weight. “You don’t need one when you train,” Per says.

Per speaks about how easy it is to become lazy when one gets older. Now, however, he thinks he’s in a good shape. “I will be Sweden’s answer to Warren Beatty,” he says laughing.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article (nice pics!)

Marie received in yesterday’s ceremony a 100,000-SEK award from Halland Academy. The award was given to three people from Halland county because of their efforts to promote their home county. TDR first reported about the award in June.

• Hallandsposten’s Swedish article

29 with a bullet!

Radio and Records, a weekly industry newspaper, reports that Roxette’s “Wish I Could Fly” is the 29th most played song on adult contemporary (AC) radio stations this week.
Billboard, widely viewed as the US chart authority, tends to lag behind Radio and Records, who compile their charts based solely on airplay statistics. The song’s debut on R&R is a possible indicator, therefore, of what’s coming up on Billboard.
In Canada, where Roxette are signed to EMI, the song reached #67 on the AC chart.

• R&R Online

Per says in FLT’s interview published in Hallandposten, that some of the songs recorded for the forthcoming Roxette album sound almost like those of the producer guru William Orbit. Orbit has worked with many top-selling artists, such as Madonna (“Ray of Light” album) and Melanie C (her solo debut “Northern Star”).

“There has been progress in that trend of pop music. Our producer Clarence Öfwerman is also very keen to it,” Per says, but continues: “Though [on our album] there will be a whole bunch guitars too.”

Per also talks about the coming US mini tour and the release of greatest hits album and radio single “Wish I Could Fly”. “Very many people call to the radio stations and ask for our songs, so I hope our compilation helps us to rise from death [in the US],” says Per.

• Hallandsposten’s Swedish article

The annual Momarkedet-show will be held this Saturday in a place called Mysen, Norway. The show will be broadcasted live on the Norwegian TV-channel NRK1 20.55 CET, and Marie is among the artists who will perform. Other artists include Eurovision winner The Olsen Brothers and Secret Garden.

• Momarkedet
• About the TV broadcast

The Swedish TV4 celebrates their 10th anniversary this year. In their big birthday gala, they will have live performances from every artist who has won “song of the year” Grammis in the 90s. In 1996, Gyllene Tider won the prize with “Gå & fiska”. The band is going to reunite once more. Per has nothing against it.

“I enjoy every second I spend with Gyllene Tider. We have so much fun together,” says Per in Aftonbladet.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article

Here are further details on Roxette’s US promotional tour. Arrangements are still being made, and all information is subject to change.

September:

23 WBMX - Boston, MixFest; Appearing along with many other acts, including Goo Goo Dolls, The Go-Go’s, Vertical Horizon. 35,000-50,000 people TDR’s article

26 New York City Virgin Records Megastore, Times Square. In-store appearance and performance TDR’s article

29 WMXB - Richmond, Virginia; Radio

30 WLNK - Charlotte, North Carolina; concert, details to follow, surrounding stations included?

 

October:

1 KPKQ - Omaha, Nebraska; Radio.

8? KPLZ - Seattle, Washington; Radio Concert

3 KMSX - San Diego, California; Radio concert (acoustic, stripped down show)

4-5 KIIS, KBIG - Los Angeles, California; Radio, press, retail

6 KDND - Sacramento, California; Radio

9 KDWB - Minneapolis, Minnesota; Radio, retail.

10 WZEE - Madison, Wisconsin; Radio

11 WKRQ - Cincinnati; Radio

This information was received from the Roxattaq USA team. (Thanks Judith!)

• Roxattaq USA

Edel America’s new website reveals that Roxette will have a site for promoting the band’s releases and mini tour in the States. The site will be located at http://www.roxetteusa.com/ but it is not yet online.

• RoxetteUSA.com

Roxette is going to have a 10-concert promotional tour in the USA next month. The tour begins with acoustic concerts at MixFest, Boston on September 23 and at Virgin Megastore, New York on September 27. After that, the band will perform live in eight different cities, e.g. Los Angeles, Seattle and Minneapolis. There has also been negotiations on visiting the popular NBC talk show “Tonight with Jay Leno”.

