Per calls Roxette fans “extremely loyal”
Written by ngriffioen on November 8, 2002 to Roxette.
COPENHAGEN - It’s a Danish newspaper this time that has published an interview with Per. He was in Denmark on the return leg of his Roxette promo tour.
The journalist starts out the interview by asking Per about the day he found out about Marie’s illness. As reported previously, he was riding in a cab on the way to the airport when his mobile phone rang and he learned the horrible news.
He says that it’s still hard to understand that this is for real and that he thinks of Marie as a sister.
Per also says that Marie was in the studio this week. “It was fantastic to see her being able to work,” says Per. “She did a good job,” he says, “but it will still take many months before she will really know what she wants for the future.”
He went on to say that even if they’ve both given interviews on their own before, it’s still better when they are together. The circumstances make it worse.
“Our fans were very shocked [about the news], but after getting themselves together, they’ve sent thousands of e-mails. Something that Marie thinks highly of”. “Our fans have been amazing. They are extremely loyal. We have a special communication with them,” he says with a smile.
He ends the interview by saying that this is not the end for Roxette.
- Berlingske Tidendes’s online article (In Danish)
Per visits Swiss radio and TV programs
Written by lonely_girl on November 8, 2002 to Roxette.
ZURICH (UPDATED) - 
As we previously reported, Per Gessle is on a promotional tour and today, he met with Swiss journalists and appeared on both VivaSwizz, a music TV channel, and a Swiss national radio station program.
Asking questions in English, and then translating the responses into German, the DRS3 radio host (see webcam pic at left) covered a variety of topics in a short time… from ballads to touring to solo projects.
Q: How do you decide who sings each song?
Per: We let the song decide if the lyrics are meant to be sung by a girl or guy. Most of songs are written for Marie to sing.
Q: Roxette is famous for the ballads, but you also have a rock-side.
P: It’s one side of Roxette. Most people recognise Roxette for the ballads, Marie’s voice is very sensitive, vulnerable, and fits the melodies. It’s a great combination. But we also have a power-pop side, and actually we have an up-tempo compilation coming in March next year. It’s great to mix our voices and to have such a band, that’s able to sing both kind of songs.
Update: You can listen to the full interview in DRS3 website, you just have to follow the links below.
- Listen to the interview - Part I
- Listen to the interview - Part II (Real Audio required)
Per in Nyhetsmorgon on Swedish TV4
Written by vivien on November 7, 2002 to Roxette.
SWEDEN - Per is going to be a guest in Nyhetsmorgon (morning news) on Swedish TV 4 this Saturday. The program is going to be broadcast between 9.00-11.10.
UK court rules in favor of Gessle
Written by Lars-Erik_Olson on November 4, 2002 to Roxette.
LONDON - Stephan Malmstedt’s claim against Per Gessle and EMI Records UK was dismissed by the High Court today. The judge also dismissed Malmstedt’s immediate appeal.
“I am of course very pleased with this judgement,” Per says. “It did not however, come as a surprise. Malmstedt has tried to pursue this matter for almost 10 years and has failed in Sweden. Now he has also failed in the UK. I trust this will be the end of this episode.”
Per says promo tours are lonely without Marie
Written by Roxcat on November 4, 2002 to Roxette.
BRUSSELS - Per visited the Belgian radio station Radio Donna this morning where he was interviewed on their morning program “Vrouwentongen.”
Leen Demaré, the program host, welcomed Per with the already typical question, “How is Marie doing?”. Of course, Per repeated that Marie is doing fine and recovering from the surgery.
As readers of The Daily Roxette are aware, the Night of the Proms tour was to take Roxette to Belgium, but it was cancelled due to Marie’s illness. Per hopes to join next years edition, “but we haven’t decided yet because of Marie; she doesn’t want to make any promises yet but we are looking forward to doing it.”
Today “The Ballad Hits” compilation is released all over Europe. The decision to release an album with all their ballad singles was made last year during the “Room Service” tour. “We have already released about 40 singles, we are really getting old. We have had a lot of hits so this is like an statement to do this, to be able to release a ballad hits followed by a power-pop hits,” says Per.
- Belgian Roxette Fanclub (Download the video stream here)
- Radio Donna
Gessle to appear on Radio/TV in Belgium today
Written by Pascal on November 4, 2002 to Roxette.
