12 months have gone by in a flash and it's again the time for The Daily Roxette's annual "Year in review" article.

2007 was something you can call a slow news year - Roxette wise. Per released a Swedish solo album, "En händig man," and did a summer tour, but there was not a single Roxette news article after March 2007.

Late December 2006 and a couple of days later in January 2007, Radio Halland aired an interesting two-part interview with Per Gessle. In the interview Per revealed for the first time that he's working on a new solo album. The reporter had also heard rumors of a summer tour and asked Per about it. According to Per, nothing had been decided at that point and that the "Mazarin" tour had been put together only two months before the premier night. In March the tour looked more likely when Expressen published a story about Per releasing an album soon with a tour following it.

Per also claimed he's working on a follow-up to Son of a Plumber album, but later Per admitted that he was only trying to fool people with it. Although, later in the year, Son of a Plumber did make a surprise comeback…

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LJUSDAL - Per Gessle approved this biography to be written by old friend and journalist Sven Lindström when Marie Fredriksson was diagnosed with cancer. He felt that his story should be told while the people he had been hanging out with were still alive. Immediately the idea came up to use the quotation-technique used in the book "Please kill me," which both Sven and Per regard as a major inspiration. Sven drafted a few pages and sent to Per who immediately changed his mind, he didn't want people talking about him!
Then both Marie and Rolf at EMI got sick, so Per changed his mind again, and here we are!

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Mikael Bolyos - A Family Affair (EMI MBM 3971032)

Mikael has (somewhat unfairly) come in for quite a bit of criticism from Roxette fans over the years, especially since he started collaborating musically with Marie, as some fans felt that he had moved Marie's music into a direction they didn't like.

The surprising thing is that many of the same fans who criticised Micke's influence on albums such as “The Change” have been very positive about his latest project “A Family Affair”. I actually have really liked the work that Marie has done with her husband, and he was indeed responsible for my favourite song from “The Change”….”Mother”.

Personally, although this album is not going to make as one of my all time favourites of Roxette related material, I like the album a lot. It is a very eclectic mix of styles and sounds incorporating old sixties pop, jazz, eighties pop, and even more modern sounds. I think that this diversity is both the key to the record's success, and its downfall. At times I think it doesn't work very well because it jumps between too many different sounds and lacks cohesion, but then I also think that this is one of the attractions of the album: because it is a very personal collection, almost a story of Micke himself and his family, hence the title “A Family Affair”. Indeed, I can almost imagine Micke, Marie and their friends jamming away in their basement to the songs, as we saw in the Marie's “A Second Chance” documentary a few years ago.

Here are my thoughts on the individual tracks .

Merry Go Round:
A mid-tempo, very Beatles-esque kind of track. A very catchy little number, and one of my favourites. My only slight criticism would be Micke's voice. It's obvious he is not a natural singer. He sings in tune, but it is quite monotone and lacks emotion. However, it doesn't really detract anything from this song, as it is the kind of number that just plods along nicely anyway.

On&On&On:
A slower, bluesier number. Another song with a great hook. Marie is on backing vocals sounding great as usual!

Me & My Guitar:
“Yeah-eah-eah-yeah-yeah”….the song starts with Marie in her best rocky voice that we've come to know and love! This is a faster track, and I don't really think Micke's voice is strong enough to pull it off, but still a nice track.

When the Lord is About to Come:
One of my favourites on the album. A very different sound, with interesting lyrics. A duet with Mats Ronander, though I can't work out who is singing what!

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The Daily Roxette team wishes you happy birthday!

Visa, Thomas, Judith, Lars-Erik & Colin

Year 2006 is nearing its end and it's time for the annual The Daily Roxette "Year in review" article.

This year was obviously a very important one for Roxette, since it was the band's 20th anniversary. On July 8, 1986 a mysterious duo called Roxette released their debut single "Neverending Love." The members of the duo, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson, didn't even put their faces on the single sleeve. The song became an instant summer hit in Sweden. It still took some time before the band broke through in other countries, but that's a completely different story — a story you've heard so many times before.

The first half of 2006 was mostly about Per's solo project Son of a Plumber, although the fans were already anxiously waiting for news about how Roxette will celebrate their big year. Son of a Plumber — or SOAP, as we call it — released its second single in Sweden, "Hey Mr DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)." Per also convinced some of the European EMI branches of the SOAP project and "Hey Mr DJ" was announced to be the first SOAP single outside Sweden. To promote the song, a music video was shot and a remix EP was released in digital format only.

Bad Hair Day was another digital tryout by Per. To the delight of fans around the world, he released "Mazarin" and "Son of a Plumber" demos for free on the Internet using the pseudonym Bad Hair Day.