Roxette’s US comeback single “Wish I Could Fly” has received praising reviews in American media. “I don’t think we’ve ever had so exuberant reception before,” says Per. “Wish I Could Fly” will be included on their revised greatest hits album, “Don’t Bore Us — Get To The Chorus!”.

The rapid changes in Roxette’s US situation has forced them to postpone the release of new material. According to Per, 3/4 of the album is already finished. The band is still working on the album and it is due in March 2001.

• Expressen’s Swedish article
• Hallandsposten’s Swedish article

At long last, Edel America has updated their site, featuring a nice little section on Roxette and some great Flash stuff. There is mention of Roxette’s US promo tour, from September 22nd to October 12th, but no mention of the Boston MixFest appearance. Though it looks as though the site is still being worked on as some of the features aren’t working yet. For example, their artist page for Roxette is not yet online.

• Edel America

In early June, TDR reported about Per’s investment in a company specialized in Internet consulting, called Fame Studios. Per is one of the co-owners of the company, together with a few other Swedish pop celebrities. Now the company is seeking for publicity and the both biggest tabloid papers in Sweden have coverage on the company.

Aftonbladet writes about one of celebrity co-owners, Tomas Ledin. He is releasing a new album after four years pause. According to today’s Aftonbladet, Fame Studios will build the website for promoting his new album.

Today’s Expressen interviews one of the founders of Fame Studios, 24-year-old Internet expert Magnus Brynestam. His career started when he noticed that the Swedish hit musical “Kristina från Duvemala” didn’t have an official website. He contacted the authors of the musical, ex-Abba members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, and they hired him to build the site.

Expressen also interviews Per. He is very enthusiastic on music on the Internet. “Just as artists make a video for a song they release, in the future every artist needs their own site on the Internet,” says Per.

• Fame Studios
• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article
• Expressen’s Swedish article

The U.S. release of Roxette’s greatest hits album will be launched at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square, New York, on Wednesday, September 27, and the record label, along with Per and Marie, want you to be there.

Roxette will make an in-store appearance and perform several songs from the CD, “Don’t Bore Us… Get To The Chorus,” including “Wish I Could Fly” which is currently being played on scores of American radio stations, with more being added every week.

Marie and Per will be arriving in New York from Boston following their appearance at MixFest on the previous Saturday.

Directly across the street from Virgin is the Viacom building, home of both MTV and VH1. The U.S. RoxAttaq, with the support of fans around-the-world, has been trying to get the “Wish..” video to be shown on these networks. According to Edel America (EAR), the RoxAttaq is having an effect, with VH1 in particular showing interest now. An EAR spokesperson said “We’re so happy with the support the fans have been giving us. This RoxAttaq you guys are doing couldn’t be more important right now, as we try to get even more radio stations to add ’Wish’ to their playlist.” EAR hopes to see Times Square overrun with Roxette fans that Wednesday. “We really want the fans to be there,” said the spokesperson. “Per and Marie are eager to connect with their American fans again.”

• U.S. RoxAttaq (NYC party for fans under development)

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Roxette prior to one of her last concerts, Marie indicated that she had been delighted with the friendly, enthusiastic crowds and thought that the concert tour was one of the highlights of her career.

Many fans remarked to this reporter that Marie really seemed to be enjoying herself onstage, and she confirmed this by saying “these songs are very special to me and I enjoy performing them. I’ve really enjoyed this tour, especially last night’s concert in Stockholm. It will be a little sad when it ends tomorrow in Uppsala.”

Marie went on to say that she had been especially delighted with the “Roxette fans” who had travelled to see her perform in Sweden. “It’s a good feeling for me,” she said.

Many of the concert reviews in the Swedish press mention how energetic Marie has been during this tour and how comfortable she seems to be at this point in her life. “Yes, that’s true, and now things are going to get very busy again,” she said. “The new Roxette album has to be done by Christmas, and we have the U.S. promotion to do.”

