Neverending Love was the first ever release by Roxette as a duo and it was later included on their debut album Pearls Of Passion. Orginally this single was only meant to be released outside of Sweden but EMI eventually changed their mind and released it in Sweden too.
The song immediately became a huge hit and therefore EMI decided to release a commercial 12''. Since EMI had numerous copies of the promotion 12'' left in stock they decided not to make any new records but to simply order some picture sleeves and release it with the same catalogue number as the promotion 12''.
The first issue of the Swedish release of both the 7'' and the 12'' had missprinted lyrics on the back of the picture sleeve. In the first section of the text, on the second line from the bottom, the text should read "You're 1 in a 1 000 000" but on the missprinted issue it says "You're in a 1 000 000".
In the fall of 1986 EMI released a new remixed version of Neverending Love in Sweden and this "Euro-Mix" version of the song was only released on a 12'' which was made in 1.000 copies.
The remix version of Neverending Love which is included on Dance Passion - The Remix Album is actually the same version of the song as the "Euro-Mix" and the "Extended Club Mix" versions. The "Love-Mix" version of the song is only available on this single.
In Germany both the 7'' and the 12'' were released twice with the same catalogue number but with different mixes (remixes by Frank Mono). The second issue (including remixes of the song) has a unique graphic sleeve and these versions of the songs were not available anywhere else untill the 7'' remix was included on the release of Pearls Of Passion - The First Album in 1997.
Pearls Of Passion was Roxette's debut album and it was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm in 1986 and was only released in Scandinavia and Canada.
The first edition of the Swedish LP has the following message engraved on the run-off groove: "T'WAS A PLEASURE - CAPTAIN AND KANGAROO". This message has a hidden meaning but Per Gessle wishes it to remain a secret.
In Canada the album was released by Capitol Records but it included the 7'' version of the song Soul Deep instead of the usual album version. After Roxette's enormous success with the album Look Sharp! the record company decided to re-release the album in 1989.
In Scandinavia Pearls Of Passion was re-released in 1991 and the only difference between the original Swedish LP and the reissue is that the new edition has 910902 engraved on the run-off groove instead of the message which was engraved on the original LP:
The original CD was only made in Sweden and when the album was re-released in 1991 they made a mistake when they printed the booklet for the CD. On the front page of the booklet they placed the star in front of the name Roxette instead of behind the name which the original CD has.
A bootleg copy of the CD is available and the best way to find out if it is an original CD or not is to look at the following:
1) On the back of the actual disc is should be printed "TOOLEX ALPHA CDP 7 46459-2/01 CDM" or "TOOLEX ALPHA CDP 7 46459 2 AO @ 1" and not "7464592" as the bootleg copy has printed.
2) On the back insert of the CD the year of release should be printed "(P) 1986 EMI SVENSKA AB" and not "(P) 1986, EMI SVENSKA AB" with the extra comma as the bootleg copy has printed.
The album was internationally released in 1997 under the name Pearls Of Passion - The First Album but this time there were eight bonus tracks included.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman.
Musical credit
Per Gessle - Vocals Marie Fredriksson - Vocals
Matts Alsberg - Acoustic bass, Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Per Andersson - Drums, Staffan Astner - Electric guitars, Tommy Cassemar - Bass, Uno Forsberg - Trumpet, Jonas Isacsson - Electric guitars, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars, Mats Persson - Percussion, Mikael Renlinden - Trumpet, Tomas Sjögren - Trumpet, Alar Suurna - Percussion, Tim Werner - Drums, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
Goodbye To You was the second single taken from Roxette's album Pearls Of Passion and it was only released in Sweden.
A test pressing of a remix 12"does exist but only a few copies were made and it was never commercially released. This remix, does, however, appear on some bootleg compilation CDs by Roxette.
Soul Deep was the third single taken from Roxette's debut album Pearls Of Passion and it was only released in a few European countries and Canada.
The song was originally written in Swedish and was called Dansar Ner För Ditt Strup I Rekordfart but that title was cosidered too silly. Per Gessle wrote new English lyrics and evetually Roxette recoded it for their debut album.
The song Pearls Of Passion was not included on the album and was unavailable anywhere else until it was included on the single Queen Of Rain in 1992 and on the release of Pearls Of Passion - The First Album in 1997.
Only 230 copies of the Swedish promotion 12'' were made and it includes a remix of Soul Deep which was only available on the album Dance Passion - The Remix Album and on the Swedish German and Canadian 12''.
Dance Passion - The Remix Album includes remixed versions of songs from Roxette's debut album Pearls Of Passion and in Sweden only 27.000 copies of this album were ever sold.
The album is only available on vinyl and it was released in a few European countries during the spring of 1987. By the end of year 2001 EMI had not yet released the album on CD but in 1995 an unofficial bottleg CD was released.
All of these remix versions are unavailable anywhere else except for Neverending Love and Soul Deep which were included on the 12'' editions of these singles. The remix version of Nevereneding Love that is inlcuded on this album is in fact the same version as the "Euro-Mix" and the "Extended Club Mix" that is included on the 12'' edition of this single.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman
Remixed by Kaj Erixon (track 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7), René Hedemyr (track 4) and Alar Suurna (track 6)
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Per Andersson - Drums, Staffan Astner - Electric guitars, Tommy Cassemar - Bass, Marianne Flynner - Backing vocals, Uno Forsberg - Trumpet, Kent Gillström - Additional overdub at the Hit Factory, Jonas Isacsson - Electric guitars, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars, Mats Persson - Percussion, Mikael Renlinden - Trumpet, Anne-Lie Rydé - Backing vocals, Tomas Sjörgen - Trumpet, Tim Werner - Drums, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
I Want You is a song which was recorded early in the summer of 1987, about one month before Roxette's first tour.
I Want You was written and recorded by the artists Roxette, Ratata and Eva Dahlgren in order to support their joint tour "Rock Run Ricket" and as the closing of every concert the song was performed by all of the artists.
I Want You is only available on this single and on the Swedish compilation albums Absolute Music 3 and The Record Station (5) 1987-1991.
Produced by Anders Glenmark
Musical credits
Eva Dahlgren - Vocals Johan Ekelund (Ratata) - Vocals Marie Fredriksson (Roxette) - Vocals Per Gessle (Roxette) - Vocals Mauro Socco (Ratata) - Vocals
Matts Alsberg - Bass, Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Henrik Janson - Elctric guitar, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) was originally recorded for the German market but EMI Electrola did not like the song and therefore it was decided not to release it as a single in Germany.
The song was, however, released as a Christmas single in Scandinavia and the main reason for this was to keep up the interest in Roxette until their next album could be released. The idea was also to re-release this single every year, much like Wham!'s his Last Christmas, but they never did.
When the single was first released in November 1987 the sleeve had red leaves and a subtitle printed on it. The second edition of this single was released after Christmas and therefore EMI decided to remove the subtitle and change the colour of the leaves to green.
Both of these releases include the same version of the song which is very slightly different (the word Christmas is substituted by the word winter) compared to the version of It Must Have Been Love that was recorded for the soundtrack to the movie "Pretty Woman".
It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) was included on some Christmas compilation albums but noth of the songs on this single were unavailable on any Roxette album until they were included as bonus tracks on Pearls Of Passion - The First Album in 1997.
Only 340 copies of the promotion 12'' were ever made and it includes the same versions of the songs as the 7''.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Jonas Isacsson - Electric guitar, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
I Call Your Name was a single taken from Roxette's first album Pearls Of Passion and it was only released in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and The Netherlands.
The remix versions of I Call Your Name that are included on this 7'' and 12'' were remixed by Frank Mono and are only available on these releases. The 7'' remix was eventually included as a bonus track on Pearls Of Passion - The First Album in 1997.
