BUENOS AIRES - Roxette Latinoamerica website, together with EMI Argentina, are throwing a pre-listening release party for Charm School on February 13 in Buenos Aires. The party is at Saint's Bar, Av. Cabildo 5451, and it begins at 18.00 sharp.
All the info for the event plus the flyer can be found on their website.

Submitted by Alejandro.

Today it's Per Gessle's 25th birthday, join us here at TDR in celebrating the Man!

Bestest regards, Visa, Lars-Erik, Judith, Thomas, Colin & Paul

It is with profound sadness that The Daily Roxette learned yesterday of the death of Cory Mistysyn, a longtime fan of Roxette and Per Gessle and loyal reader of this newspaper. Cory, who passed away on November 11th at the age of 32, was himself a talented singer/songwriter who deeply admired Per's music.  "Per is a genius," Cory once wrote, "and part of that shows in his ability to choose extremely talented people to work with."

Cory, who lived in Toronto, was an active participant in the original Roxette Mailing List (RML),  and then migrated here to the TDR SmallTalk forum. His comments on RML and TDR were usually about technical aspects of the arrangements and about production values. In person, he was soft-spoken, gentle, and always sincere. He was known to have an impressive Roxette/Gessle collection, especially of demos and other somewhat "rare" items as his biggest interest was in the process of how Per would come up with an idea, and then move it along towards a finished product. In his lifetime, Cory managed to attend several Roxette concerts and was most recently seen enjoying Per's "Party Crasher" show in London (see photo).

The cause of death was not stated in the published obituary.

NEW YORK - Few Gyllene Tider/Roxette fans have been in a position to share their love of Per's music with others as much as Scott Greenstein, who as the Chief Content Officer of Sirius XM, is the one who approached Per with the idea for the program that was later named Nordic Rox. As a result of the success of the show in promoting Swedish music in North America, he was — just last week — awarded the insignia of Knight of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by Ambassador Ulf Hjertonsson, Consul General of Sweden in New York (acting on behalf of the King of Sweden), at a ceremony at the Swedish residence on Park Avenue.

Per, along with his wife Åsa and son Gabriel, were in New York and attended the event along with other guests who included actor and musician Steven Van Zandt (E-Street Band); director Lasse Hallström and actress Lena Olin; guitarist Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi); professional skateboarder Tony Hawk; singer Peter Jöback; Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers; celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson; and media host Martha Stewart.

With this distinction, Greenstein is recognized for the strides made by the Nordic Rox program in introducing Swedish music and popular culture to American audiences.

"Scott Greenstein has been instrumental in bringing a number of Swedish voices from the world of politics and culture to radio listeners across the U.S.," said Ambassador Hjertonsson. "His personal enthusiasm and professional dedication to Swedish music, in particular, led to the creation of the very popular radio channel Nordic Rox, a veritable gateway for Swedish music in North America."

"Yes, Scott Greenstein is the main man behind [Nordic Rox]," said Per to The Daily Roxette in an interview three years ago. "He is a huge fan (he even knows the "Leva Livet" lyrics by heart) and he approached me about a year ago about this."

Per was last at the Swedish residence in September 2000, when then Consul General 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. Roxette was here at that time to promote the release of a U.S. Greatest Hits album, and had performed earlier in the day at the Virgin megastore in Times Square.

There's an article in today's edition of Aftonbladet about Diego Nuñez, a long-time Roxette fan who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has never been able to afford a trip to Sweden to see a concert – let alone live there for any length of time – but he nevertheless has managed to learn to speak Swedish fluently, mostly by self-study.

When The Daily Roxette reached Diego by telephone this morning from New York, he wasn't aware that the Aftonbladet story had been published. "Wow, this is all very exciting," he said.  Victor Ginner, the Aftonbladet reporter, had called him only yesterday from Sweden.  How this reporter in Sweden found out about Diego is a bit complex.

