The Daily Roxette

NEW YORK – Glass Tiger, a Canadian pop-rock group signed to EMI and best known for their 1986 hit "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" (which reached #1 in Canada and #2 on the Billboard chart here in the U.S.) will open for Roxette at all seven concerts in Canada when the tour comes to North America at the end of August.  

Part of the success of that single can be attributed to the fact that Bryan Adams, who was riding high at the time from the success of his album, Reckless, contributed a cameo vocal, and that helped the record get airplay on the radio. You can hear Bryan's "adlibs" towards the end of the song ("For heaven's sake" and "My heart would break").

OSLO - Sunday November 27 on Norwegian TV2 Per Gessle will be the guest on a show called "Reisen til popstjernen" ("Meeting a popstar") The Norwegian artist Ingrid Bjørnov has met Per Gessle in Stockholm to talk about music and songwriting, trying to discover the key to his success. The show will air 21:45 - 22.45. Other artists she has met include, among others, Nik Kershaw, Espen Lind, Maria Mena and Timbuktu.

Halmstad-based band Vikunja opened for Roxette in Halmstad last August and were personally invited by Per Gessle to open for Roxette again, in Stockholm's Globen (The Globe) on Thursday and in Malmö Arena on Friday.

Martin Larsson from Vikunja, how does this feel?
- It feels great! Per is apparently a big fan and really pushed for having us opening "back home in Sweden" and we were available so here we are... After the concert in Halmstad it felt awesome, and then we had a few setbacks, for instance we wanted Christoffer Lundquist to produce our upcoming promo EP, but he didn't have time as he's on the road with Roxette all the time. And we felt that we wanted the EP put together sooner than 2012. These concerts came in the nick of time, It's now or never, ha ha!

This promo EP, can you describe it?
- We want, or need, to do it a bit like Gyllene Tider did; have a finished product to show the record companies. If and when they say 'we want this band' the record is already finished and can be released instantly.

Gyllene Tider you say... is Per Gessle any influence on Vikunja, or who is?
- Our guitars sound a bit like Roxette's, we also like riffs that stand out. Roxette is a tremendous band I think. Charm School is amazing! I also like Per's Mazarin. He can do so many styles. Other influences are Oasis, The Who, Coldplay, The Killers, Pink Floyd, you know, that kind.

So who did you get to produce, if Chris didn't have time?
- We wanted Chris, as I said, and then he couldn't do it so we looked into the guy who produced Håkan Hellström's latest album and then Oskar Linnros or Joshua. But then our manager is friends with Mats Valentin who has worked with,  for instance, Kelly Clarkson. He has time to do it, and he really wants to as well. We'll be recording in Storm Studios in Stockholm, the same studio where Veronica Maggio's Satan i gatan was recorded. We are stoked!

Any special preparation for the two big concerts?
- Yes, when we played in Halmstad we were four guys playing, this time we'll still be the four guys, but with backing tracks! It sounds way better with strings, horns, background vocals, effects. We did a concert with Tove Styrke that was very appreciated. It sounded really nice. Oh and our guitarist forgot to tell the audience who we were in Halmstad! He never said it!! So this time we'll say it between every song and also we have a backdrop!

NEW YORK – The Wall Street Journal reports today that Warner Music Group has moved closer to striking a deal it has coveted for years: the acquisition of the recorded-music division of rival EMI Group.

Warner, owned since the summer by Russian-American billionaire Len Blavatnik, is in pole position to win an auction of EMI Music after Vivendi SA walked away from the bidding process. The price tag is likely to be between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.

According to the Journal, Vivendi, the Paris-based entertainment and telecoms group, decided not to pursue a deal after it was unable to reach an agreement on certain terms.

In related news, EMI Sweden is enjoying considerable success right now with both Roxette and Swedish House Mafia, while EMI's Capitol label has just released a new Coldplay album that was an instant hit. SHM sold out an upcoming Madison Square Garden concert in 20 minutes. They will hold the distinction of being the first dance music act to ever play the Garden.

Director and photographer Jonas Åkerlund (Gessle, Roxette, Metallica, Madonna, Prodigy, etc.) is now represented in Scandinavia by d&d management , the same firm that manages Roxette.

d&d partner Marie Dimberg and Jonas Åkerlund have crossed paths earlier, when Jonas made a documentary about Marie Fredriksson, which led to videos for Per Gessle and subsequently Roxette. Now they're focusing on a deeper collaboration.