The 12'' has a missprinted B-side label and the version of Soul Deep that is included is in fact the "Extended Mix" which is also available on the 12'' of Soul Deep and Dance Passion - The Remix Album.
Dressed For Success was the first single from Roxette's album Look Sharp! and in Sweden the single was only released on vinyl. The Swedish 7'' has the following message engraved on the run-off groove "Glöm Inte Bort Att Du Är En Rocker". This message has a hidden meaning but Per Gessle wishes it to remain a secret. The Swedish 12'' includes a remix a version of the song called "The Look Sharp! Mix" which is unavailable anywhere else. This version of the song is different from the remix called "Look Sharp! Mix" which is included on several other releases. The Swedish 12'' also includes an instrumnetal version of Dressed For Success which is unavailable anywhere else.
The song The Voice was not included on the album and it was not available anywhere else until it was included on the single Fingertips '93 and on the album Rarities in 1995.
When Dressed For Success was first released as a single in the U.K. in the summer of 1989 it was ahuge flop and did not even reach top 20 on the U.K. charts. In the summer of 1990 Roxette had a major hit with It Muts Have Been Love and because of the success with this single EMI decided to re-release Dressed For Success in the fall of 1990 and this time the single managed to reach the #18 position on the U.K. charts.
In Japan a promotion only 7'' was released in a company sleeve together with a seperate sheet which had a picture and some text on the front and lyrics together with other information on the back.
Listen To Your Heart was the second single taken from Roxette's album Look Sharp! and in 1989 it became their second U.S. #1 hit.
The Swedish single was released in a unique picture sleeve wich is unavailable anywhere else. The same picture was also used on the seperate sheet which was included with the Japanese promotion 7'' of Dressed For Success.
Only 380 copies of the Swedish promotion 12'' of Listen To Your Heart were made and it includes an orchestral version of the song which is unavailable anywhere else.
In Japan a promotion only 7'' was released in a company sleeve together with a seperate sheet which had a picture and some text on the front and lyrics together with other information on the back.
The song (I Could Never) Give You Up was only included on the CD release of Look Sharp!
Look Sharp! is Roxette's second album and it was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm between March and August 1988 and also at Trident II Studios in London in June 1988.
This was Roxette's breakthrough album and it includes songs like The Look, Dressed For Success, Dangerous and Listen To Your Heart which were all released as singles and became huge hits around the world.
The album includes 13 songs but on the LP and cassette the song (I Could Never) Give You Up was left out and in some countries the date on the cover was changed.
In Germany the album was released in a limited edition as a picture LP and picture CD and these were the first picture discs that were ever released by Roxette.
The name Look Sharp! was first used by Joe Jackson on his album from 1979 but Per Gessle thought it was a cool title and decided that Roxette should use the same title for their album.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman and Adam Mosley (track 6, 7 and 10).
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Erik Borelius - Spanish guitar, Graham Edwards - Bass, Anders Herrlin - Bass, Erik Häusler - Saxophone, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoutic guitars, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Adam McCulloch - Saxophone, Morris Michael - Electric and acoustic guitars, Jan "Janne" Oldaeus - Slide guitar, Andrew Wright - Keyboards, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
Chances was a single taken from Roxette's album Look Sharp! and it was only released in a few European countries.
The song Silver Blue was not included on the album but it is, in fact, the same demo version that was included on the single The Look. A different version of this song was later included on the album Tourism which was released in 1992.
The 12'' includes a remix version of Chances which is unavailable anywhere else.
The Look was the third single from Roxette's album Look Sharp! and it was their first #1 on the U.S. charts. The single was at the top of the charts in 26 different countries around the world in 1989.
The first edition of 8.000 copies of the Swedish 7'' was released on red vinyl and in a different coloured sleeve compared to the second edition. The first edition of 2.000 copies of the Swedish 12'' was also released on red vinyl but in a similar sleeve as the second edition.
The Look was the first single by Roxette to be released as a CDS in Sweden but only 4.600 copies were sold and it is therefore quite rare today.
In Japan a promotion only 7'' was released in a company sleeve together with a seperate sheet which had a picture and some text on the front and lyrics together with other information on the back.
There was only one supposed copy of the Swedish 7'' on clear vinyl ever made, and it sold for SEK 15.000 at an auction in December 1994 as the most expenssive Roxette record ever! It was later discovered that there is more than one copy, but just how many are available is still uncertain.
Dangerous was the fourth single taken from Roxette's album Look Sharp! and it became a world-wide hit and reched the #2 position on the U.S. charts.
The song was originally written for Don Johnson, an actor who had his breakthrough with the TV series "Miami Vice", who was recording a new album at the time. Don Johnson, however, did not like the song and therefore he sent it back to Per Gessle and Roxette recorded it themselves.
Only 2.000 copies of the Swedish CDS were made and it includes live versions of songs recorded during Roxette's 1988 tour of Sweden. The live versions of Surrender, Neverending Love and Joy Of A Toy are available on other releases but the live version of Sleeping Single is only availble on the Swedish CDS.
The Swedish 7'' was released with two different sleeves, the first edition came in a gatefold picture sleeve and the second edition came in a regular picture sleeve which today is quite hard to find.
It Must Have Been Love is a song which was included on the soundtrack to the movie "Pretty Woman" but it also was released as a single and in the summer of 1990 it became Roxette's third U.S. number one hit.
The song was originally released as a Christmas single with the title It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) but a new remixed version (with new lyrics) of the song was included on the soundtrack and therefore the title was changed.
Both the movie and the soundtrack became a huge success and thanks to Roxette's song the album sold in excess of nine million copies worldwide.
When the movie had its TV premiere in the U.K. in 1993 the single was re-released and once again the song became a hit. The song 2 Cinnamon Street was included on the CDS of the re-release and this is the same version of the song as the one that is included on the European release of the soundtrack to the movie "Super Mario Bros.".
Joyride was the first single taken from Roxette's album Joyride and in Sweden the 7'' was released as a limited edition with four different picture sleeves. Joyride was very successful on the charts around the world and it became Roxette's fourth U.S. #1 hit.
The song Come Back (Before You Leave) was not included on the album Joyride but it was later included on the album Tourism.
On the Swedish vinyl single the run-off groove has the following message engraved: "Was it really neccessary to whistle". This phrase is a comment from someone who heard this song for the first time.
In North America (U.S.A. and Canada) a special promotion box for the single was distributed by EMI and it included a promotion CDS, a promotion cassette-single and a promotion video of Joyride. The box was made in the U.S.A. but EMI Canada decided to print a unque front insert for the CDS just to make the Canadian box look different from the U.S. box.
Joyride is Roxette's third album and the title is taken from an interview with Paul McCartney where he says: "writing songs with John Lennon was a long joyride".
The album was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm and at Tits & Ass Studios in Halmstad between January and November 1990 and it is the biggest selling Roxette album so far.
On the spine of the album the phrase Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus is printed as a sort of subtitle. This slogan is borrowed from the Brill Building in New York City where song writers Leiber & Stoller used to work.
The vinyl edition of Joyride was originally planned to be released with a gatefold sleeve but the idea was cancelled in the last minute because Per Gessle did not like the picture on the inside of the planned sleeve. However, 10 copies of the album with a gatefold sleeve do exist.
The first edition of the Swedish LP came with a hard inner sleeve and 910116 engraved on the run-off groove. The second edition came with a soft inner sleeve and 910214 engraved on the run-off groove.
The CD and cassette of Joyride includes three bonus tracks of which one, Soul Deep, is a partly re-recorded version of the song with new guitars, bass and a new mix compared to the version included on their debut album Pearls Of Passion.
