don't bore us - get to the chorus!
                          - by Sven Lindström.

A GROUP THAT CAN SQUEEZE 14 INTERNATIONAL HIT SINGLES - and four new 
possible ones - into one CD, would be impressive by any standard.
  By Swedish standards it means that it's either Abba - or Roxette. And 
since the group is very much alive, there's really no question about it.
  It's Roxette's greatest singles. Not all of them, mind you. Just their 
biggest... so far. Today young Swedish acts swarm around the world's pop
and dance charts, but coming from the land of Björn, Benny, Agnetha and
Frida didn't help much when Roxette cheerfully started their search for
World domination in the mid 80's. As far as pop credentials go, they
might as well have been from Latvia or Portugal.
  But like their platform wearing predecessors, Roxette showed a
generation of young Swedish artists that it actually was possible to
break out, to have #1 hits and tour the world - despite the fact that 
your natural language was suspiciously similar to the Muppet Show's chef.
  In Roxette's case it was a combination of shrewd talent, determination 
and, as with their breakthrough hit "The Look", pure luck. (If you don't 
know that story already, ask your mother).
  They started in 1986, rightly assuming that the combination of Per 
Gessle's songs and Marie Fredriksson's voice would take them further than 
they could go on their own. They nicked their name from a Dr.
Feelgood-song and got a job.
  Nine years, 36 million albums, 15 million singles, two world tours and 
numerous "Will they split?"-rumours later, Roxette are ready to look back 
for the first time. As far as the future goes, just listen to these four
new songs and judge for yourself.
  A hot day in August 1995 Per Gessle & Marie Fredriksson sat down to
talk about Roxette's gallery of hits. Now get to the chorus.

                     june afternoon

Marie Fredriksson: This is a very Per Gessle-ish song... straight, simple, 
sunny. Per Gessle: A summer song, written in the winter. Gessle-ish? Yeah, 
maybe. MF: Yes, it's so much you... perfect for you to sing. PG: Well, in
my little world songs like this have always topped the charts. I've sent
lots of dead simple songs like this to other artists and they all seem to
have problems doing them right, especially if they've got big voices -
whereas I can get away with it - almost. MF: Almost always. PG: You know,
our producer Clarence Öfwerman sometimes jokes about my songs being too
much "ice cream and balloons", too jolly and lightweight - but this is
actually the first Roxette song to include both "ice cream" and "balloons"
in the lyrics. A nice first.

                 you don't understand me

PG: Co-written with American songwriter Desmond Child, actually the first 
song ever to be written with someone from the "outside". It wasn't
intended to be recorded by Roxette. Desmond came to Halmstad this summer,
just to see if we could create something together. He had this idea, I
changed it around a bit, and asked Marie to sing on the demo. Then I
realized it suited us very well. MF: You can hear that there are two
songwriters working here... it's like a mix between Europe and the US.
PG: Greenland, almost.

                      the look

MF: This is still one of my all time favourites, maybe the best thing
we've ever done - seven years old and it sticks out as much now as it did
then. PG: Our first American #1 and of course the Big Break. It topped
the charts in some 30 countries but at the time I just thought it was a
throwaway. MF: I couldn't sing it, it suited Per perfectly. But he didn't
believe in himself as a singer in those days. PG: I always thought we
should promote the songs Marie sang. They were all written for her anyway,
but some of them didn't suit her style. I mean, the whole idea behind
Roxette was me writing clever songs and Marie singing like a goddess and
together we'd conquer the world. Me being a lead singer wasn't part of
the plan, not for me anyway. MF: Proves that a great pop song is more
about personality and attitude than just singing technically good. PG:
Thank you. MF: After the first studio playback of "The Look!" I said
"here's our #1 hit in the States", which was just a wet dream for a
Swedish band. PG: "Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer"... the
first two verses are guide lyrics, words just scribbled down to have
something to sing. Couldn't come up with anything better, so we kept them.
Everybody gets lucky sometimes...