From d&d management:

We are proud and happy to welcome Jonas Åkerlund to d&d for management representation in Scandinavia.

Jonas is one of the world's most renowned directors and has created countless music videos and commercials. His international breakthrough came through his collaboration with Madonna. Among his gigantic collection of productions, he has also made ​​several short films, documentaries and art projects. Jonas is currently working on his fourth feature film, “Small apartments,” featuring Matt Lucas, James Caan and Billy Crystal in the leading roles. He has the whole world as his working field – Stockholm and Los Angeles as his two bases. The latest project in Sweden was the acclaimed film version of Mats Ek’s “Ställe” featuring Ana Laguna and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

NEW YORK – Matthew Chojnacki, a self-described "huge Roxette fan" from Cleveland, Ohio, tells a story about going to record stores while growing up in Cleveland that is strikingly similar to the one Per tells about his own boyhood in Halmstad.

"For me, going to a real record store was very much an experience growing up," he told us in a telephone interview.  "You know I'd ride my bike to the store, I'd ride all the way home...  just the adventure of purchasing a record and getting it home was a thrill.  But for me, there was complete experience then. It was the art work, it was the liner notes, it was the listening..."  He argues that "the 1980s were the most visually provocative era of the last millennium," which was reflected in the way music was branded and marketed. Every new vinyl single that hit the stands was wrapped in eye-catching sleeves to incorporate the latest trend and taste of the moment.

With the surge of digital music in the last ten years, there has been less emphasis on packaging music and more on creating killer videos and flashy web sites. To celebrate the great music art of the past, Chojnacki has compiled a visually stunning guide to 7- and 12-inch vinyl single artwork from the '80s.

In his book Put the Needle on the Record: The 1980s at 45 Revolutions Per Minute, he presents about 250 vinyl single covers, representing nearly every prominent musician of the decade. The book, which is set to be released in the next few days, not only features the iconic covers, but also the previously untold stories behind the artwork from the designers and visual talent behind Madonna, Prince, Adam Ant, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Clash, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Bush and more. 

In a two-page spread, Chojnacki presents Roxette’s "Neverending Love" along with The
Korgis’ "Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime," as he felt that both contained quirky, retro graphics and that they looked really good next to each other.

Click on "Read more..." for ordering information and a chance to WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK!

The other day Roxette performed a medley of "Speak to Me" and "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" on stage of the German Radiopreis (Radio Awards). This event took place in Hamburg and the best German radio shows, hosts, etc. were awarded. The show was broadcast on the Internet via livestream on several radio stations and later on on the TV. Roxette's performance was halfway through the show. Among the other stars were James Blunt, die Söhne Mannheims, Herbert Grönemeyer and Frieda Gold. The performance of Roxette was playback and took about 4:30 min. The audience was not not too enthusiastic which is not to be blamed on the show acts but seems to be normal for that kind of event.

See a video of the performance.

PORTO ALEGRE (Brazil) – After the long awaited and meteoric comeback of Roxette to South America that included one show in Uruguay, three in Argentina, one in Chile and five in Brazil – worth millions of dollars to promoters and full of a "million" sighs, screams and tears among the fans who attended the concerts – the are great expectations now that Roxette will return to South America in 2012.

Social media and web-savvy promotors in Chile have turned up the volume on their long-standing effort to get Roxette to perform at a big music festival there. They have launched a "campaign" website and a Facebook page that already has over 1,700 members.  

Considered one of the most important music festivals in Latin America, the International Song Festival of Viña del Mar is held every year during the last week of February in the coastal city of Viña del Mar, Chile. Established in 1960, the festival can in some ways be compared to Eurovision in that it is primarily a song contest. It has two categories: pop music and folk music. The highlight of the six-night festival is the big name international artist that attracts the crowds and who shares the stage with local and regional artists and "less famous" worldwide acts. This past February, that headliner was Sting. The festival is held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater, which now has capacity for 20,000 people.