In some of the European countries the first edition of the CD had the title of the song Knockin' On Every Door misprinted as Knocking' On Every Door on the actual disc.
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals, rythym guitar, tambourine, harmonica and whistling
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Dave Edwards - Narrator, Marianne Flynner - Backing vocals, Uno Forsberg - Trumpet, Anders Herrlin - Bass, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars, slide guitar, mandolin and harmonica, Hernik Jansson - String arrangement and conductor of strings, Mia Lindgren - Backing vocals, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Mats Persson - Percussion, Mikael Renlinden - Trumpet, Anne-Lie Rydé - Backing vocals, Tomas Sjörgen - Trumpet, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, grand piano, Hammond- and barrell-organ, Staffan Öfwerman - Backing vocals, Kjell Öhman - Accordion
Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave) was the second single taken from Roxette's album Joyride and it reached the #2 position on the U.S. charts.
The song I Remember You was only included on the CD and cassette of the album Joyride.
On the Swedish vinyl single the run-off groove has the following message engraved: "Jag Tvis Bäst".
The message has a hidden meaning but Per Gessle wishes it to remain a secret.
The Swedish 7'' was released with two different dates (16/4 -91 and 910424) engraved on the run-off groove but there is also an extremely limited edition of the 7'' with a misprinted sleeve which had a yellow border on the front instead of the ordinary orange border.
The Big L. was the third single taken from Roxette's album Joyride and it was quite successful on the European charts.
The single was only released in Europe, Australia and Japan and originally it was supposed to be released after Spending My Time (Spending My Time has a lower catalogue number than The Big L. on the European singles).
The song One Is Such A Lonely Number was unavailable anywhere else until it was included on the compilation album Rarities in 1995.
The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye is a song by Roxette which was released as a promotion only CDS, specially made for Swedish radio to thank them for their support during the years.
The song was orginally not meant to be released comercially but it was eventually included on their singles Spending My Time and Vulnerable. Later on Per Gessle also decided that the song should be included on the compilation album Rarities which was released in 1995.
Stamp To The Music is a compilation cassette including songs by the Swedish artists Roxette, Jerry Williams and Lena Philipsson which all were depicted on stamps in 1991.
The Swedish post created the stamps in an attempt to encourage Swedish children to begin collecting stamps. To promote the release of the stamps this cassette was for sale at Swedish post offices and the proceeds from the sale went to cancer research.
Spending My Time was the fourth single taken from Roxette's album Joyride but originally it was meant to be released as the third single.
The song The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye was unavailable anywhere else (except on the Swedish promotion CDS) until it was included on the single Vulnerable and on the compilation album Rarities.
The first issue of the U.K. 7'' came in an exclussive poster sleeve unavailable anywhere else, while the second edition came in a regular picture sleeve and has another B-side compared to the first edition.
The first edition of the CDS from The Netherlands was released with a misprinted inlay where the track listing of the songs was incorrect but when the mistake was discovered they released a CDS with a correct inlay.
Church Of Your Heart was the fifth single taken from Roxette's album Joyride and the song was only included on the CD and cassette of the album.
The European 12'' and CDS editions of this single also includes a demo version of the song Come Back (Before You Leave) which is sung by Per Gessle instead of Marie Fredriksson.
The front of the sleeve has a picture of Halmstad square in 1959 and the photograph was taken by the photographer Stig Hartman. The reason for using this picture instead of a picture of Roxette was that Per and Marie wanted to have something which showed where they come from.
When the single was released in the U.K. a Megamix of the songs was included: It Must Have Been Love, Listen To Your Heart, The Look, Joyride, Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)
How Do You Do! was the first single taken from Roxette's album Tourism and it was released in order to increase the interest for "The Summer Joyrde Tour '92!" which took place in Europe in the summer of 1992.
The single includes a live version of the song Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave) which is not included on the album and is unavailable anywhere else.
How Do You Do! was the last single by Roxette that was made in Sweden, both on vinyl and on CD, as after this all singles were imported to Sweden from The Netherlands.
On the Swedish vinyl single the run-off groove has the following message engraved: "BLIHAFI".
The message has a meaning but Per Gessle wishes it to remain a secret.
Talking About Tourism is an interview CD which was made in a batch of 1.300 copies and sent out as advance promotion for Roxette's album Tourism.
The booklet includes 26 different questions to Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson and the CD itself is Per and Marie answering all these questions with pauses in between.
Most of these CD's were sent to radio stations outside Sweden and the idea was that the station's own DJ read the question from the booklet and it would seem as if Roxette were there giving the pre-recorded answers.
Tourism - Songs From Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places is Roxette's fourth album and it is not a live album - it's a tour album!
The album is a collection of live tracks and recordings made during Roxette's first world tour "Join The Joyride".
The Swedish edition of the 2-LP was originally planned to be made in Sweden but EMI eventually chaged their minds and instead they imported it from Germany. However a few copies of a Swedish test pressing of the 2-LP do exist and it is today very hard to find.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman.
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals and piano Per Gessle - Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars and harmonica
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, percussion and Samsonite suitcase, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, accordion and percussion, Bo Eriksson - Oboe, Anders Herrlin - Bass and programming, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin, Greg Leisz - Pedal steer guitar, Mia Lindgren - Backing vocals, Mats "MP" Persson - Acoustic guitar, Alar Suurna - Maracas and tambourine, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, piano and programming, Staffan Öfwerman - Backing vocals, percussion and tambourine, 45 000 Chilean fans - Backing vocals on It Must Have Been Love
Queen Of Rain was the second single taken from Roxette's album Tourism and it was the first single not to be made in Sweden.
The CDS includes the song Pearls Of Passion which was previously only available on the single Soul Deep and this is the first time this song appears on CD.
The CDS also includes a live version of the song Paint and this version is only available on this CDS and nowhere else.
When the CDS was released in the U.K. a fifteen minute interview was included and this is, in fact, an extract from their promotion CD Talking About Tourism.
In Australia a special limited edition package was released which included a CDS and a poster.
This CDS was in fact made in The Netherlands but only for sale in Australia.
Fingertips '93 was the third single taken from Roxette's album Tourism and this version of the song is different from the album version. The new version of the song is only available on this single, on the 4-track CDS release of Almost Unreal and on the compilation album Rarities.
The extra songs included on this single are live versions of Dressed For Success and Hotblooded which were not included on the album and are unavailable anywhere else.
When the cassette-single was to be released in Australia a mistake was made as the card clip case was printed in reserve. EMI discovered the mistake and decided not to release the cassette-single at all but some copies managed to reach the public anyway.
Almost Unreal is a song which was originally written for the movie "Hocus Pocus" but it was instead included on the soundtrack to the movie "Super Mario Bros".
The song The Heart Shaped Sea was taken from Roxette's album Tourism and this song was not included on the soundtrack.
The European version of the soundtrack includes another song by Roxette, Cinnamon Street, and this is the same version as 2 Cinnamon Street which was included on the U.K. re-release of the CDS It Must Have Been Love.
The reason that an extra song by Roxette was included on the European issue of the soundtrack was that the record company wanted people to buy this record instead of imports of the album from North America.
The only 7'' release of this single was in the U.K. (except fo the U.S. jukebox single) but it was exported to several countries in Europe. Some of these 7'' was misprinted with the name Peter Gessle as the songwriter of the song The Heart Shaped Sea. A special limited edition 12'' picture disc was also released and it is in fact the only picture disc single by Roxette that EMI has commercially released.
Love Is All is a song which eventually was included on Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! but this version of the song was only released as a special promotion CDS.
