NEW YORK -   “Nordic Rox,” a new program debuting April 30 on U.S.-based Sirius Satellite Radio, will be produced under the creative guidance of Per Gessle, one of the world’s most successful songwriters, producers and musicians. As a member of the band Roxette and other performing bands, Gessle has sold 45 million albums worldwide and written dozens of songs that have been blockbusters on European and American radio, including “It Must Have Been Love,” which has been aired more than 4 million times on US radio, according to BMI, and is one of Roxette’s four #1 US singles.

  The program will be hosted and programmed by Radio Stockholm on-air personality Viktor Petrovski, a prominent figure in the Swedish music scene. Also contributing to the program will be the lead singer of The Hives, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, and highly respected ABBA historian Carl Magnus Palm (on behalf of ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus).

  The first episode of Nordic Rox will be broadcast on Sirius channel 18 this Sunday, April 30 from 8 pm to 11 pm EST.

  “The wave of high-quality bands coming out of Sweden today rivals anything since the big UK music movements,” said Scott Greenstein of Sirius. “The launch of Nordic Rox, together with our recent addition of BBC’s Radio 1 channel, further establishes Sirius as the leader in discovery of new popular music around the world.”

  Gessle said, “I’m very honored to be part of presenting Swedish and Scandinavian music outside our borders. The music scene in Sweden is certainly very creative and it will be a pleasure to present the best of it to the listeners of Sirius Satellite Radio. Pump up the volume!”

  Nordic Rox will place a spotlight on the quality and depth of Scandinavian artists and music, which have never been exposed in this manner in the US. The show will also be the first place in the US to hear exciting new music emanating from Sweden and Scandinavian countries.

  Historically, Sweden is the third largest exporter of music, after the US and Great Britain. It is a creative hotbed for musicians, songwriters, producers and technicians that, since the 1970s, have significantly contributed to the global pop music community. The success of the blockbuster musical Mamma Mia! has proven the enduring popularity of Swedish hitmakers ABBA’s music. Scandinavian music producers Max Martin (Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson), Anders Bagge (Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpson) and Tore Johansson (The Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand), among others, are responsible for many US hits, as well as the worldwide “Crazy Frog” phenomenon.

  Nordic Rox will expand upon this success by showcasing established as well as up-and-coming Swedish and Scandinavian artists, ranging from ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, and Cardigans to The Hives and other current artists such as The Ark, Whyte Seeds, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Sounds, Turbonegro, Sahara Hotnights, The Hellacopters, Madrugada, H.I.M. and many others.

• Sirius

NEW YORK - Herbie Herbert. It’s a name familar to fans who have poured over the liner notes of various Roxette albums. A musician himself, he was Roxette’s manager in the States during the height of their career. Now, an online auction of San Francisco music memorabilia features items from his private collection.

  Herbert got his start in the industry as the young and eager road manager for Frumious Bandersnatch, a psychedelic band that rocked the Bay Area from 1966 to 1969. In 1973 he pulled together Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Ross Valory, George Tickner and Prairie Prince to form the Golden Gate Rhythm Section which very soon became Journey.

  With Journey’s success and his desire to do more, Herbert added Mr. Big, Europe, Roxette and other artists to his management roster. Since then, Herbert has moved from backstage into the spotlight, recording three albums as Sy Klopps and touring the San Francisco Bay Area with the Sy Klopps Band, which has included such Journey band members as Neal Schon, Gregg Rolie, Prairie Prince, and Ross Valory.

  Having recently closed down his studio, Herbert decided to sell most of his memorabilia, including several Roxette-related items. Among the more notable pieces being offered are his personal copies of gold and platinum record awards. The auction ends on April 30.

• Backstage Auction’s Roxette page
• Herbie Herbert’s bio

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)

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will release her new album “Min bäste vän” (“My Best Friend”) on June 14. On the new album, she gives her own, personal interpretation of the music she grew up with during the end of the ’60s and the beginning of the ’70s.

  You’ll find songs from artists like John Holm, Fred Åkerström, Pugh Rogefeldt and the Hoola Bandoola Band on this album, along with many others.

  As early as May 15 she will release the first single, the John Holm song “Sommaräng” (“Summer Meadow”).

  Marie has again worked with her husband Micke Bolyos as both producer and arranger. The album’s been recorded at her at-home studio Vinden during the winter months. Marie and Micke worked with a small group of musicians: guitarists Ola Gustavsson, Staffan Astner and Jokke Pettersson; brothers Per & Sven Lindvall drums and bass guitar and Mats Ronander plays the harmonica on Pugh’s song “Guldgruva” (“Gold Mine”).