Broken Records International (BRI), a Santiago-based company led by Héctor Faune and Max Irarrázaval, received a kind of "green light" from the producers of the festival to start, for the third time, negotiations with Roxette for the duo's presentation as the main international attraction. Since the return of Roxette during the Night Of The Proms in 2009, BRI has been trying to bring them to the Chilean summer festival.  Numerous telephone calls were made ​​during those years to Marie Dimberg, Roxette's manager, and Thomas Johansson of LiveNation .

But the current situation seems more promising than in other years, Faune told RoxetteBrasil. "Now Roxette is finally on a world tour," said the the successful businessman and fan of the duo, his voice vibrating with enthusiasm, "and we still have an album of new songs in the charts worldwide. The environment for a presentation at the Festival could not be more favorable. Moreover, the Roxette concert was sold out on April 9th in Santiago, and the producers of the Festival of Viña del Mar attended the show."

Clarification from Roxette's management: The Swedish Market Court decided not to open the case Nöjet/Live Nation vs. Biljett.nu regarding the right to sell tickets to the Roxette concert in Halmstad last summer. Their reason being that the event had already taken place and the Court saw no reason to make a ruling in the matter. They did not however, state that biljett.nu had the right to sell tickets, they just decided to not make a statement at all. Given the headlines in some Swedish media we want to make this clarification; no case, no winner. As it was Nöjet/Live Nation who initiated this case, it is common law that the initiator has to pay for the expenses of the other party.

Live Nation are to pay Biljett.nu around 228,000 SEK (€23,000) in court costs.

CORDOBA – Roxette arrived here in Argentina's second largest city a short time ago, set to perform tomorrow night before a capacity crowd of around 10,000 people at the Orfeo Superdome, an indoor multi-purpose arena.

Per was kind enough to allow us to ask a few questions:

The Daily Roxette: We know, from your own statements to the Swedish press and various other messages you've made over the last year that you've invested – personally – a lot of effort to get something happening in the U.S. What's going on on that front? Will the RoxJet land in North America?

Per Gessle: Yep. Looks like we finally have it all settled with Capitol Records. Charm School will be released in July together with a new Rox compilation. It feels good. And of course we would love to perform there. I hope it will happen.

TDR: Is there a part of you that's frustrated about how much effort was required?

PG: The U.S. market has always been complicated territory for us. The problems started really early. In 1992, when Charles Koppelman took over EMI, we could never connect with him and his staff. And I guess most of the EMI artists from that era had the same experience. So, yes, there is a certain amount of frustration that we never have matched our extremely successful radio presence with jaw-dropping album sales. Almost everyone in the U.S. knows our songs but they don't really know it's Roxette!!

TDR: When Roxette first started playing "How Do You Do!" live in 1992, it...well...wasn't very good. Now it's one of the strongest songs on the set list. What's the explanation for that?

PG: Hey, I don't agree! It sounded decent (at least once in while...) in ´92 but very different. It was pretty hard to sing in those days before the in-ear system happened. The verses are really low in key for me. And back then we worked a lot with clicktracks and pre-recorded sounds and effects. Today we're the old-fashioned real deal – 100% live and every song is quite different from show to show. We have "open endings" on four or five songs just to make it more interesting for the band. And for the crowd, "How Do You Do!" is one of those songs that really kicks ass on this tour. Everybody seems to love it! I do!!

TDR: You just added a new rock arrangement of "Stars" to the set list at the first Luna Park concert, and then left it out the next night. Are you happy with it?

PG: Oh yeah! I love that song and always did. It's one of my favorite choruses!! I like the new arrangement, it's gonna be a monster down the road when the band has learned how to play it!!

TDR: We´ve been reporting that Marie is moving about the stage in a way not previously seen (since her recovery). You said something about the tour being therapy for her? It seems to be working??

PG: For every show Marie's getting more and more relaxed. It's a miracle she's up there on that stage in the first place and her progress is mindblowing and worth some sort of award! We've done 11 shows so far... in a couple of months Marie's gonna kick ass just like in the past. Trust me.

TDR: What would you say is your personal favorite song to play live?

PG: "How Do You Do!" is great fun. And "Way Out". But I really enjoy the whole set. It's such a treat for any human being to get the kind of feedback that we´ve been getting lately. We're very lucky to have such a generous and beautiful fanbase all over the planet. We'll never forget that.