The only difference between this version and the album version of Love Is All (Shine Your Light On Me) is that this version has a longer ending and includes the following message from Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson:
"-Hi, this is Marie...and this is Per...and we are Roxette! We want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy 1994! the following track is a new one which we think has a touch of Christmas to it. It's called Love Is All, and it might be on the new album... and then again it might not! We look forward to seeing you out there next yes! Yes!"
Only 75 copies of this CDS were made and it was sent out to V.I.P.s in all the different EMI offices around the world as a Christmas gift and also as a sample of what the new album would sound like.
The CDS came in a plain white cardboard sleeve with a small Christmas sticker (an elf) on the front together with autographs by Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson.
Sleeping In My Car was the first single taken from Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! and it includes a live version of The Look which was recorded during their "MTV Unplugged" show at Circus, Stockholm in Januaray, 1993.
This live version of The Look was unavailable anywhere else until it was included on the compilation album Rarities in 1995.
In some countries Sleeping In My Car was thought to have explicit lyrics and the promotion video for the song was considered too sexy which meant that it was banned from being shown on TV in these countries.
Crash! Boom! Bang! is Roxette's fifth album and Per Gessle states the title is taken from part of the lyrics of Elvis Presley's song Jailhouse Rock. This actually is not true (although the lyrics do include the phrase crash, boom, bang) because Per remembered thy lyrics after the title of Roxette's album had been decided and he thought it would be cool to mention this phrase in interviews!
The album was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm, at Mayfair Studios in London, at Capri Digital Studios in Isola Di Capri and at Tits & Ass Studio in Halmstad between February 1993 and January 1994.
In Europe five singles were released from this album and they all included previously unreleased versions of some songs of their songs or completely new songs unavailable anywhere else.
Before the album was released in North America a special 10-track version of the album called Favorites From Crash! Boom! Bang! was sold through McDonald's restaurants for a limited period of time. This special edition of the album sold around one million copies in the U.S.A. and Canada and was the main reason why the regualr album did not achieve any big success in North America.
When the album was released in Japan the song Almost Unreal was included as a bonus track and this is the first time that this song was included on any Roxette album.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman.
Musical credit
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, dobro guitar and harmonica
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums and percussion, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, Anders Herrlin - Bass and programming, Mats Holmquist - String arrangement and conductor of strings, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin, Christer Jansson - Drums and percussion, Jan "Janne" Oldaeus - Electric guitars, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars and mandolin, Mats Persson - Drums and percussion, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Electric and acoustic guitars, S.N.Y.K.O. (Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester) - Strings, Alar Suurna - Drums and percussion, The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra - Woodwind qaurtet, Nicolas "Nicki" Wallin - Drums and percussion, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, string arrangement and programming, Staffan Öfwerman - Backing vocals
Crash! Boom! Bang! was the second single from Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! and it includes a live version of Joyride which was recorded during their "MTV Unplugged" show at Circus, Stockholm in January, 1993.
This live version of Joyride was unavailable anywhere else until it was included on the album Rarities in 1995.
This CDS also includes a demo version of the song Run To You which was unavailbale anywhere else.
In The Netherlands a special limited edition version of the CDS was made and this is the only commercial 1-track CDS that has been released by Roxette.
Fireworks was the third single taken from Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! and it was only released in Europe, Australia ans South Africa.
The single includes a live version of the song Dangerous which was recorded during their "MTV Unplugged" show at Circus, Stockholm in January, 1993. This version of the song is unavailable anywhere else until it was included on the compilation album Rarities in 1995.
The CDS also includes demo versions of the songs The Rain and I'm Sorry which are unavailable anywhere else except on the CDS release of Vulnerable.
The first edition of the 4-track CDS made in The Netherlands included a special insert with a tour shedule for Europe.
Favorites From Crash! Boom! Bang! is a 10-track version of Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! and it was released in advance of the regular album as a part of a promotion campaign.
The album was only for sale at McDonald's restaurants in the U.S.A. and Canada for a limited period of time in September 1994 together with album from three other artists, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Garth Brooks. Some of the proceeds from the sale of these CDs were donated to McDonald's charities.
Nearly 1.000.000 copies of Roxette's album were sold and the success of this low price album affected the sale of the regular album which was released in North America in October the same year.
The songs missing from the regular version of the album are: Fireworks, Sleeping In My Car, Vulnerable, What's She Like? and Love Is All (Shine Your Light On Me).
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman.
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals, electric guitars, dobro guitar and harmonica
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums and percussion, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, Anders Herrlin - Bass and programming, Mats Holmquist - String arrangement and conductor of strings, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin, Christer Jansson - Drums and percussion, Jan "Janne" Oldaeus - Electric guitars, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars and mandolin, Mats Persson - Drums and percussion, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Electric and acoustic guitars, S.N.Y.K.O. (Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester) - Strings, Alar Suurna - Drums and percussion, The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra - Woodwind quartet, Nicolas "Nicki" Wallin - Drums and percussion, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, string arrangement and programming, Staffan Öfwerman - Backing vocals
Rarities is a Roxette compilation album specially compiled by Per Gessle comprised of songs only previously released on singles.
The album was only supposed to be sold in South East Asia for three months as an extra promotion for the "Crash! Boom! Bang!" tour which took place in this part of the world at the time when the album was released.
The Malaysian issue of the CD, however, exported in large quantities to Europe and the album was later also released in South America.
Vulnerable, Fingertips '93, Dressed For Success, Fireworks and Spending My Time are remixed versions previously only available on singles and not included on any Roxette album.
The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye, The Voice and One Is Such A Lonely Number were previously only available on singles and not included on any Roxette album.
Joyride, The Look, Dangerous (all from "MTV Unplugged") and Almost Unreal (Demo) were all released as extra songs on singles. These versions of the songs were previously not available on any Roxette album.
Musical credit Marie Fredriksson - Vocals and tambourine Per Gessle - Vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, whistling and programming
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums and tambourine, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, Dave Edwards - Psychedelic voice, Anders Herrlin - Bass, acoustic bass and programming, Mats Holmquist - String arrangement, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars and mandolin, Christer Jansson - Drums, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars, keyboards and programming, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Electric guitars, Alar Suurna - Percussion, Nicolas "Nicki" Wallin - Drums, Clarence Öfwerman - Grand piano, keyboards, programming and string arrangement, Staffan Öfwerman - Percussion, tambourine and backing vocals
Vulnerable was the fifth single from Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang!. The song was written in 1990 but it was too late to be included on the album Joyride. The song was considered to be included on the album Tourism but it was kept until the recording of the album Crash! Boom! Bang! started.
Vulnerable was only released in Europe and Australia and the second son the single The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye, was previously only available on the single Spending My Time and on the compilation album Rarities.
A demo version of the song I'm Sorry is included on the CDS and it was previously only available on the U.K. CDS of Fireworks.
You Don't Understand Me was the first single taken from Roxette's greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus.
You Don't Understand Me was written by Per Gessle and Desmond Child and this was the first time Per had co-written a song with an international song writer.
The song Crazy About You was only available on this single and on the single The Look '95 until a demo version of the song was included on the single Salvation which was released in 1999.
Roxette recorded acoustic versions of the songs The Look, Listen To Your Heart, You Don't Understand Me and Help (a cover of the Lennon / McCartney song originally recorded by The Beatles) at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Help has not yet been released buth the other three Roxette song were included on the U.K. release of this single and You Don't Understand Me was also included on the single Anyone which was released in 1999.
Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus is a greatest hits album by Roxette which was released all over the world (except in the U.S.A.) in the fall of 1995.
Even though there are quite a few bootleg "greatest hits" albums available, and people might think of these as official releases, this is actually the first commercial greatest hits album thet EMI has released by Roxette.