While Roxette is in the headlines again, fanclub calls it a day

A surprise or not, in March the Netherlands-based Official Roxette Fanclub announced that it will cease all operations immediately, with disgruntled fans and obvious management problems. The problems still keep going on to this day as their debts are still not settled. Marie Dimberg of d&d management, manager of Roxette, released a press statement saying that there will be no more official fanclub in the future. The fanclub, in this format, opened its doors during the mid-nineties after the UK-based fanclub closed for much of the same reasons.

An interesting coincidence was that at the same time as the fanclub quit, Roxette was in the headlines again, the press touting their comeback.

In March TDR met Per in Vienna where we discussed Son of a Plumber and of course the upcoming Roxette 20th anniversary, which showed an excited Per. Per was traveling around promoting SOAP. However, the few countries that picked up the album, didn't manage to sell it to the extent it was worth. So what else happened in March? Well, TDR met Per in Stockholm too, where he re-hashed his mumbo jumbo about "Roxette" whatever that is… No, seriously, it was yet another successful interview. We are very thankful for our conversations with Per, and from the looks of it, so are you!

We also finally got the confirmation from EMI that Roxette was back in the studio! No one knew what was coming out of it, a new album maybe? Well, we got quite a few releases in the end. Most importantly, the Skåne recordings ended up in two new tracks: "Reveal" and "One Wish."

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LJUSDAL - So finally it is here, the mystical, mythical and long spoken about RoxBox – full name: The RoxBox - Roxette 86-06. I have it in my hand, it is a hefty piece, very well manufactured. The box contains four fully-crammed CDs, a thick, attached booket and a DVD of "all Roxette's videos" (which certainly can be debated…) and the legendary MTV Unplugged show from 1993, in full!
Let's start with the box itself. It's made like a book, with the four CDs attached two to each cover, with a very lovely booklet in-between. So where is the DVD? It's in a cardboard sleeve at the very back of the booklet. Not a good place to put it, I would say, as the DVD is double-sided and DVDs are easily scratched. The booklet is written by well-known reporter Janne Gradvall, who has a definite stamp-of-approval from Per. Gradvall is a Swedish pop journalist with a long and genuine background, respected by many of Sweden's pop stars and music business people. The text has been translated by Sven Åke Peterson. The text itself is very informative and has tons of bits and pieces of nice Roxette trivia. I also like the translation, most of it at least. What is a "dropping-bottle" really? I would call that a "drip" or "drip-feed," but hey, that's me! The photos in the booklet are both familiar and unfamiliar, all in truly nice quality. What I miss in the booklet is an explanation from Per and Marie why they selected the tracks that made the box.
Now we get to the DVD(s) and unfortunately I can't say that I'm overjoyed about them. I say "them" because in reality there's two. The disc is a "flipper" (two sided). Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely fabulous to finally get the missing tracks of the Unplugged concert. I'm glad that someone convinced MTV to let Roxette use them. But why, oh why, do it in this poor quality?? I'm sure the original Beta masters were used to render the DVD, but the Mbit/s is only 6.16 which is VERY poor (and it gets worse). The sound is available in both Dolby Digital and DTS stereo, which is fine, however the bonus tracks have plenty of audio clicks and glitches. That may come from the original source material though. Oh well, the Unplugged concert looks decent on a regular 29" TV, but is hard to view at all on a 42" plasma.
Regarding the "video" side of the DVD, it contains 37 Roxette videos, not all videos ever made. And frankly, I doubt we'll ever see that compilation. The bitrate of the video side is an appalling 3.57 Mbit per second! That, my friends, is about as low as you can go on a DVD. And it's quite noticable while watching; for instance in "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore," where the whole picture is pixelated most of the time. I can buy perhaps that the earlier videos have low quality sources, but this is way beyond that. It's not acceptable for a company to release the third lousy (quality-wise) video compilation in a row… Other companies release good DVDs all the time, why not EMI? Read more…

NEW YORK - Lest the chorus of voices raised to voice disappointment with the tracks being offered in the long-awaited RoxBox serve to cloud the bigger picture, let’s not overlook some core issues.

  We suspect we’re not the only ones for whom Roxette has had an impact beyond the expected. In a myriad of different ways, Per and Marie… their music, their concerts, their personalities, and yes, even such details as their album covers, have affected our lives (many fans can’t help but think of Roxette whenever they see raspberries or a five-pointed star).

  Friendships have been made directly because of Roxette. Some have been of a romantic nature, and led to marriage. We’ve always been impressed by groups of fans that get together periodically to share their enthusiasm for this band, but even the solo “joyriders” (Roxers if you prefer) who share their passion here in our SmallTalk section, feel a sense of community, at least on occasion.