The songs:



DIN BÄSTE VÄN [Your Best Friend] Words & music: John Holm.

SOMMARÄNG [Summer Meadow] Words & music: John Holm.

OM JAG VORE ARBETSLÖS [If I Were Unemployed] (“If I Were A Carpenter”)

Original Words & music: Tim Hardin.

Swedish lyrics: Cornelis Vreeswijk.

GULDGRUVA [Gold Mine] Words & music: Pugh Rogefeldt.

VEM KAN MAN LITA PÅ? [Who Can You Trust?] Words & music: Mikael Wiehe.

JAG GER DEJ MIN MORGON

AFTONFALKEN [The Evening Falcon] Words: Ulf Lundell. Music: Pugh Rogefeldt.

INGEN KOMMER UNDAN POLITIKEN [No One Escapes Politics] (“Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine”) Original Words & music: Philippe Tatartcheff & Anna McGarrigle.

Swedish lyrics: Ola Magnell.

MAN MÅSTE VETA VAD MAN ÖNSKAR SIG [You Have to Know What You Wish For] Words & music: Mikael Wiehe.

DEN ÖDE STRANDEN [The Deserted Beach] Words & music: John Holm.

HÄR KOMMER NATTEN [Here Comes the Night] Words & music: Pugh Rogefeldt.

BEIJING - “They wanted us to change the lyrics of ’Sleeping In My Car’ and we agreed, but didn’t change them in the end,” said a mischievous Per Gessle about Roxette’s gig in Beijing in 1995.

  The Rolling Stones finally got to play China. Roxette was the first band allowed to play China in 10 years. The first band ever to play China was Wham! in 1985. After Roxette’s groundbreaking performance, Mick Jagger contacted Marie Fredriksson and had dinner with her in order to find out how Roxette got permission to play from the strict Chinese government.

  It’s been 11 years since Roxette’s concert in China and it is only now that the Stones have been able to finally play there. As with Roxette, they were forced to cut out several songs and tone things down, but the concert seems to have been successful.

• Globe & Mail article

HELSINKI - The Daily Roxette meets Per Gessle in the luxurious Hotel Kämp in the center of Helsinki on a sunny April afternoon. Per is full of energy – as always – even though he has already spent a day and a half talking with Finnish reporters and is yet to have his lunch. An iPod with a voice recorder attachment is saving our discussion.

  “Oh, iPod, it’s a fantastic little machine,” says Per. He has a few of them himself. “I tend to have a few. And… I have lost a few, too,” he says laughing. I go on to ask the ever-so-common question about what’s playing on his iPod right now.

  “The best record I’ve had this year is from this English guy called Merz. I don’t know anything about him. I tried to find something about him on the Internet, but couldn’t really find any. I know he made an album eight years ago and then something went wrong and it took him eight years to come up with a follow-up. It’s a beautiful record and I just love it,” Per says. His other purchases lately have been the latest albums from Arctic Monkeys and Rosie Thomas.

  The “Son of a Plumber” album was already promoted in large scale last year, in Sweden. Per doesn’t feel it’s that difficult to get into the right mood for promoting the album again, now in other European countries. “It’s been fascinating. I’ve been travelling to several countries by now and the reception has been fantastic. I never ever get reception from the media in this way. I was just joking that this will probably be my least-selling record and the one I get most media attention for. But that’s fine, because this album was done very much for myself,” he says. “It is a tribute to my record collection, my childhood and my roots. We never talked like ’we have to have three singles’ or anything. I actually let EMI pick the singles because I couldn’t. I was too close to the songs.” Read more…

STOCKHOLM - In an interview published in Madrid today with the Spanish-language Europa Press, Per claims that Marie Fredriksson will release a new Swedish album in May.

  Per also comments about the new songs that they will record for the Roxette Greatest Hits album due out this fall. “We will record one, maybe two new songs, it all depends on Marie, who doesn’t want to work too much,” he tells Europa Press. “But she is really looking forward to recording with Roxette again,” he adds. “Marie’s life has totally changed, she sees life through different eyes,” he explains, and stresses that she has never stopped singing and recording music. He says she will release a new album in Swedish in May.


  Per also reveals that he has already started to write the first new song for the forthcoming Roxette anniversary album.

  Marie’s manager, Marie Dimberg, didn’t confirm the news about her new album, though. “Nothing is final and nothing is official yet,” she tells TDR.