The title Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus was first used on the spine of the album Joyride as a sort of subtitle and during the world tour "Join The Joyride" this message was printed on the back of Per Gessle's guitar picks.
The album includes four newly recorded songs of which You Don't Understand Me, June Afternoon and She Doesn't Live Here Anymore were released as singles. The Song The Look was remixed and released as the single The Look '95 in the U.K. only, but this version of the song was not included on the album.
The songs June Afternoon and She Doesn't Live Here Anymore were recorded with most of Per Gessle's group Gyllene Tider (Göran Fritzson was the only group member missing).
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman (tracks 1-16 and 18), Per Gessle and Mickael Ilbert (track 17)
Musical credit Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, kazoo, whistling, Benny-piano, tambourine
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums and Hi-hat, Michael "Micke Syd" Andersson - Drums and tambourine, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, Anders Herrlin - Bass, programming, sythesizer and backing vocals, Mats Holmquist - String and horn arrangement, conductor of strings and horns, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars and harmonica, Christer Jansson - Drums, percussion and hi-hat, Hernik Jansson - Talk box, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Mats Persson - Drums, Jan "Janne" Oldaeus - Electric guitar, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Electric guitars, Alar Suurna - Tambourine, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, programming, string and horn arrangements, synclavier and backing vocals, Staffan Öfwerman - Percussion and backing vocals, Harleay Davidson Heritage Softail Nostalgia - Bike on track 17
I Don't Want To Get Hurt was one of the new songs recorded for Roxette's greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus and it was supposed to be released as the fourth single taken from this album.
I Don't Want To Get Hurt was never commercially released as a single but a shorter version of the song was released on ths promotion CDS, although only in Brazil (where the song became very popular and was frequently played on radio).
The Look '95 is a remixed version of Roxette's hit song and it was only released commercially in the U.K. in connection with the release of their greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus.
This version of the song does not, however, appear on the album but two of the versions from this single were eventually included on the European release of the single She Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
The song Crazy About You was only available on this single and on the single You Don't Understand Me until it was included on the single Salvation which was released in 1999.
June Afternoon was the second single taken from Roxette's greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus and it was only released in Europe and Australia.
The second song on this single is a demo of Seduce Me which is unavailable anywhere else.
The Dutch 2-track CDS was released with two different cardboard sleeves, one with correct catalogue number printed on the back of the sleeve and one with the number 4703482 on the back of the sleeve, but the actual disc is the same in both releases.
She Doesn't Live Here Anymore was the third single taken from Roxette's greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus and it was only released in Europe as a single.
This song was originally written and recorded for Roxette's album Crash! Boom! Bang! but in the end it was decided that the song did not suit that album. The song remained unreleased until it was included on the greatest hits album.
A remix of Roxette's song The Look is included on this single and it is only available on this CDS and on the U.K. release of the single The Look '95.
Un Dia Sin Ti (Spending My Time) was the first single taken from Roxette's album Baladas En Espanol which was their first attempt at recording an album in Spanish.
Both of the songs on this CDS were taken from this album and the single was supposed to be released in Sweden but the idea was later cancelled.
Baladas En Espanol is an album by Roxette on which they sing some of their ballads in Spanish and the new vocals for this album were recorded in 1996 at EMI Studios in Stockholm.
The original recordings of the songs were used but they were slightly remixed to fit the new lyrics which were re-written and adapted into Spanish by Luis G. Escolar.
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman.
Musical credits Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Bo Eriksson - Oboe, Anders Herrlin - Bass and programming, Mats Holmquist - String arrangements and conductor of strings, Jonas Isacsson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Christer Jansson - Drums, Henrik Jansson - String arrangements, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Acoustic guitar, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, string arrangement and programming, Kjell Öhman - Accordion
No Se Si Es Amor (It Must Have Been Love) was the second single taken from Roxette's album Baladas En Espanol and this single was never released in Sweden.
Both of the songs on this single were taken from this album and in Europe the single was only released commercially in Spain.
Soy Una Mujer (Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave)) was one of the songs recorded for Roxette's album Baladas En Espanol.
Soy Una Mujer was never released as a commercial single but a promotion CDS of the songs was released in Mexico and the English title was misprinted as Fading Like A Flower (Everytime You Lied).
Pearls Of Passion was Roxette's debut album in 1986 and it was later withdrawn and unavailable to buy in regular record shops. Second hand copies of the album eventually became rare which made the album one of the most desireble items to buy for the fans.
In order to make the album avaibalble for both new and old fans it was finally decided that the album should be re-released under the name Pearls Of Passion - The First Album.
This release of the album included the following eight bonus tracks:
Pearls Of Passion - Originally released as the B-side on Roxette's single Soul Deep.
It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) - Originally released as a Roxette single in Scandinavia only at Christmas 1987.
Turn To Me - Originally released as the B-Side on Roxette's single It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Broken Hearted) and this is the first time this song is released on CD.
Neverending Love, Secrets That She Keeps and I Call Your Name (Demo Versions) - Those versions of the songs are unavailable anywhere else.
Neverending Love and I Call Your Name (Frank Mono Mixes) - These versions of the songs were previously only available on certain European single releases.
Musical credit Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Vocals
Matts Alsberg - Acoustic bass, Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums, Per Andersson - Drums, Staffan Astner - Electric guitars, Tommy Cassemar - Bass, Uno Forsberg - Trumpet, Jonas Isacsson - Electric guitars, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric guitars, Mats Persson - Percussion, Mikael Renlinden - Trumpet, Tomas Sjörgen - Trumpet, Alar Suurna - Percussion, Tim Werner - Drums, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards
I Call Your Name was originally release in a few European countries as a single back in 1987 and it was taken from Roxette's debut album Pearls Of Passion.
When this album was finally re-released, under the name Pearls Of Passion - The First Album, EMI Spain released I Call Your Name as a promotion only CDS.
From One Heart To Another was a promotion CDS by Roxette which was taken from the album Pearls Of Passion - The First Album.
From One Heart To Another was never released as a commercial single taken from the original album but when Pearls Of Passion - The First Album was released by EMI Brazil decided to promote the album by releasing this promotion CDS.
Neverending Love was originally released a single by Roxette back in 1986 and it was taken from their debut album Pearls Of Passion.
In order to commemorate the sale of 50.000 copies of the re-released album, under the name Pearls Of Passion - The First Album, EMI Spain decided to release the song as a promotion only CDS.
The Greatest is a compilation album by Roxette which was released in a limited edition in Japan only.
The album was included in a special series of greatest hits albums, by artists like Diana Ross, R.E.M. and XTC, which was released by EMI-Toshiba in 1998.
Roxette's album includes almost the same songs as were included on theit world wide greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus.
Wish I Could Fly was the first single taken from Roxette's album Have A Nice Day and it was the first release on the new record label Roxette Recordings.
Wish I Could Fly was also remixed by Todd Terry and Stonebridge and released as a special remix CDS. In the U.K. a special promotion remix 12'' was made and this record includes a remix which is unavailbe anywhere else.
The single also includes the song Happy Together which was not included on the album Have A Nice Day and is unavailable anywhere else.
The 2-track CDS from Italy and The Netherlands was supposed to be released with a glossy sleeve but a mistake was made and therefore the first edition of this CDS was released with a matt sleeve. The second edition of the 2-track CDS was released with a glossy sleeve but only a limited number of copies were made which makes this CDS hard to find today.
In the U.K. a special promotion box for the single was distibuted by EMI and it included two unique promotional CDs (only available with this box), two promotional photos, a promotion folder and a promotion video of Wish I Could Fly.
For a limited period of time HMV in Canada gave away a special promotion CDS together with every purchase of Roxette's new CD Have A Nice Day.