  One of those occasions came almost exactly four years ago. News quickly spread that our beloved Marie Fredriksson was in the hospital, and fans around the world came together to express their concern and offer “get well” wishes and prayers. TDR helped to collect and assemble these sentiments into not just one, but several books full of statement from fans… many of which spoke of how much Roxette’s music had meant to them up to this point in their lives, and gave specific examples.

  We’d like to think, without getting too philosophical or theological, that all of our wishes and prayers were answered. Is it a miracle that Marie recovered?!? We’re not prepared to answer that, but we ARE certain that it’s a continuing cause for joy and celebration for the readers of this newspaper.

   From our particular vantage point, we see sunny skies ahead. Marie is healthy again, and has returned to both the recording studio and – just this past week – the stage. Per continues to throw his heart and soul into creating new music, and the word is that both Per and Marie enjoyed their reunion as Roxette.

  It’s now entirely within the realm of possibility that the phenonemon that is Roxette can continue after the candles on the 20th Anniversary cake have been blown out, and the cake has been cut and eaten. Another full-length album? A tour of some sort? We’ve been reluctant to report this before, for fear of somehow “jinxing” things, but both seem to be possibilities again.

  We’ve all known Per long enough now to know that he’s the kind of guy that can take some good-natured constructive criticism. We hope that when he reads Neil’s commentary below, and all the other comments regarding the RoxBox, that he’ll keep in mind that “at the end of the day” (as he’s prone to say), that we’re all – like him – just a bunch of pop nerds. We haven’t lost our gratitude for the abundance of great music we’ve enjoyed in the past… and we look forward to what’s yet to come. – LEO

STOCKHOLM - Sweden, July 8 1986. “Neverending Love,” a new single was released by a group called “Roxette.” No one in Sweden knew at that point what Roxette was, or who, except for the precious few Gyllene Tider fans that knew of the US version of “Heartland.”

  “Neverending Love” was an English version of the song “Svarta glas” that Per had composed for Swedish artist Pernilla Wahlgren. She turned it down, and gave it to her brother Niklas Wahlgren who recorded it and was about to release it when EMI called his record company and told them to remove the song from the album; Per Gessle needed it himself, but in English, and together with hot rock artist Marie Fredriksson. Enuff said.

  When the single was released Per, 27 and Marie, 28, didn’t want their picture on the sleeve, therefore a ’50s style drawing was used. The song went straight into the Sommartoppen chart, I don’t remember how high the first week, and as a matter of fact, I was in the USA so how could I?

  I arrived back in Sweden on July 16th after 11 months in the US as an exchange student. I met up with my friend who immediately told me that Roxette had a new song out. That’s not possible, I said. Roxette broke up last year. So he gave me the 7” single. I was blown away. In June 1985 Gyllene Tider called it a day, and here was a new Per Gessle project! Amazing! There was a God after all. So I turned the record on… and was disappointed… I felt Per had sold himself to Eurodisco. Nevertheless, I started listening to the one song, hoping for more, and needless to say, it grew on me.

  Now it’s 20 years later, I’m 20 years older (what happened?) and Roxette is still with me. And Roxette has sold over 70 million records so far. Quite a feat for two timid “hillbillies” from the south of Sweden, don’t you think?

2005 was a year full of good news and exciting projects, thanks primarily to Per Gessle’s workaholic nature. But, without a doubt, the biggest news item of the year was the triumphant proclamation by Marie Fredriksson that she had survived her battle with cancer, and was able to declare herself “healthy again!”

  There are many internationally-known female recording artists, but few are as beloved as Marie Fredriksson. When the news spread of her condition back in September 2002, the outpouring of support, prayers and get-well wishes that followed – from around the world – served to prove this point. Thus, for many, Marie’s renewed health is seen as an answer to all those prayers. Marie’s victory over cancer is a personal one, but it’s a victory we all feel like celebrating.

  It was indeed a busy year. Per himself said in Roxette’s Christmas message to the fans: “2005 turned out to be a quite normal (= extremely busy) year with an art exhibition, a plumbing album and a few exciting live performances.”

  So what really happened? Read more…

Despite everything else going on, unquestionably the biggest news of 2004 for the readers of this newspaper was, of course, Marie’s return from a two-year-long sick leave. She decided to keep herself away from the public, but released a new album, “The Change.” To the surprise of many, the album was partially created even before her illness. Still, many of the songs speak about recovering, about the second chance she feels she’s received.

  Another huge event was Gyllene Tider’s 25th anniversary tour. This long-awaited reunion took Sweden by storm. Almost half a million people saw the boys back on stage, performing their evergreen songs to sold-out arenas and a multitude of new fans. This was also a year of new (and recovered) Gyllene Tider releases. They released no less than four DVDs, a new album, a compilation CD (in two editions), a live CD, and two singles. They also re-released their first three albums. And since there are fans buying all that stuff, there’s at least one single, several re-re-releases and a DVD still in the pipeline. Read more…