"He found out about me because a documentary filmmaker had come to Buenos Aires looking to find people interested in Sweden, and the Swedish Institute here had put him in touch with me. They [the Swedish Institute] know about me because I hang out there sometimes reading books in their library." The filmmaker in turn let someone at Radio Sweden know that a young man in Argentina had learned to speak Swedish by listening to their programs, and they interviewed Diego about a week ago for their "Språket" language program. The Aftonbladet reporter had listened to that.

Diego is not alone, as there are other fans of Roxette from outside Sweden who have also – with varing degress of success  – learned to speak Swedish, because of their interest in Per and Marie.  Feel free to leave a comment and let us know about that.

Read more…

Have you ever heard people talking about getting certain songs stuck in their head – sometimes all day long? Maybe even experienced this yourself? Well, we were wondering if there's been a party going on in your head since attending one of the Party Crasher concerts (or viewing videos from the tour)… and if so, which songs have been getting kind of stuck there in your brain's own internal iPod.  We're conducting a survey to find out, and we'd love to have you participate! Results will be published in an upcoming edition of The Daily Roxette.

GENT, BELGIUM - Per Gessle had a doorbuster of a concert here in Gent last night.  And we mean that literally.

Leaving the venue at the end of the concert, this reporter asked one of the staff members who work at Handelsbeurs, a young man named Andreas whom we had met two days before, what he thought of the concert.

“It was good,” he said somewhat hesitantly.  

“Only good?”

“Well, the concert was good, but his fans are CRAZY!  They broke our door!!”  Apparently, that had never happened before.

For several hours, fans from around the world had waited patiently outside Handlesburs, waiting for the doors to open at 7 pm.  It was a festive atmosphere, with a mix of fans from countries including Spain, Russia, Holland, Germany, Romania – Belgium of course – and even small groups from as far away as Argentina and Mexico.   Many had taken advantage of the three-day holiday weekend to attend this particular concert.  

At one point, the house manager came outside to tell the waiting fans that there would be plenty of room inside, and that everyone would have a good view (the venue can hold up to 800, and only around 280 tickets had been sold). But, of course, many in the assembled crowd had hopes of being in the “front row.”  So when the big, strong, wooden outside doors opened inward, there was a mad rush to get inside.

The actual concert hall was still closed, however. The idea of course was to give the venue a chance to sell drinks in the lounge area.  Not interested in “lounging,” the small mob outside quickly became a small mob inside, and when they finally were ready to open these much more fragile wooden frame doors, they needed to be opened outwards.  It was difficult for the staff to get people intent on proceeding forward to move backwards, so when they did manage to get one door open, there was enough pressure placed on the other door as it was opening to cause the unmistakable sound of cracking wood to be heard throughout the lounge.

Seriously, it was an accident. Per's "crazy" fans had a lot of fun during the concert*, and were by all accounts very well-behaved afterwards, waiting this time in an orderly line as Bo Johansson, the tour manager, ushered everyone waiting past Per, who was willing signing autographs and posing for quick photos. 

Read more…

Fans in Argentina are collaborating together to host an event in one of the city's newest hotspots on December 13. Run to Roxette (R2R) together with ¡Roxette Latino! – with the cooperation of EMI Argentina – are preparing a big Roxette party to celebrate the first 20 years.

The party will take place the evening of December 13th at The Roxy, an "in" restaurant and bar often used to host CD launch parties because of the outstanding sound system and large video screens. During the party there will be music, videos, contests and more surprises! The Buenos Aires-based Roxette tribute band Hot Joy (featured in a previous TDR article), will be guests of the party and perform several songs.

Courtesy of The Roxy, the two sponsoring websites are conducting a contest to award five free pre-party dinners-for-two (each for 2 persons) for that night. The winners will be revealed on Tuesday (December 12) through the websites and communicated by e-mail. The Roxy is located on Gorriti 5568, Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires.

Get in the contest!

NEW YORK - As The Daily Roxette reported back in March, the at-that-time “Official” International Roxette Fan Club (OIRFC), based in Holland for most of its 10-year existance, shut down it’s operation. Based on comments left on various Roxette discussion forums and here on the pages of this newspaper, this came as no surprise to many fans around the world as the organization had been plagued by complaints about poor service for at least the 12 months before it finally folded and increasingly, signs of life became few and far between.