Have A Nice Day was Roxette's last album of the 20th century and it was recorded at El Cortijo Studios in Marbella and at Polar Studios, Cosmos Studios and Atlantis Studios in Stockholm between January and October 1998.
The album was released all over the world except in the U.S.A. where Roxette still did not have a record contract at the time of the album release.
Most countries outside Europe only released Wish I Could Fly as a single (if they released a single at all) but in Europe four single were released from this album. All of the European singles included previously unreleased versions of Roxette's songs or completely new unavailable anywhere else.
When the album was to be released in the Middle East the cover of the album had to be changed before it could be distributed to the record shops. For religious reasons the naked children had to be removed from the cover and therefore a special edition of the album was made in The Netherlands (but this edition was only for sale in the Middle East).
In some countries Have A Nice Day was re-released in the fall of 1999 but this time the album icluded three Spanish songs as bonus tracks. The songs Qusiera Volar (Wish I Could Fly), Alguien (Anyone) and Lo Siento (Salvation) were translated into Spanish by Luis G. Escobar who also translated some of Roxette's ballads into Spanish for the album Baladas En Espanol which was released in 1996.
These Spanish versions of the songs were originally meant to be included on single releases in South America but that was later changed and instead they ended up as bonus tracks on the re-release of Have A Nice Day.
Quisiera Volar, Alguien and Lo Siento are only available on Have A Nice Day and some special promotion singles which were released in Spain, Mexico and Argentina.
Musical credits Marie Fredriksson - Vocals, backing vocals and piano Per Gessle - Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, wah-wah guitar, harmonica, string arrangements, backing vocals, programming and handclaps
Musicians Mickael "Micke Nord" Andersson - 12-string Rickenbacker and acoustic guitar, Sven Andersson - Tenor saxophone, Staffan Astner - Electric and acoustic guitars, Magnus Blom - Auto saxophone, Mikael Bolyos - Horn arrangement, Jörn Christensen - Electric guitars, D.J. Shortcut - Stratching, Hans "Hasse" Dyvik - Trumper and flugelhorn, Bo Eriksson - Oboe, Anders Evaldsson - Trombone, Mats Holmquist - Conductor of strings, Michael Ilbert - Synthesizers, programming, tambourine, snare fill and string arrangements, Jonas Isacsson - Electric, acoustic and bass guitars, Christer Jansson - Drums, drum cases, percussion, tom-toms, tambourine, maracas, cymbals and handclaps, Jonas Knutsson - Soprano saxophone, Jens Lindgård - Trombone, Petter Lindgård - Trumpet and flugelhorn, Chstoffer Lundquist - Bass, zither, snare drum, tambourine, backing vocals and handclaps, Mats "MP" Persson - Electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string Rickenbacker, synthesizers and string arrangements, S.N.Y.K.O. (Stockholm Nya Kammarorkester) - Strings, Charlie Storm - Programming, Clarence Öfwerman - Mellotron, Hammondorgan, Vox Jaguar, wah-wah guitar, organ bass, piano, minimoog, synthesizers, tambourine, hi-speed piano, tubular bells, glockenspiel, clavinet, programming, string arrangement, backing vocals and handclaps, Staffan Öfwerman - Conductor of chilren's choir
Anyone was the second single taken from Roxette's album Have A Nice Day and it was only released in Europe and Japan.
Japan actually released the single as a double A-sided CDS with Pay The Price as the first song which makes this release quite unique.
Both the European and Japanese CDS includes a demo of Anyone and a remix of Cooper and these versions are unavailable anywhere else.
The single did not sell very well in Europe and because of this EMI United Kingdom decided to cancel the release of this single even though they had already sent out promotional copies of the CDS to radio stations, discjockeys and media.
Roxette also recorded a Spanish version of this song called Alguien and this version was later included as a bonus track on the re-release of the album Have A Nice Day.
Stars was the third single taken from Roxette's album Have A Nice Day and it was only released in Europe and Australia.
Stars was also remixed by Almighty and X-Treme and a special remix CDS and remix 12'' were released commercially by EMI in several countries throughout Europe. Even though the remix 12'' was made in the U.K. it was never commercially released there, it was only for sale in some of the other European countries.
A special promotion 12'' was made by EMI United Kingdom but this 12'' does not include any unique remix versions of Stars, only versions available on the two U.K. CDs and the Dutch remix CDS.
The song Better Off On Her Own and the new demo versions of I Was So Lucky and 7Twenty7 were only included on the Dutch CDS and are unavailable anywhere else.
Quisiera Volar is a Spanish version of Roxette's song Wish I Could Fly and this version of the song was originally meant to be included as a bonus track on a single release in South America but that idea was later cancelled.
Quisiera Volar was instead included as a bonus track on the re-release of the album Have A Nice Day and to promote the release of this album EMI Spain released this one track promotion CDS.
Because of a mistake at the CD factory this promotion CDS include three Spanish songs instead of one even though the name of only one song is printed on the cardboard sleeve.
Salvation was the last single from Roxette's album Have A Nice Day and it was only released in Europe.
Salvation was chosen as the main theme for the Swedish movie "Dykaren" but no soundtrack for this movie was released.
The songs See Me and the Crash! Boom! Bang!-version of Crazy About You were only included on this CDS and are unavailable anywhere else.
A Swedish promotion CDS of Salvation was made in a batch of 150 copies and it came in a plastic case sleeve with a small sticker on. The reason for this was that EMI Sweden needed some promotion singles to send to radio stations and they could not wait until they received the promotion singles from The Netherlands.
Alguien is a Spanish version of Roxette's song Anyone and this version of the song was originally meant to be included on a single release in South America but instead it was included as a bonus track on the re-release of the album Have A Nice Day.
To promote the release of this album both EMI Spain and EMI Mexico released a promotion CDS of Alguien. The song was alos included on a special promotion CDS in Argentina which included Spanish versions of four different artists songs.
Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus was Roxette's first greatest hits album and it was originally released in the fall of 1995 in most countries around the world except for the U.S.A.
After Roxette had signed a new record contract with Edel America Records, Inc. (for the U.S. market only) it was decided that a greatest hits album finally would be released on the U.S. market but with some changes compared to the original release of the album.
The songs The Big L., Vulnerable, She Doesn't Live Here Anymore, I Don't Want To Get Hurt and June Afternoon were replaced with the songs Church Of Your Heart, Wish I Could Fly and Stars.
With these changes the album now included all of the singles released by Roxette in the U.S.A. together with three new songs for the U.S. market.
Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus (U.S. Version) was later on also released in several countries around the world with the new track list.
Musical credits
Marie Fredriksson - Vocals and backing vocals Per Gessle - Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, string arrangements, whistling and backing vocals
Per "Pelle" Alsing - Drums and Hi-hat, Mickael "Micke Nord" Andersson - 12-string Rickenbacker and acoustic guitars, Victoria "Vicki" Benckert - Backing vocals, Anders Herrlin - Bass, programming and backing vocals, Mats Holmquist - String arrangements and conductor of strings , Michael Ilbert - Programming and synthesizers, Jonas Isacsson - Electric, acoustic and slide guitars, bass and mandolin, Christer Jansson - Drums, percussion, cymbals and tom-toms, Henrik Jansson - Talk box, Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson - Harmonica, Christoffer Lundquist - Bass and backing vocals, Mats "MP" Persson - String, arrangements, Mats Persson - Drums, Jan "Janne" Oldaeus - Electric guitars, Per "Pelle" Sirén - Electric guitars, S.N.Y.K.O. (Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester) - Strings, Alar Suurna - Tambourine, Clarence Öfwerman - Hammond - and barrel-organ, keyboards, piano and grand piano, programming, string, arrangements, synclavier, synthesizers and backing vocals, Staffan Öfwerman - Conductor of children's choir, percussion and backing vocals, Karla Collantes, Malin Gille, Cecilia Grothén, Paulina Nilsson, Darina Rönn-Brolin, Jackie Öfwerman - Childrens choir
Room Service - Interview CD includes interviews with Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle which was sent out in advance of Roxette's new album Room Service.
