Starrox said on January 28, 2005 18:39:

No wonder you didn’t find it - it’s K_D_WB ;-)

-> http://www.kdwb.com

Starrox said on January 28, 2005 22:37:

Yeah, thought the same! I wonder if something like the TL-story could happen there today...

Sophoriffia said on February 1, 2005 02:03:

Yes they’re still broadcasting. (I dont listen to them though)
*I reside in Minnesota*

ditroia said on February 9, 2005 09:09:

EYE Magazine - Issue 1 Volume 19 - February 27 1992:

The [Pete] Best of Roxette?

An exclusive update on the man who gave them away.

BY MARK WEISBLOTT

“I think if someone handed me a winning lottery ticket I would return the favour,” says Dean Cushman.

Cushman is a 25-year-old computer programmer from suburban Minneapolis, Minn. If you see Roxette at the Gardens on Tuesday night [March 3], you probably have him to thank.

Just over three years ago, Cushman was studying computer science at Hgskolan I Borås, a Swedish College. Returning home for Christmas in 1988, after participating in a student exchange program, he brought with him a souvenir that would change his life.

Or so you’d think.

“Roxette were number one on the charts over there. There were 14 of us from America, and we all thought that they had a good, positive sound. So I bought their Look Sharp! Album to take home with me,” He says

“I had always been interested in music from a radio standpoint. So after I returned home, I made a phone call to [Minneapolis Top 40 station] KDWB. I told them I had this great disc and wondered who I should take it to. It turned out to be Brian Philips the station’s program director.”

“I met him at the station and explained that I had this disc and he said he’d try to listen to it but, couldn’t promise that he would. A few days later, I decided I wanted the disc back because I wanted to listen to it again. I gave him a call asking him to send it back and he did.”

“The next night, I heard ‘The Look’ on this feature where they ask listeners to call in their comments about new singles. A couple weeks later, Brian called me back to ask if I wanted to be a guest on the morning show and tell the story about how I found this song.”

Philips had recorded Cushman’s copy of the album and filled requests for tapes of “The Look” from stations across the country. Within weeks, it became the biggest thing to hit Top 40 radio in ages, and the single was rush released.

The American EMI label held first right of refusal on Look Sharp!, and passed on releasing the album after they heard the recording. [Shades of the Beatles? You bet!] They were proved wrong as the single shot to the top of the American charts. Naturally, the impact was felt around the world. Roxettemania was born!

“The day that I was on the radio, I was taken to dinner by a couple of people from EMI,” Cushman recalls. “They were going to see Roxette a couple weeks later in San Francisco, so they arranged to send me an autographed picture.” A few weeks later Cushman was presented with a gold single for “The Look” at a KDWB party in their honour. Later that year, he met them backstage after a concert in Sweden. “We talked for about five minutes — they were pretty busy.”

When the story first broke, Cushman’s phone rang off the hook with questions from Swedish reporters. But while he became a minor celebrity in Roxette’s homeland, he received little media recognition in his own backyard. “I read an interview with them in Rolling Stone and saw them on MTV, but they never mentioned my name. I was just ‘the American exchange student.’ ”

The story more or less ends there, as did Cushman’s relationship with Roxette, KDWB and EMI. “After what happened, I kept thinking they were at least going to offer me a job. I was still in college and any sort of money would have been helpful. I made a phone call or two, but the most anyone said was. ‘Send in a resume,’ and what was I going to put on the resume? It seemed like they didn’t want much to do with me.”

Cushman only got a copy of Joyride after he walked into the EMI office in Stockholm and asked for one. [He has been to Sweden several times in the past few years and met his wife there.] “I don’t think it’s as good [as Look Sharp!], but I’m not into pop music anymore.” These days he prefers listening to Queensrÿche [“the ultimate band of all time”] and another Swede, Yngwie J. Malmsteen.

Any Advice for the Dean Cushmans of the future? “I don’t have a clue. Maybe if I was a little more well-informed I could’ve done some about it. I thought they should have at least given me a finder’s fee.”

“I may sound like I’ve got regrets, but I don’t… I had a real good time. I’m not bitter, just a little confused. Maybe that’s just the way the business works.

© David Di Troia 2005

Rich-UK said on February 9, 2005 17:00:

So acting as a catalyst for a career that sold 45,000,000 albums and 15,000,000 singles, he was rewarded with 1 of each... I must admit that I thought he would have been given more than that! LOL :-P

ditroia said on February 10, 2005 03:17:

Thanx

Well Per later Said that a Station in LA had started playing The Look before or around the same time as KDWB, and that they used Dean’s story becasue it sounded cool. I’m not saying he wasn’t important though.

However if you give money to him then you have to give money to the DJ Brian Philips, because it was really his decision to play the look and copy the album.

In the end it seems EMI treated him pretty poorly, but for us that comes as no suprise.

For F*cks Sake they knocked back Look Sharp TWICE!

Dave

RobS said on February 10, 2005 11:17:

That was an interesting read :-)

A gold record and a few freebies is a bit slack, but I’m curious to know what exactly he expected in return?? and for that matter what should he expect to receive??

As David said if he gets a fee then so should the DJ, and whoever else might have played the song.

How could they have turned down LS twice!?!? OMG

Are there any other bands that got their break in a similar way?? and what happend there??

RobS said on February 11, 2005 07:53:

Did they try other record labels??

tevensso (moderator) said on February 12, 2005 14:23:

According to inside, unverified, rumors, Dean Cushman started giving Roxette and Roxette’s management weird requests and ultimatums, so he was “banned”.

LaMan said on February 20, 2005 00:34:

Maybe “fame” made him some psycho lol.