There are a couple of Websites in particular that have, or will have soon, plenty of photos from the concert tour. These pictures will show a happy Marie Fredriksson who, at certain concerts, ignored rain and buzzing mosquitos to give consistently suberb performances.

[Photos: Fans at concerts, including a mosquito-biten James from the UK]

Read more…

A streaming video version of “Wish I Could Fly” has been added to the Rolling Stone magazine website in the Videos section. The video stream is available in both Windows Media and RealPlayer formats.

• RollingStone.com (View the video!)

Twenty-eight states filed suit Tuesday against the five biggest record companies and two music retailing giants, accusing them of conspiring to fix CD prices.


“This illegal action by record companies and retailers has not been music to the ears of the public,” New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said in a statement. “Because of these conspiracies, tens of millions of consumers paid inflated prices to buy CDs of artists including Santana, Whitney Houston, Madonna, and Eric Clapton.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, alleges that traditional retailers pressured the record companies to set minimum advertising prices after a price war brought by discount retailers dropped the average price of CDs from $15 to $10. Read more…

Mikael Bolyos, husband of Marie and the leader of her summer tour band, has revealed that the live recording of Marie’s Stockholm concert will be released on both DVD and VHS. If that’s not enough, the concert will be also broadcast on Swedish TV4 around Christmas.

Note that this information isn’t confirmed “officially”.

Roxette will be playing live on stage in the USA for the first time since their Joyride world tour in the early 90s. The band will be one of the featured artists in MixFest, an outdoor festival in Suffolk Downs, Boston, scheduled for September 23.

Other artists in the line-up include the Barenaked Ladies, Tracy Chapman, the Goo-Goo Dolls, Macy Gray, the Corrs and Fastball.
Tickets are being sold for $35 dollars through Ticketmaster.

• MIX 98.5 - Mix Fest
• Boston Herald article

Simon Gledhill, a fan of Marie also known as simes or essjaygee, has dedicated a site to Marie’s summer tour. He attended at four of Marie’s concerts and has now published pictures and a diary from his trip, “to share the enjoyment of the Marie Äntligen tour”. The site will still be updated, because he’s soon leaving to Sweden third time this summer to see Marie on stage in her last concert in Uppsala.

• www.mariefredriksson.co.uk

Judith, the originator of the highly successful petition for asking Marie to go on tour, has published a message from Marie. In her message, Marie thanks all her fans on the Internet for their support. You can see the original message on Judith’s web site.

• Marie’s message to her fans

“Soaking up the summer with Marie Fredriksson” says the front cover of June-July issue of Blue Wings, Finnair’s in-flight magazine. The magazine contains a 3-page interview with Marie, including some very nice pictures from the shooting of “Anyone” and some more recent pictures, one of them right there on the front cover.

The article is about Marie’s summer tour, but it also covers some bits of her past. They mention that “the Internet has been buzzing with requests for her to get back on stage” and that “it was strong pressure from fans that finally got her back on tour”.

Marie is described as a strong performer. “Otherwise quiet and reserved, and even serious, according to some, she undergoes a personality change on stage, where she’s in her element. You can see she’s brimming with confidence, and obviously enjoys the adulation received by a born performer.”

But Marie hasn’t always been high on self-confidence. “I was 30 when we were an international success. Of course, it was fantastic, but, at the same time, I had an empty feeling inside. A difficult time in my life,” Marie tells. Everything changed when Marie met her husband-to-be Mikael Bolyos and had her first child. Her life settled into a better balance. “The basis for marriage is a good relationship. That’s what I have. I’m very lucky to have such a good husband,” Marie says.

We’ve received some unconfirmed tidbits about Marie’s tour.

Marie herself has said that Patrik Isaksson will be special guest star in Stockholm concert next week.

TV4’s tour documentary will be either 35 or 60 minutes (as reported by 2 different cameramen). They have shot footage in Halmstad and Varberg and will shoot some more in the Stockholm. (Thanks Simon!)