                  dressed for success

PG: This was the first single of the "Look Sharp!"-album in Sweden, I
think this is one of Marie's best vocal performances ever. MF: I was so
mad when I did it. Everything about that session went wrong, we argued
about the arrangement, we changed the key, I was dead tired of the song
when I went in to do a guide vocal. Did it in one blast and suddenly
realized, "hmm... this is it". PG: We were knocked out in the control
room. All thumbs up, all differences forgotten and no need at all to
mention the war. MF: In the beginning we used to misunderstand each other
quite a lot. Per had all these ideas that he tried to communicate. "No,
that's not the important word, do it more this way"... it could make me
really made sometimes, as in this case. PG: How to turn anger into hit
singles.

                  listen to your heart

PG: The Big Bad Ballad. This is us trying to recreate that overblown 
American FM-rock sound to the point where it almost becomes absurd. We 
really wanted to see how far we could take it. MF: It sounds a bit dusty 
today, but it was our second #1 in the US... PG: which of course we
couldn't ever dream about since it was more or less made for Sweden. When
it hit big in the States we suddenly found ourselves lumped together with
bands like Heart and Starship, which wasn't the intention behind Roxette
at all. But we got out of that one... I hope. MF: The video was great.
Shot with an American crew at the Borgholm Castle. The director thought
we had built the ruin just for the video. PG: It took some time to
convince them that the place actually was for real. MF: Today we perform
it in a stripped down version, with acoustic guitars. Still love the
melody.

                       dangerous

PG: This was written just before Roxette's first tour in 1987. "She's
armed and she's extremely dangerous"... inspired by an early 70's action
movie. A nice piece of bubblegum. MF: Hmm... PG: I know... you never
liked it that much. Neither did Don Johnson. He was recording an album at
that time, so I sent him "Dangerous". He sent it back. MF: Well, yeah...
I like the chorus... PG:... but as a whole this is probably more my thing.
Back to the Balloon Farm again. Ice cream and funny hats. MF: It was very
big in the US, #2 and just a millimeter from Janet Jackson, who was #1.
PG: I didn't take it personal, Don.

                 it must have been love

PG: It must have been lunch, but it's over now... MF: This is a fantastic 
song... I love it... one of the best we've done... but I like the original 
title more. PG:... "Christmas For The Broken Hearted"... yeah, it was EMI 
Germany who said they could get us on the radio if we could come up with
an intelligent Christmas-single. It was a massive hit in Sweden, but
nothing happened elsewhere. It wasn't even released in Germany, not until
the "Pretty Woman"-soundtrack came out a few years later and the song
just exploded everywhere. MF: Our third #1 in the US... not bad for a
song that was lying around, gathering dust. But the video was a weird
experience. The director wanted all movements in slow motion, so I had to
lip sync the vocals in double speed. My first lesson in how to sing an
emotional ballad Mickey Mouse-style. A strange way to make a living.

                         joyride

PG: The fourth #1 in America. It all started with a message my girlfriend 
left on the piano: "Hello, you fool - I love you". Sounds like a chorus,
I thought. MF: Absolutely wonderful to do live this one. PG: It's us
doing a Magical Mystery Tour. Got the title from an interview with Paul
McCartney, where he said that writing songs with John Lennon was a long
joyride. MF: Once again Per wasn't sure that this should be the album
opener... PG:... I sang it, you know... but Marie was determined, so she
had her way. It turned out to be our biggest album to date, mainly
because of this song. So thanks for insisting. MF: My pleasure.

      fading like a flower (every time you leave)

PG: Well, that's us in those days. A pop tune followed by a power ballad. 
This was written in a hotel room in Canada late 1989. MF: It's probably
the most American sounding song we ever did. PG: A lot of people said we
sounded American. I always thought we came more from the English pop
tradition. Hard to tell here, though. MF: A huge hit in Europe and #2 in
the US... PG:... after "Eternel Flame" with the Bangles, another female
dominated American band.

                        the big L.