BRUSSELS - Continuing on with his promotion tour for the upcoming compilation album, Per Gessle will be in Belgium today, November 4th.
While there won’t be a press conference, he will meet various reporters and visit the Belgian radio station Radio Donna’s program “Vrouwentongen.”
The program – which is also shown on TV – runs between 10am and 12 noon CET and can be followed through the station’s webcast videostream.
Marie to be back in studio soon
Written by Jud on November 3, 2002 to Roxette.
STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson is on her way back. Sometime before Christmas, she will sing for Roxette’s new single.
“She feels better and better every day,” says Per Gessle.
“She has to do some additional singing for one of the songs for the next album. And we will try to do that before Christmas. Marie has a studio in her home, so that makes things easier,” says Per.
Last week Marie and her husband Micke invited the Gessle family for dinner.
“It was great and just as always. What’s nice about Marie is that she is so positive and optimistic. This is a really hard thing that she has had to go through,” he says.
According to him, the danger is over now.
“Yes, as far as we know. It seems like they removed the entire tumor. What I feel is that there’s nobody that can stop the wheel from rolling now,” says Per.
But for him this period has been hard.
“This shock comes back all the time. One is reminded that something like this can actually happen. It’s been a very remarkable time,” he says. “But I’m glad that everything is going this good.”
Watch “Ballad Hits” TV spot online
Written by roxeteer on November 2, 2002 to Roxette.
Capitol Records has started to promote the new “Ballad Hits” album online. At least Aftonbladet.se is running a rich-media advertisement “Roxette Jukebox” which allows you to listen clips from 6 tracks on the album and from the 4 bonus EP tracks. You can also watch the a Swedish “Ballad Hits” TV spot by clicking a link in the advertisement (or by clicking the link below).
As a side note, EMI Finland is also planning to show “Ballad Hits” TV spots before Christmas.
- Watch the TV spot (QuickTime required)
- Get QuickTime here
Swedish press picks up on US release news
Written by Jud on November 1, 2002 to Roxette.
STOCKHOLM - Tobias Lindner, a reporter from the Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet, was at yesterday’s press conference in Spain and heard TDR’s reporter, Peter Mills, ask about the US release of “The Ballad Hits” in February. Picking up on that, he filed this report in today’s edition:
Now they try the USA – again
Hits compilation should give Roxette revenge
Now the land in the west will be conquered. Again.
Roxette´s compilation The Ballad Hits” will be released in the USA.
“It’s the simplest way to come back there,” says Per Gessle.
About 10 years ago USA capitulated totally. Per and Marie conquered the big country with hit after hit.
Just as an example, “It Must Have Been Love” has been played over 3 million times on American radio while the album Joyride from 1991, has sold about 9 million copies in the US.
Per visits Spain on promotion tour
Written by PeterGm on October 31, 2002 to Roxette.
MADRID - As part of the promotion surrounding the release of “The Ballad Hits,” Per Gessle is visiting Spain this week. He arrived in Madrid Tuesday night with his wife and son, and drove directly to the hotel.
Yesterday, Wednesday, he gave a press conference at the Hotel Villamagna with about 25 reporters and photographers present.
Walking into the room with someone carrying a poster of “The Ballad Hits” behind him, he posed for the cameras as flash after flash went off. Marie Dimberg, Roxette’s manager, and her assistant were sitting together with Åsa, Per’s wife, on chairs placed at the right side of the room.
The reporters started to shoot the typical questions. To the “How is Marie?” question, he gave an answer now familiar to readers of The Daily Roxette.
“Considering the circumstances, she is doing fine,” he said. “It is a very delicate situation for her and to the people around her, and we still are very shocked after the first day when we knew about her fainting. However, Marie is a very positive person, and she’ll get well soon. She’s a survivor..”
Hits since 1987
“We started to think about this project last year when we were on tour,” said Per. “First we thought of releasing a double-CD, but in the end we decided to release it separately. First the ballads and then the power-pop songs.”
Per isn´t sure of what the future will bring. “We are a live band and we love going on tour, but right now we aren’t sure of what will happen next.”
When he is asked about a new solo album, he says that Roxette has always worked fine because both himself and Marie have given each other the freedom to release solo material, even in the most successful time for Roxette. “I am going to release solo albums in the future, and Marie will do so as well.”