They talk about the recording of the new album and what they have been doing since their previous album Have A Nice Day was released in 1999. The main purpose of this CD was to provide radio stations with an interview which they could broadcast since Per and Marie could not visit all the radio stations themselves.
Transcript of interview with Roxette released
Back In Business Per Gessle: Well, we released the last album in the spring of 1999... 'Have A Nice Day' was the title, so we've actually been busy doing promotion with that one, and we decided not to tour with it, just went straight back into the studio, so we started working on this album in January 2000. So... That's basically what we've been doing for the last two years. And prior to that of course we started to work on 'Have A Nice Day'. It takes about a year to write an album. Marie Fredriksson: It feels great. We always have a lot of fun together, and we know each other very well. And this album, the new album, 'Room Service', both of us really like very much and there's a couple of songs that are very much Roxette, they're very... I think it's a mix between the old days and how we sound today, so... I'm really looking forward to promoting the album.
The New Sound PG: Well I think that the new album is a little bit of a reflection of what we tried to achieve with 'Have A Nice Day', y'know, 'Have A Nice Day' was the first album for us for many years and... we didn't really know what it was supposed to be like, we went in to work in the studio doing so many different things, and it's a very complex album in a way, because it's going in so many different directions.
The new album is the opposite, we tried to take it back to classic Roxette. For instance, on 'Have A Nice Day', all my vocals are distorted, on this one it's very plain, y'know, stuff like that. We tried to make it simple, obvious, easy-going and fun, y'know? I think this is probably the most commercial album we've done since 'Joyride'. We just sat down and wanted to make something that was... classic Roxette, what we're really good at, doing pop. A pop record.
More Upbeat PG: I think we wanted to make an album that was up-tempo and had lots of energy, and we were a little bit... For many people the classic Roxette song is a big ballad. The ballads on 'Room Service' are much... smaller.
We have a song like 'Milk And Toast And Honey', which could be like a big, pompous thing, but we try to produce it a little smaller, so to speak. We just felt like doing that. A little bit tired of ourselves, sometimes.
Creativity MF: When we work together it starts with a demo from Per... PG: Or a demo from you... MF: (laughs) not very often... This time we started in January last year, and we started with, I think, five or six songs, all written by Per... PG: ...which turned out to be crap! (laughs) MF: No! That's not true, there were some really good ones. And then we took a break, and I worked a lot on my own stuff, in Swedish, in between the sessions with Roxette.
Then we started off again at the end of March, I think it was, no, March or April. We recorded some new stuff, and then we had a summer break. So it's so easy to work together, because we work for like five or six weeks in the studio and then we don't meet each other at all. I sit down and write and Per sits down and writes and we do other things. It makes it so simple, it makes it so fresh all the time, when we come together and work together.
Digital Domination PG: Yeah, the way you make records today is very different from how you did records in the mid-80's when we started out. You work with computers and ProTools systems or whatever, so the whole... way of thinking is totally different.
The negative side of it is that it's very easy to over-produce and to overdo things these days. I mean in the old days - not that long ago - you actually sat together, five people in the studio, and you played the song, and that was the take! (laughs) You don't do that any more, we don't do that any more.
You make the drums or the bass sounds or whatever on the computer... So of course it's different, and that changes the way you write and that changes the whole attitude.
Still Dressed For Success? MF: It's always important with big hits! (laughs) No, we love, y'know, good pop and rock songs, we love strong melodies, we... It's always been our trademark, all our singles have always been really melodic, very easy to remember. Everything from 'It Must Have Been Love' to 'Joyride' to 'Sleeping In My Car' to... What is it? 40 singles or something like that... So that's, both of us, we really love strong melodies and straight pop and rock songs.
I think that nowadays, of course we want the new album to be very successful, of course, we've worked really hard for it, and we love to perform for our fans, it would be great if we could do another tour in the future. It's just that we are older. (laughs) In our hearts of course we want it to be really big.
Room Service PG: Yeah, well, 'Room Service', the title 'Room Service', we thought it was... (laughs) what music is basically about, it fills up a room with energy and communication, so it's some sort of 'room service' isn't it? You're always trying to find some kind of concept or idea when you're making a new record. It might as well be called 'Roxette 7' or '8' or whatever it is...
Home Sweet Home MF: This time we recorded the album in Stockholm. I think mostly we worked in the Polar Studios... PG: Yeah MF: And there was another studio called Atlantis. I think it's quite a big difference if you compare it to the 'Have A Nice Day' album, which was mostly recorded in Spain. So of course it makes it a little bit easier when you can work at home. Our homes are here, our families. But it was nice in Spain because the weather is so much better there than here at this time of the year, at wintertime. PG: You get more things done in Stockholm because the weather is terrible here, so you spend more time in the studio. But it's fun working at Polar, it's cool, it's a great studio, it's got this ABBA, Led Zeppelin, Genesis legacy. It's still a very good studio, a great environment. Got some terrible restaurants down the road though... MF: (laughs) PG: But they have taxis in Stockholm, so it's no problem.
New Faces PG: Well, making 'Room Service', as always we tried to bring in a couple of new people into the environment, so we changed engineers on this one for instance. And also we started working with a guy called 'Shooting Star', who is a programmer, a Swedish guy, who is 200 years younger than us... MF: (laughs) PG: ...so he's sort of got his ear to the street in a different manner, which is very interesting to do, because if I make a demo, for instance, and I give it to him and he starts to freshen up the programming, then it turns out to be a different song. So it's... well, as always, you buy a lot of records all the time, you listen a lot to what's going on... But - as I said before - with this album we wanted to make a classic Roxette album, so we tried to y'know, get a little of this, a little of that but still make it very obviously Roxette. So some of the songs still have the 12-string Rickenbacker stuff, some power chords, y'know... Classic stuff! (laughs)
Full-Time Job PG: Well, I think... You don't really do anything, at all. I mean you don't really change your life or anything just to get inspiration for a new album. Life goes on, you do different things all the time, even when you're just finishing off an album, you start immediately thinking, going off in different ways. It's a constant process all the time, I mean, you just get on with your life. Interrupted occasionally by going to the studio! (laughs) ... and trying to make sense there. So it's nothing really. I think it's important though to try to... I think over the years, I think it should be a natural thing. It's our work. It's the way we communicate. You just go to the studio, you spend a lot of time in the studio and you make records. It's the way it's been since I was 19, y'know? It's a natural thing, and that's great because it's a natural way of doing things.
After All These Years... PG: Well, when you start out as a young musician, everything is very romantic, y'know, the whole industry, going into a studio, whatever. Of course things change after a while and there's... nothing that... romantic left (laughs) in the music industry for us and so of course it turns out to be a professional thing in the end. But still it's important to maintain the love affair you have with music, I mean you have to be interested in music. You have to be interested in what you do. In that sense I don't want to be a professional, I still want to be a fan. And that approach is crucial, actually, to having success in the end. I mean you can always go to the 'How to Write a Hit Song' book and have a hit, but at the end of the day, it won't last. To have a career that goes on for a couple of decades, I mean, you have to be true to yourself. So...