PG: Bubblegum time again, written in the spring of 1990 for the 
"Joyride"-album. Big single in Europe, never released in the US. MF: I
was a bit sceptical in the beginning, but then we changed the key in the
chorus and there it was. PG: We arranged it as a kind of dance tune, like 
"Dangerous", using sequensers and so on. Today I would have made it more 
like "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore" - a quick rehersal, tune up the
guitars and go. A garage tune should have a garage sound. MF: Once again
a very Gessle-ish song. PG: Kinky guitar riff, instant chorus, the sun is
out, bring the beer.

                    spending my time

MF: This is a song I always love to perform. I do it without the band,
just me by the piano. Bittersweet and melancholic. It holds up very well
through the years. PG: Written the same day as "Joyride", would you
believe that? I think the lyrics are what really makes this song work. 
It's like a day full of thoughts... but I never thought the melody 
matched the words really. Still I believed this was going to be our
biggest hit ever, which might have happened if not our American record
company had fired a lot of... ah, never mind. It's a big song for us,
anyway. MF: It's got class. PG: The way Marie sings this song makes me
proud of being part of this band.

                      how do you do!

PG: Groovy. MF: Hmm... PG: The first single from "Tourism", which we 
recorded during the "Join The Joyride"-World Tour 1991-92. Up to this
point our record sales had been almost ridiculous. Eight million "Look
Sharp!", nine million "Pretty Woman", ten million "Joyride". It had to
come down sooner or later. The idea behind "Tourism" was to record some
new tracks wherever we could book a studio, to benefit from the energy
you get in a touring band. MF: We were back in Europe for stadium 
concerts in the summer of 1992 and needed a single. One of our weakest,
I think. PG: I like it. It's about thousand ideas squeezed into a song.
Hard to play live, so we dropped it for a while. Had to get it back in
the set, though. Fans started to make flags and posters saying "Why don't
you play "How do you do!"? I didn't mind since Tiny Tim is mentioned in
the lyrics...

                      almost unreal

PG: Written for a Bette Midler-movie, but ended up in the Super Mario 
Bros-flop instead. We thought it was cool to have a song in that movie, 
because we both liked Dennis Hopper and Bob Hoskins. MF: But that was
before we saw the movie. PG: I still like the song in a way... but if you
wanted to make a parody of Roxette, it would probably sound something
like this. MF: Not one of our most inspired moments. PG: Right, no big
surprises here. Recorded in England and charted best there. That was a bit
of a surprise, though. MF: I was nine months pregnant when I recorded the
vocals. PG: That's no surprise.

                    sleeping in my car

PG & MF: THIS IS A GREAT SONG! MF: A step in the right direction. It was 
just before Christmas '93 and we were listening to the first playback of
the "Crash! Boom! Bang!"-album and realized we were all missing something.
It all sounded so... perfectly grown up. PG: We had worked for a year,
much too long, endless hours of studio time... I mean, I loved it but
there was too little P-O-P. MF: The next day Per was back with this one
and suddenly we had something to start off the whole thing, a great first
single. PG: Went straight home, really pissed of, came up with this
Neanderthal-riff and wrote it in an hour. We recorded it very fast with
different musicians and it was like becoming five years younger again...
almost slim... haha.

                    crash! boom! bang!

PG: Well, for a start everybody said that you can't have a title like 
that on a ballad like this. MF: I just wish I'd written the lyrics myself.
This is the moment I wait for in our concerts. I love when the strings
come sweeping in... PG:... Clarence at his best... a bit of Burt
Bacharach there, isn't it? Always something to strive for. Yeah, this one
is one of my favourities too. The title's from Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock",
by the way.

                       vulnerable

PG: The whole song was written around this wonderful word. MF: Hard to
say for a Swede, though. PG: Yeah... vlnrbl... vullnr... it's quite
tricky. This was written a week too late for the "Joyride"-album and it
didn't really suit the "Tourism"-sessions, so we kept it in the drawer
until we started the "Crash"-project in London. It's a very dear song to
me.