• Europa Press (In Spanish)
• Pictures of Per in Madrid @ Roxspain

STOCKHOLM - In an exclusive and hastily scheduled telephone interview with The Daily Roxette, an embarrassed Per Gessle confesses he made an error in calculating how many years it has been since he first started working with Roxette. “The 20th Anniversary was actually last year… in 2005,” he admits. “So we’re cancelling the plans we had made for this year.

  “I know there will be many fans disappointed by this, so we wanted you guys at TDR to be the first to know. But we’ll try to make it up to them,” said Per. “And hey, you do get the German EP!”

  “Math has never been my strong point. I almost flunked the subject when I was in school. On the other hand, I did really well with geography (he laughs), and not only do I know we have fans around the world, but I can point to where those countries are on the map! We haven’t forgotten all those smiling faces beaming up at us on stage,” he declared.

  ”Oh well… maybe 25 sounds better than 20 anyway. It does have a nice ring to it, so we’ll just have to wait,” said a disappointed Li Lindebäck at EMI. But manager Marie Dimberg, trying to put a positive spin on the story, said “Look what 25 did for Gyllene Tider. Don’t be too upset, this could be good news. It’ll give us more time to prepare something really big.”

  “For someone with the reputation of being both a good musician and businessman, Per really does have some difficulty with figures and accounting,” said Jan Beime, his business manager at Desert AB. “I suppose that’s why he hired us.”

  It’s unclear at the point exactly what is to become of the Greatest Hits album and the RoxBox collector’s set. Per seemed to indicate that a portion of this material might still be released this year, but he was not immediately available when we tried to reach him again. A press release is expected Monday.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This was, indeed, part of our little April Fool’s Day joke … thanks to Per for being a good sport about it. – LEO

STOCKHOLM - Per never ceases to surprise his fans. To promote the Son of a Plumber album release in German-speaking countries, he has recorded five tracks - in German! The first one is a German translation of “Jo-Anna Says,” then there’s a translation of “Måla mitt minne” which was released by Freddie Wadling last year. The other three songs are previously unreleased.

  “Germany has always been a very strong area for Roxette. We have many loyal fans there and in the neighboring countries. This EP is like a gift to them,” says Per. “Most of the new songs were originally written and recorded as demos available for other artists to record. Some are several years old actually. Late last year, when we were having negotiations with the German EMI about SOAP, someone there proposed recording songs in German.”

  Per says that he hesitated at first, if only for the fact that he’s never studied any German. “After Roxette had made ’Baladas en Español’, we were asked to do a similar thing in German. It didn’t feel quite right back then and we didn’t really have the time. I’m easier to get along with these days (he laughs) and they found me this great translator, Dieter Lechner.” The songs were recorded in Christoffer Lundquist’s studio between the tight promo tour schedule in March. The demos were originally recorded in 2002 and 2003, except “Manchmal denke ich nur an dich” which is a ballad from 1996, then known as “Only When I Dream”. The Swedish title of “In diesem Augenblick” is “Måla mitt minne.”

  The EP will be released as a bonus disc in a special 3-CD limited edition version of “Son of a Plumber”. The EP will apparently be also available as a separate release, at least on iTunes.

  The songs to be released are: (English translations within brackets)

1. “Jo-Anna sagt” (“Jo-Anna Says”)
2. “In diesem Augenblick” (“At This Very Moment”)
3. “Vorbei” (“It’s Over”)
4. “Manchmal denke ich nur an dich” (“Sometimes I Only Think Of You”)
5. “Zwischen 3 & 8 [esse ich kein Frühstück]” (“Between 3 & 8 [I Don’t Eat Breakfast]”)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This too was a part of our little April Fool’s Day joke. We’re glad everyone (almost everyone?) enjoyed them. – LEO

The tremendously popular Roxette track that went all the way to #1 in the U.S. in 1990, “It Must Have Been Love,” has been covered by no less than two artists lately. One of them being the British Idol version - The X Factor - runners-up Journey South who has done an acoustic version that’s included on their debut album “Journey South.” The album was released last week and went straight into #1 in the UK with more than 225,000 units sold. It’s expected to stay at #1 (or #2) another week at least.

  Shirley Clamp is the other artist that has covered the song, although her version will be in Swedish when it’s released in April. “The song has been wonderfully translated into ’När kärleken föds’ (’When Love is Born’) by Ingela ’Pling’ Forsman.” Shirley, who indeed is Swedish in spite of her name, will release a new album in April where she covers, or interprets, her favorite songs.

  Other artists TDR knows of recording IMHBL include Polly Esther, Digital Bitch, The Chipmunks and Sanne Salomonsen.

• Journey South on Amazon
• Journey South
• Shirley Clamp (in Swedish)
• IMHBL medley (Extended)