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

Expressen has an article on Roxette’s promotional tour debut in MixFest, Boston. According to the paper, the MixFest stage was the largest ever in New England. The festival was a success: 25,000 people were present. (Update: Boston Herald reports that there were “sold out crowd of close to 40,000”)

Roxette started with the new US single “Wish I Could Fly” and continued with their #1 hits “It Must Have Been Love”, “Joyride”, “Listen To Your Heart” and “The Look”.

“This is wonderful,” said Marie right after the concert on backstage. “It feels like everybody know these songs. At least they are not forgotten.” Per was also very satisfied. “We think that two songs were a little bit too slow, but otherwise it went very well,” he says in Expressen. “Much better than we dared to anticipate.”

• Expressen’s Swedish article (check out the great pic!)

According to Expressen, Roxette is going to visit the popular NBC talk show “Tonight with Jay Leno” in December. The article doesn’t tell if the show is recorded during their promotional tour or if they come back in the States to shoot the show.

• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Expressen’s Swedish article

“Sure it would be cool to break through in States again, but it’s not the end if won’t,” says Per in Aftonbladet. “When we were young we had so much at stake. Now we’re just having fun. If it goes well, it goes well. If not, so what?” he adds in Expressen. Marie agrees: “Success in the USA is like a bonus to us.”

Before this promotional tour started, Per and Marie were a bit worried if people don’t remember them anymore in the USA. So far everything’s looking good: the passport controller instantly recognized them when they arrived.

Both Per and Marie have their families with them. “Unfortunately they can’t be with us for the whole time because of the school back home,” Marie says.

• Aftonbladet’s Swedish article
• Expressen’s Swedish article

BOSTON – Roxette, accompanied by band members and managers, are back on U.S. soil, having begun a promotional tour that will take them cross-country… and back. Today, they appeared at Boston radio station Mix98.5’s “MixFest” where copies of their new Greatest Hits album sold out at the retail record store tent that was on-site. Look to The Daily Roxette for full coverage, including an exclusive interview with Per that will appear soon!

The schedule for tomorrow’s MixFest festival in Boston has been revealed on the Internet. Roxette will be playing on West Stage at 11.25am, followed by Fastball at 12.15pm. (Thanks to Sascha!)

• MixFest

In today’s Metro Stockholm, Roger A. Wallis, the chairman of SKAP (Association of Swedish Pop Music Composers) defends Napster, the Website that the recording industry wants to outlaw since it’s being used to download music illegally from the Internet.

Wallis was interviewed by Computer Sweden magazine. He says in the interview that Napster fills an important function, since it gives people an opportunity to find new music. “If people are interested enough, they will pay for concerts and physical stuff,” he claims.

Both Per and Marie are members of SKAP.

• Metro’s Swedish article
• SKAP (check “Medlemmar”, the membership list!)

“Schedule subject to change” it says on both the list published here previously, and on a more recent version appearing on the RoxNorthAmeriFans site. “It’s driving us crazy!” said one person involved in planning the tour at Edel America Records (EAR). “Planning a cross-country tour takes an incredible amount of rescheduling… and revising… and rebooking…” said another.

The biggest changes are the cancellation of the performance in Minneapolis and the addition of a large concert in California. These and other tour updates are available on the “RoxAttaq USA” site.

• Roxattaq USA (RoxNorthAmeriFans)

Read more…

If there is such a thing as an “official” site, then this one is really official! Roxette’s upcoming promotional tour of the United States is being featured on a Website maintained by a branch of the Swedish government.

The Swedish Information Service, a function of the Counsul General of Sweden, publishes “Swedish Events” both as a printed newsletter and as part of their Website. It is a listing of cultural events open to the public with participation of Swedish cultural personalities or information regarding aspects of Swedish culture.

The short article about Roxette’s tour, written by TDR News Editor Lars-Erik Olson, focuses primarily on the Times Square event and includes a link to Roxette.net for further information.

Because of the United Nations, and the fact that many Swedish companies have their U.S. headquarters in the Tri-State area surrounding New York City, there is a sizeable Swedish population in the vicinity. When Roxette last performed in the Big Apple during the Joyride tour, there were so many Swedes in the audience at the end of the concert shouting “En Gång Till!… En Gång Till!,” that the Americans – who had no idea what they saying – joined in as well!

With Roxette, Marie Fredriksson, and Gyllene Tider as popular as ever in Sweden right now, look for the Swedes in America to attend the public promo tour events, and – even more important to the new record label – to buy the album, if only as a souvenir!

