It was one
of those random thoughts that popped into my head as I was aimlessly
surfing the the web when I should've been working. What the hell ever
happened to ROXETTE? It wasn't like you could rely on VH-1 to do a
WHERE ARE THEY NOW so I took my ever-so-random search to both WIKIPEDIA
and YOUTUBE. It turned out that the Swedish duo comprised of songwriter
and guitarist PER GESSLE and vocalist MARIE FREDRIKSSON have been
keeping busy with two albums released in the space of two years and
constant touring. In the video posts of their recent performances in
locales such as Moscow, Birmingham, Glasgow and Berlin, the audiences
are rabid and singing along (sometime you wish they weren't) to hits
such as THE LOOK, DRESSED FOR SUCCESS, JOY RIDE and LISTEN TO YOUR
HEART but then again there is a lot to go rabid for. PER and MARIE are
tearing into these sets of reliable hits and promising new material
with complete abandon - with a recklessness that is sort of frowned upon by
admirers of that flawless pop sheen that this very duo had gone through pains to
create twenty years ago. Oh yes! After hearing postings of their new
releases on YOUTUBE and the electricity of their live performances, it
is my humble opinion that PER and MARIE deserve another break on this
side of the Atlantic.
The launch of ROXETTE's meteoric success in the age of MADONNA was one
of those fortunate accidents that happen throughout pop music history.
A foreign exchange student from the US returned home to Minnesota from
Sweden with a copy of the band's 1988 sophomore release LOOK SHARP. He
brought it to his local radio station which set the band's single THE
LOOK in motion to becoming ROXETTE's first chart topper and a
distribution deal in the US. With the seemingly impenetrable U.S market
penetrated, the path was paved for additional monster hits such as the
HEART-sound-a-like power ballad LISTEN TO YOUR HEART, IT MUST'VE BEEN
LOVE (from the PRETTY WOMAN SOUNDTRACK) and JOYRIDE (from their 1991
platinum selling album of the same name). If memory serves, ROXETTE may
have been the only guitar oriented pop music in the game before the
grunge movement came along in the early nineties. One could argue that
rock n roll's new found relevance and the rise of hip hop could've lead
to the absence of all of the sun and fun that ROXETTE shamelessly
provided, but I always blamed that fact that EMI felt it appropriate to
sell the bands' 1994 album CRASH BOOM BANG exclusively at MCDONALDS.
From there, the band's fortunes in the US declined and new material
from the dynamic duo would never make it to the airwaves.
Despite the lack of distribution Stateside, ROXETTE released two
enormously successful albums - HAVE A NICE DAY (1999) and ROOM SERVICE(2001) but the momentum stopped the morning of September 11, 2002 when MARIE collapsed
from a malignant brain tumor. Following a long, painstaking recovery and
for MARIE and GESSLE having flexed his songwriting muscle on a couple
of solo releases, the dynamic duo got back together for CHARM SCHOOL in
2011. The cheeky first single SHE'S GOT NOTHING On (BUT THE RADIO) and
the rock anthem WAY OUT were like a clarion call letting the whole world
(except the States) know that ROXETTE was back in business but it was the
plaintive ballad NO ONE MAKES IT ON HER OWN that reminds me why ROXETTE
was able to breakthrough in the first place – and why they should
do so again. Earlier this year the duo released TRAVELING – SONGS FROM
STUDIOS, STAGES, HOTEL ROOMS & OTHER STRANGE PLACES preceded by
the thumping single IT'S POSSIBLE. SPIN MAGAZINE recently pointed out
that ROXETTE finally “sound contemporary” and that is true given the
fact that producers such as MAX MARTIN (BABY, ONE MORE TIME) and
SHELLBACK have taken their queue from GESSLE's tremendous pop smarts. The current crop of pop producers from the land of Sweden who have given some luster to the current pop set owe a great deal to these two trailblazers. Forget about ABBA!
TAKEN
FROM THE NOVEMBER
2012
EDiTiON OF ROCKWiRED MAGAZiNE!!!
CHECK OUT THiS iNTERViEW WITH PER AND MARiE ON CBS!!!
ROXETTE - SHE'S GOT NOTHiNG
(BUT THE RADiO)!!!
(2011)