             she doesn't live here anymore

MF: This was actually written a couple of years back and recorded for the 
"Crash!"-album, but that version sounded really tired. PG: A new version
was recorded with my former band; Gyllene Tider. We used to knock out
power pop tunes like this in our sleep back in 1980-81. This summer we
re-united shortly, just for the fun of it, and I was amazed by the energy
level we had both live and in the studio. MF: This is the sound of
Halmstad in the summertime. PG: Yeah, songs like these are the easiest to
write, perform and record. I feel totally at home here, it's where I come
from really.

                i don't want to get hurt

MF: A new song that explains why it's so inspiring to work with Per... it 
just goes straight into my heart. PG: A nice contrast to "She Doesn't
Live Here Anymore". Wonderful string arrangement from Clarence again...
almost the same vibe as in "Vulnerable" or "It Must Have Been Love", but
1995. I really don't know where we would have been without his input in
songs like this. Not here anyway. Cheers.


Album mastering George Marino at Sterling Sound, New York City, NY, USA.

Design by Kjell Andersson, special thanks to Pia Lagerqvist.
Photos by Jonas Linell, special thanks to Ylva Axéll.

Worldwide representation EMA Telstar AB, Thomas Johansson, Stockholm, 
Sweden.
Bussines representation Desert AB, Jan & Lena Beime, Örebro, Sweden.
Legal representation Loeb & Loeb, Robert Thorne, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Publicity (US) Reach Media Relations Inc., Michael Pagnotta, New York
City, NY. USA.
Jimmy Fun Music is exclusively administered by EMI Music Publishing.

join the clubs!
North & South America: THE INTERNATIONAL ROXETTE FAN CLUB,
P.O. Box 22775, Denver, CO 80222-0775, USA.
Rest of the world: THE INTERNATIONAL ROXETTE FAN CLUB,
P.O. Box 177, NL-2900 AD Capelle a/d Yssel, The Netherlands.

Mr Gessle’s hot line to Planet Earth Woody 
With love to Josefin & Mikael from Marie

Outstanding contributions were made by Marie Dimberg, Rolf Nygren, Kjell
Andersson, Jan & Lena Beime, Thomas Johansson, Tor Nielsen, Blixten
Henriksson, EMA Telstar AB staff, Desert AB staff, Robert Thorne, EMI
Records Worldwide, Roel Kruize, Mikael Bolyos, Åsa Nordin-Gessle, Mats
M.P. Persson, Gyllene Tider, Alar Suurna, Michael Ilbert, Björn Norén,
Jack Satter, Wayne Mejia, Matt & Cynthia Murray, The Fredriksson & Gessle
families, Nina Graakjaer, Berit, Lars & Lotta Nordin, Larz & Kicki
Lundgren, Thomas Timbert, NK Trend & NK Herrkonfektion, Roxette crews
throughout the years including a.o. Dave Edwards, Bill Leabody, Mats
»Skuggan« Wennersten, Pontus »Bullen« Lagerbielke, Ulf Andreasson, Nina
Valerie, Lisa Derkert, Mattias Dallin, Micke Massaro, Guld-Lars Jungmark,
Anders »Falken« Mikkelsen, Stefan »Stiffe« Rubenson, Masse Lökholm, Bojo
Johansson, Fredrik All, Bobby Eriksson, Rex Ray, Arne Dahl, Keith
Carroll, Jocke Hellmer and last but not least The Most Handsome Band In
The World: Clarence Öfwerman, Anders Herrlin, Jonas Isacsson, Pelle
Alsing, Vicki Benckert, Staffan Öfwerman, Mia Lindgren, Micke »Nord«
Andersson & Mats »Myrdal« Persson. Special thanks to Mr Herbie Herbert
for wit & wisdom, i.e. the album-title.
Marie & Per support Amnesty International, Marie also supports Östra
Ljungby IF while Per supports IS Halmia, HK Drott, Brian Jones Bikers
Club & The local pub.