NEW YORK – Today marks another milestone in the remarkable international career of the Swedish duo Roxette. After an absence of over ten years, Per and Marie return to the United States market today with the release by EMI Capitol of both Charm School (as digital download only) and a new compiliation album with the straightforward name Greatest Hits.

Roxette’s previous attempt to re-enter the American market was via an ill-fated record deal with Edel America Records that was announced on May 26, 2000.  Edel released an updated version of the Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus compilation that autumn that contained “Wish I Could Fly” and “Stars” from Have A Nice Day.

Roxette flew over to the States to do a two-week promo tour, but the small label had an equally small budget, and there were plenty of missed opportunities due to that fact and their promotional staff’s relative lack of experience.  The deal was for Edel to release Room Service in the States at the same time as EMI elsewhere, but that plan was thwarted when cash-strapped EAR’s parent company in Germany shut down the U.S. operation.

Since then, Per himself spent a considerable amount of time and effort trying to secure another record distribution deal here. He made many trips to New York and Los Angeles, hired a new lawyer (who specializes in entertainment law), did a lot of “networking,” and met personally with record label executives and staff.

 
And now Roxette, using their Roxette Recordings arm, have finally returned to the major label that gave them there start here: EMI’s Capitol Records. Their iconic headquarters building, located at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood, California, it meant to look like a stack of 45s sitting on a turntable.

“Well well, the U.S. again…!,” Per said to Hallandposten back in April when news of this deal first broke.  “We have had it rough on the record side in the U.S. since they got a new CEO and all the staff was fired from Capitol/EMI early in 1992.”

“Our songs have been enormous in the U.S. all through the years,” he said. “Both ‘Listen To Your Heart’ and ‘It Must Have Been Love’ are closing in on 5,000,000 radio plays each on the radio there, but sadly the Americans don’t realize it’s Roxette performing them.  Roxette as a band has become very anonymous in the U.S. We’ve spent far too little time there, that’s the main reason.”

“It would be fab if these releases yield any results,” Per told The Daily Roxette today. “However, our skins are hardened by the American music business after all these years and we don’t expect much at all. I don’t have a notion about EMI/Capitol’s capacity any more. Anything positive will create a happy smile with us. We are more focused on the tour, if you know what I mean.”

“She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio),” which is included on the tracklist of both albums, was released to Adult Contemporary radio stations across the country. It’s at #32 this week on Billboard’s “American Top 50 Adult Contemporary chart.”  The last time Roxette charted here was when “Wish I Could Fly” (EAR) reached #27 on the same chart in 2000.

The Greatest Hits album is available from many online retailers, including Amazon.com. Both titles are available for album and individual song download purchase from all major digital service providers.

So now the question on many fan’s minds is whether or not Roxette will perform here during the extended Charm School world tour.

“With a little bit of luck we may tour the U.S. next year,” Per tells TDR. “That would be a blast. We have tons of fans there, we know that! And our songs are played all over the place, more than ever. It would be a shame if we couldn’t sync it all together.”

The biggest hurdle, as Per himself pointed out when speaking to the Swedish press, is that while many Americans are familiar with Roxette’s biggest hits, they have long since forgotten Roxette themselves as many of the radio stations that play Roxette’s music use a DJ-less format, so there’s no one saying “And that was Roxette with ‘Listen to Your Heart'” anymore.

Per, who’s 52 years old, told Hallandsposten in an interview published Saturday that “We put a pricetag on a concert to cover all expenses and which guarantees a certain profit. That’s also what’s keeping us from doing a U.S. tour, since no promotor there has had the guts to go for us. But I’m too old to travel around without getting paid for it.”

But, with records to promote now, and a willingness to extend the length of the tour, there is still a glimmer of hope. Roxette may not make it to the Midwest, but New York, Los Angeles and Miami at least would seem to be viable possibilities.

Additional reporting by Thomas Evensson.

WIN A PROMO COPY OF THE NEW GREATEST HITS CD !

Courtesy of our friends at Capitol Records, our readers have a chance to win a promo copy of the new Greatest Hits album!  All you need do is answer at least one trivia question correctly, and provide us with your basic contact information (must be accurate, one entry per person).  As with past contests, we’ll use the number generator at Random.org to choose the winners.  We’ll publish the names of those lucky individuals when the contest closes, which will be at midnight (New York time) on Friday, August 5.  Good luck!  Oh yeah… there are some runner-up prizes as well!