Got Any Good CD:s? PG: The last records I actually stole from my record company! (laughs) It was the Coldplay album, I think that's a very good album... There's a Swedish band called Eskobar, I'm a big fan of Eskobar, they've just done a new version of one of their songs, 'Tumbling Down'. I mean that style of music's not very new, it's a very traditional sort of pop music, for those of us that've been around for many years. But it still has a lot of energy and it makes sense, and it's great songwriting. And at the end of the day I think that's what it's all about...
Concept PG: The good thing with a good title for the album is that you can actually use it on tour, on stage, in the packaging. What we did was, we went away to a strange hotel in California called the Madonna Inn, and we did a lot of the footage for the sleeve as well as the first video. So we used the hotel environment to make a point, and it turned out really well. And it also felt very fresh, because we'd never done that before.
Video Concept PG: We haven't done a video where we've performed for many years, so we wanted to do a performance video, and the whole idea for the video is that we're performing in a room – well, in several rooms actually – and there's lots of people in other rooms, watching what we're doing on television, and lots of things happening in all these different rooms.
So it's basically a performance video, but it's just taking place in this peculiar place.
Madonna??? PG: Well, Madonna Inn, it's... The first time you see it you think it must be a joke, because it's so American kitsch, from the 50ґs, it's unbelievable, but the people who own it and the people who work there take it very seriously. (laughs) And... It's for real. It's hard to describe but... All the rooms are... weird. There are pink rooms and red rooms and green rooms, and they have waterfalls in the men's room. All these big chandeliers... Christmas trees (laughs) It's unbelievable, and we tried to use that on the album sleeve and the video as well.
I'm so surprised that no one has used that place before because it's so special. Everyone knows about it, but nobody's worked there before. It's cool...
The Centre Of The Heart was the first single taken from Roxette's album Room Service and the single was only released commercially in Europe (except for the United Kingdom) and Australia.
The single also includes the song Entering Your Heart which was not included on the album and is unavailable anywhere else (except as a bonus track on the Japanese CD of Room Service).
The Centre Of The Heart was also remixed by Yoga and Stonebridge and a special remix CDS was released in some of the European countries.
A Swedish promotion CDS of The Centre Of The Heart was made in a batch of 150 copies which came in a plastic case without any inlay. This promotion CDS does not have any catalogue number and it is actually a CD-R but since copyright information is printed on the disc it must be considered as ab official promotion CDS.
Room Service is Roxette's latest album and it was recorded at Atlantis Studios and Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden between January 2000 and January 2001.
The album was released all over the world except for the U.S.A. where Roxette once again did not have any record contract since Edel America Records, Inc. released the greatest hits album Don't Bore Us - Get To The Chorus (U.S. Version) but failed to promote the album sufficiently.
The first single taken from this album was The Centre Of The Heart but it was only released in Europe and Australia. The single was quite successful on the European charts and for a while The Centre Of The Heart was the most played song on radio stations throughout Europe.
The Japanese issue of the CD includes the song Entering Your Heart as a bonus track. This version of the song is slightly different from the version included on the single The Centre Of The Heart.
In South Africa the album was reissued in the fall of 2001 and this time EMI included a special remix CD as a bonus. The remixes are available on various singles around the world but this CD is unique and unavailable anywhere else.
Musical credits Marie Fredriksson - Vocals, handclaps and backing vocals Per Gessle - Banjo, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, maracas , programming, handclaps and backing vocals
Mikael "Micke" Nord Andersson - Acoustic guitars, David Birde - Electric guitars, Mats Holmquist - Conductor of strings, Jonas Isacsson - Acoustic and electric guitars, E-bow, Christer Jansson - Cymbals, drums, drumloops, maracas, percussion, tambourine and timpani, Christofer Lundquist - Bass, acoustic and electric guitar, maracas, zither, handclaps and backing vocals, Shooting Star - Programming, Stockholm Session Strings - Strings, Mattias Thorell - Acoustic guitar, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards, handclaps and programming
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle
Real Sugar was the second single taken from Roxette's album Room Service and the single was only released commercially in Europe (except for the United Kingdom).
The single also includes a new version of the song It Will Take A Long Long Time which was originally recorded for the album Have A Nice Day but this version of the song is unavailable else.
A Swedish promotion CDS of Real Sugar was made in a batch of 150 copies and this promotion CDS is actually a CD-R but since copyright information is printed on the disc it must be considered as an official promotion CDS.
Milk And Toast And Honey was the third single taken from Roxette's album Room Service and the single was only released commercially in Europe and Australia.
The CDS also includes a demo version of the song Milk And Toast And Honey which is sung by Per Gessle instead of Marie Fredriksson.
In the spring of 2001 the song was released as a promotion single in both Brazil and Mexico and the song was also included in the TV-series "Um Anjo Caiu do Céu" in Brazil.
A Swedish promotion CDS of Milk And Toast And Honey was made in a batch of 1.500 copies but a mistake was made and therefore it has an incorrect catalogue number printed on the actual disc.
Charm School is the eighth studio album by Roxette, released on 11 February 2011. It is Roxette's first studio album since 2001's Room Service and was the duo's biggest chart success since 1992's Tourism in countries like Germany and Switzerland, where it reached number one.
According to their official website, the album was released on CD and LP. A deluxe edition, including a bonus CD with 12 live tracks was also available. These songs were recorded in Saint Petersburg, Halmstad and Stavanger during their 2010 Tour. Charm School had been certificated Gold in Sweden, Austria, Germany, Russia and Czech Republic within 4 months of its release, and was eventually certified Platinum in Germany for shipments of over 200,000 units.
A digital-only American release for the album was released on 26 July 2011.
The first single taken from this album was She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio).
Musical credits Marie Fredriksson - Vocals Per Gessle - Guitars and vocals
Christoffer Lundquist - Bass, guitars, keyboards, programming, Clarence Öfwerman - Keyboards and programming, Jens Jansson - Live drums, Strings by Tomas Ebrelius, Emil Carlsson, Johanna Skoglund, and Lotta Weber Sjöholm
Produced by Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist and Per Gessle for Roxette Recordings
Way Out was the third single taken from Roxette's album Charm School. It was only released in Germany and Austria. In other territories, Speak to Me was released instead.
The CDS also includes a live version of the medley Crash! Boom! Bang!/Anyone. Recording took place in Brussels on October 22 2001, during the 'Room Service' Tour.
This version is only available on this CDS and nowhere else.
Special package of the Charm School album, a 2-CD 6 page digipack including the original album and a bonus CD. The additional CD includes The Demos, which is actually Per Gessles original demos for the songs on Charm School, most of them recorded in the T&A studio in his hometown Halmstad. The bonus CD ends up with remixes of the singles She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio) and Speak To Me.
It's Possible was the first single taken from Roxette's album Travelling and it was only released in Europe (except for the United Kingdom).
The CDS also includes a demo version of the song It's Possible. This version is unavailable anywhere else.
The concert film shows the group during its sensational comeback tour 2011-2012 played before 1.5 million ecstatic people in 46 countries.
In fact, Roxette hasn't released a concert film since the group's first heydays, when they recorded the Crash!Boom!Bang! concert in Johannesburg before an audience of 52,000 people January 14, 1995. Infinitely more drama and darkness lies between this distant golden age and the unbacked resurgence in 2011-2012. Everything is captured here.
In addition to the concert film is also the poignant and insightful documentary "It All Begins Where It Ends," recorded on the road while Roxette for eighteen months did their unique return to the world stage.
Also included is a live CD with 16 tracks, recorded at the Teatro Caupolicán in the Chilean capital Santiago May 12, 2012 and the band members themselves classified as one of the tour's absolute highlights. It also contains lots of exciting extras in the form of Per Gessle's backstage films during the tour, the recording of the album Travelling and insights into life on stage just off the headlights.