• Swedish Information Service (Swedish Events on the Web)

Marie entered the top 40 album sales chart in Norway this week at #19 with her “Best of..” album. Marie performed on a big TV-show (Momarken) there last week-end, and it looks like this show and a couple of TV-adds helped her enter the chart.

- Ketil via RML

• VG List

The Holland-based Official Roxette Fanclub has put their website “under heavy construction”. The new site will be located on their own server — as soon as the Dutch telecom company has been able to supply their ADSL line.

As a sidenote, they are now linking people to TDR from their news page! We appreciate that.

• Official Roxette Fanclub

Roxette fans — especially those in the US — are jumping for joy this weekend as WICF moves up three notches to #26 (from 29) on R&R’s (Radio&Records) Adult Contemporary airplay chart.

Furthermore, R&R has given the song a “bullet,” which means they think it has strong potential to keep climbing.

The RoxAttaqUSA team continues to ask for your help in calling radio stations and requesting the song. Fans are being credited with helping “Wish” do well in the States, and this is an especially critical time in the “lifespan” of a potentially hit song.

• RoxAttaqUSA (See “Forum” for Special Action Request!)

Read more…

During this week, Julieta Vasta and Jorge Diaz have been working on a site where fans will be able to write what they feel about the demolition of T&A. The messages will then be sent to Halmstad’s major Göran Hegen.

Julieta and Jorge are asking Hegen to consider the facts that the T&A building has special historical significance and demolition of the building would mean losing 20 years of the city’s own history. T&A has also, in part, increased tourism in Halmstad as Roxette fans from all over the world have travelled to visit the place.

“So, please, remember that your little help is crucial now…” asks Julieta. Go and sign the petition now!

• Save “Tits & Ass” Studio (Sign the petition!)

Roxette’s upcoming Promo Tour in the United States continues to take shape. Here are some of the highlights:

September 2000

 

22 Arrival - USA

23 WBMX MixFest - Boston

Venue: Suffolk Downs

Showtime: 11:50 am, probably after 12:00

25 WB In The Morning, TV show

Performance time: 7:45

Travel to NYC afterwards

 

26 NYC - Press Day

27 Virgin Megastore Appearance
In-store Performance at 5 pm, followed by signing session.

Performance will be taped for possible Webcasting by Retro Rewind

 

28 WWMX Baltimore

Showtime: 5,6 or 7 pm. (Band’s decision)

 

29 Nashville

 

30 WLNK Charlotte

 

October 2000

 

1 KQKQ Omaha NB.

Venue: The Music Box

Showtime: 8:00 pm

Attendance: 300 - 500 people

 

2-4 Los Angeles radio visits: KIIS, KBIG trades, HITMAKERS, HITS, R&R, NETWORK 40

 

6 KDND Sacramento

 

7 KPLZ Seattle

Venue: Experimental Music Project (new rock & roll museum, founded by Microsoft partner), 325 5th Ave. N at Seattle Center

Attendance: Must win tickets on-air.

 

9 KDWB Minneapolis

 

10 WZEE Madison

Venue: Marriott Madison

Showtime: 12 or 12:30 pm

 

11 WKRQ Cincinnati

Due to the nature of a promo tour, this information is subject to change.

• RoxAttaqUSA (Fan-based US support campaign.)

There are plans for Gyllene Tider and Roxette’s recording studio, where Per Gessle developed some of Roxette’s world hits, to be demolished to make way for a new road.

The Halmstad Kommun plans to construct the new “Coast” expressway right were the studio is located. Plans are for the contents of the studio to be moved to central Halmstad where Mats Persson, guitarist in Gyllene Tider who wrote some of Roxette’s most known songs together with Per, has already bought a building to be used for a new studio.

Studio Styr, renamed T&A Studio at the suggestion of Anders Herrlin — who got the idea from the Rolling Stones song “Little T & A” — has been used as a recording studio for the past 16 years. Four US #1’s, “The Look”, “Listen To Your Heart”, “It Must Have Been Love,” and “Joyride” have taken form there.

The door, full of messages from fans, will be placed in Leif’s Lounge at the Hotel Tylösand.

In addition to a recording studio, the rear of the building has been used by the Boy Scouts.

Many fans are upset by these plans, and a “petition” drive is underway in an attempt to save the building.

• Hallandsposten article (In Swedish)