Roxette story: The Success
Roxette consists of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson. During the 1980s, both established themselves as two of the most famous names in the Swedish music scene.
Per was the singer, lyricist, and bandleader of the extremely popular group Gyllene Tider. Gyllene Tider was a guitar group and made 1960s music. They released four LPs and sold more than one million copies of them. After breaking up in 1984, Per made a name for himself as a solo singer and composer. He recorded two solo albums. In 1982, based on a poem by Dorothy Parker, he wrote the song “Threnody” for Frida’s (ABBA) first solo LP “Something’s Going On”.
Marie has been one of the most popular singers in Sweden in the past three years. Through Per’s producer, she got a record deal. She released 3 LPs and sold more than 300,000 copies of them.
In 1985, they decided to join forces once. The result was the single titled “Neverending Love”. It reached third place on the Swedish chart without promotion and achieved gold status. It was also EMI Sweden’s best-selling success that year: Per and Marie went on as Roxette. Their first LP, “Pearls of Passion,” went platinum immediately, selling over 100,000 copies. It was the best-selling project of 1986. Like their first single, the album’s two subsequent singles also achieved gold status.
But with the latest album, “Look Sharp!”, Roxette broke every record. The album was released in mid-October and stormed straight to first place on the Swedish LP charts. After 12 weeks, it was still in first place. The album’s first two singles, “Dressed for Success” and “Listen to Your Heart,” achieved gold and the number 1 position. The third single, “The Look,” released in early January, came in at number 8 and reached the number one spot on the chart a week later.
The album had reached sales of 360,000 copies in three months, and that was only in Sweden. This number, therefore, accounted for the best-selling album of 1988. In 1989, the album exceeded sales of 400,000 and has now gone four times platinum.
In the summer of 1987, Roxette went on tour, not alone but together with Ratata and Eva Dahlgren, accompanied by Anders Glenmark. As a supporting act, the singer Orup performed. This tour was named “Rock runt riket”.
On the occasion of this tour, a single titled “I Want You” was recorded by Ratata, Eva Dahlgren, and Roxette. Anders Glenmark produced the single, released by “The Record Station.” A total of 100,000 people attended the tour. “Rock runt ricket” was the biggest open-air tour ever held in Sweden.
During the autumn of 1988, Roxette toured Sweden again, breaking all records in every city where they performed. A total of 75,000 people had gone wild for Roxette’s brilliant show.
In January of this year, Roxette was named the group of 1988 and “Look Sharp” as the best LP by two major Swedish evening newspapers. Marie received the coveted “Rockbjörn” for being the singer of the year for the third time in a row.
In March 1989, Roxette’s success became even more remarkable. “The Look” was also released outside Scandinavia. “The Look” became a top 3 hit in almost all European countries. America also went to its knees. Dean, an American student on holiday in Sweden, caused this.
He went to a Roxette gig with his friend me and loved it immediately. He took an exemplar home with him. He sent a tape to a friendly radio station asking them to play some from time to time. They did, and the audience also loved the song “The Look,” and within four weeks, “The Look” was very popular across America. “The Look” entered the Billboard Top 100 at 50 via many airplay points. Then, when the single was finally available, it reached number one quickly. It has since achieved gold status, meaning more than a million copies have been sold. The gold single was personally presented to Dean as a token of their appreciation.
Roxette is mainly built around Marie’s fantastic voice and Per’s clever songs. But they are much more. Marie and Per are two professionals who are experimenting, and above all, they are two very talented artists. This together forms Roxette.
The public adores them in Sweden, and the critics are unanimous: Roxette is the best thing that’s happened to Swedish music since ABBA.
In Sweden, Roxette is unstoppable and will soon be in Europe, too. “The Look” was the first success here, and their new single “Dressed For Success” is bound to be just as big a success.
In short, it’s time for…
ROXETTE