  But even though a half-a-year has passed since their announcement, there are still many unresolved issues about money owed to people who where members of the fanclub – most of which revolve around credit for membership fees paid based on a contract for a certain number of issues of the group’s fanzine. The group claims that all orders for merchandise from their Fanshop have now been fulfilled.

  Several people have asked questions in these discussion forums over these past six months as to when people can expect refunds on their membership/subscription fees. At the beginning of June, Sarah Plunkett, a fanclub “team member” who has emerged as the only remaining spokesperson, said in an email message to several fans that refunds would have to wait until after the summer. It was assumed at that time that people still involved with the group were taking the summer off. With summer now over and October just around the corner, there has still been no word on either the Roxette.nl site (currently under the control of hackers) or via email or posting to the TDR SmallTalk or R2R forums.

“Unless the group [registered as a non-profit organization in the Netherlands] were to declare bankruptcy and/or formally disband in a civil court, then they are still legally obligated to fulfill the terms of these membership contracts,” said Dan Goldfarb, a lawyer in New York who has some familiarity with Dutch law, to TDR.

  An article on March 3rd on the OIRFC website said:

  “We are working out the finer details of closing up the shop and sorting out outstanding services (i.e. fanzines). Please do not spam us with requests as to what is happening with your credits. We are fully aware of them and finding the best way to meet everyone’s needs in an efficient and practical manner. Watch this space concerning Fanshop news!”

  Six months have now passed and still there is no sign of those finer details being sorted. Many fans have reported contacting Roxette’s management company, and writing to the fanclub repeatedly, but without any response. The fanclub’s demise, and all the trouble associated with it, prompted Roxette’s management to issue a statement saying that they would no longer endorse an “official” fanclub.

  “I think all that fans really want is an honest answer as to when and how refunds will be paid,” said Alison Lowther, a fan in the UK who has been active in the discussion threads about this topic. “Many may not want the few euros they are owed, but others might think differently.”

BUENOS AIRES - Hot Joy, a Roxette tribute band formed here, performed for the first time at a musical festival in this city yesterday. The free, open-air concert took place at Plaza Longo in the Caseros section of Buenos Aires.

  The crowd that filled the plaza heard Hot Joy perform “Hotblooded,” “Dangerous,” “Fading Like a Flower,” “Cinnamon Street,” “Spending my Time,” “Dressed For Success,” “Sleeping in My Car” and “The Look.”

   The festival opened with The Betters, a Beatles tribute band, and Hot Joy was the third act to perform. According to Juan Infante Camaño (vocals and guitar) the band’s name comes from the songs “Joyride” and “Hotblooded.”

  Other members of the band include Marcela Hatsatourian (voice), Nicolás Fontimpe (bass, vocals and chorus), Federico Fontimpe (lead guitar), Ariel Prados (Keyboards) and Santiago Rey (drums).


  “It was a spectacular show and they had a fantastic sound, which has to reflect a lot of work from these six guys,” said Silvina Arnouil, one of about 20 Roxette fans in attendance amongst a crowd of over 200.

  It was a kind of reunion for the local Roxette fan community, as many had not seen each other in a very long time, and most gathered near the stage.

  “Many of the fans sang along,” Silvina tells The Daily Roxette, “and there was a group of about four that danced like crazy to ALL the songs. It was a lot of fun for the Rox fans, of course, but the bigger crowd seemed to really enjoy the show as well.”

  “I’m one of those fans who have followed Roxette since the beginning, a long time ago… like 1989,” says Juan. “Roxette are what encouraged me mostly to become a musician.”

  “The real Hot Joy project started in February of this year,” he continues. “I say ’real’ because this idea has existed for some time in Nicolás, Marcela and Federico’s minds. They are the band’s founders. They’re the ones who put it all together.”

  “I don’t like to call our band a ’tribute band’ because tributes are for dead bands and they [Roxette] aren’t. So this is more of an homage,” he says.


Zerot contibuted to this article.

• Listen to Hot Joy (four songs available)