Can you believe it? It’s been 5 years since the amazing ‘BAG OF TRIX – Music from the Roxette Archives’ was released in its various formats, 11th December 2020.
This was the first time the Roxette Archives had been fully opened with a fully stand-alone boxset focussing specifically on Roxette rarities, unreleased and out-of-print songs (We’re not counting the RoxBox). Fans lapped it up, and quite rightly so.
A writer for Sweden’s largest newspaper at the time, Aftonbladet, said the boxset demonstrated how Marie + Per were “intensely passionate about the music they made, and had a lot of fun together…“.
Indeed, the newspaper gave it a very favourable and deserving ★ ★ ★ ★ review.
For us though, it was without doubt, a highly deserved ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Per has kept himself rather busy (understatement), and we’ve been lucky enough to have been let into the vast Roxette Archives through numerous Rox and non-Rox digital and physical releases ever since.
We’ve had well over 60 rare or previously unreleased tracks released (not even counting ROXRMX).
Our two BAG OF TRIX Articles at the time of it’s release discussed the various omissions from the series and we had some great discussions:
Rather than us do a retrospective review of the release, we thought instead, it would be a good time to recap and see what gaps have been filled since BAG OF TRIX, and more interestingly, what do we know of that remains elusive? What’s on our Wish List for future releases in 2026 and beyond…
Released in a very similar format to BAG OF TRIX, 26th November 2021. This was an immense box collection for their biggest selling album. 11 previously unreleased recordings were included, namely:
Church of your Heart (US Adult Contemporary Mix)
Hotblooded (T&A Demo – Jan 23, 1990)
Small Talk (T&A Demo – Aug 30, 1990)
Church of Your Heart (T&A Demo – Jan 8, 1990)
Physical Fascination (T&A Demo – Jan 3, 1990)
Sweet Thing (T&A Demo – Oct 28, 1990)
Run Run Run (T&A Demo – Jan 10, 1990)
Thing Will Never be the Same (T&A Demo – Sep 17, 1989)
The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye (T&A Demo – Mar 16, 1990)
Another Place, Another Time (T&A Demo – Jan 11, 1990)
I Remember You (T&A Demo – Mar 15, 1990)
Missing – We’re not sure what, if anything remains from the Joyride Recording Sessions.
An expanded digital-only version was released early 2022, with even more demo additions made in both January + February that same year:
Dangerous (T&A Demo – Feb 11, 1987)
In My Own Way (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)
Love Spins (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)
Love Spins (T&A Demo – Nov 18, 1987)
One Is Such a Lonely Number (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)
Drowning in You (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)
Silver Blue (T&A Demo – May 21, 1987)
The Thrill of It All (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)
Physical Fascination (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)
Never is a Long Time (T&A Demo – Nov 11, 1987) (recorded by Lena back then…)
Boom Boom (And Boom Boom Again) (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)
Let’s Party! (T&A Demo – Jul 14, 1988) (B-side to Per’s ‘I Want You to Know’ single)
Start! (T&A Demo – Feb 19, 1988)
Night Wire (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
Pocketful of Rain (T&A Demo – Jun 12, 1987)
Rocket (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
The Voice (T&A Demo – Mar 24, 1987)
Silver Blue (Demo)
Here Comes the Weekend (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)
We think that was them all, phew?!
Missing – A demo or even an acoustic take of Half A Woman, Half A Shadow remains elusive. The acoustic rehearsal shown during The Roxette Diaries sounded cute.
Sadly, this was a late one (17th February 2023) and limited to streaming, much to the disappointment of vinyl enthusiasts (like us). We’re still hopeful that Tourism is honoured and gets a reissue on vinyl, as it’s hard to come by these days, and for a reasonable price. That said, we were able to fill some gaps with another 4 previously unreleased gems from that period:
Never is a Long Time (Torsgatan Piano Demo – Sep 24, 1987)
Here Comes the Weekend (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)
Fingertips (T&A Demo – Jan 28, 1992)
Cinnamon Street (T&A Demo – Jan 2, 1992)
Missing – The TOURISM Sleeve Demos
Our original BOT2 article actually came from re-discovering the cassette on the artwork for the Tourism album and a few song titles. So, if you grab your Tourism vinyl or CD and look closely at the artwork you should be able to spot a couple of demos on one of the DAT cassettes…
“How Can I Take a Chance on You” (Demo Summer 1991)
“Don’t You . . .” (Eddie 1991) – we did wonder whether this is an early version of “I Love The Sound Of Crashing Guitars” from Crash! Boom! Bang!
The Heart Shaped Sea (Stand-Alone Version)
Remains unreleased on streaming. This was a B-side to “Almost Unreal” in 1993, and then featured on the ROXBOX, its basically the album version without the crowd noise intro from previous album track, “The Look” (Live). Hopefully, we’ll get this version added to streaming as an addition to the TOURISM30 collection soon.
This was also a very welcome surprise, first back in June 2022 (Digital) and then later physicals followed September 2024.
Tonnes of remixes here, around 45 in total if memory serves? We finally got some previously unreleased and hard to find mixes.
Highlights:
Chances (Dancehall Version). Epic!
Crush On You (Almighty 7 Radio Mix)
Crush On You (Almighty Club Mix)
Opportunity Nox (Hard Act 2 Follow vs. Sharpshooter Extended Remix)
Missing – We’re not sure what unreleased remixes, if any, remain in the vault? However, we’re still missing some others on Streaming:
Dressed For Success (Success Mix)
Dressed For Success (The Look Sharp Mix)
Dangerous (AC Mix)
Dangerous (Dub)
Dangerous (Power Mix Long Version)
Listen To Your Heart (AC Mix) – aka Saxophone Version. It’s the US Remix but with a Saxophone Solo instead of Guitar.
The Look (Visible Mix)
The Look (Power Radio Mix)
The Look (Invisible Dub)
How Do You Do! (AC Mix)
Fading Like A Flower (AC Mix) – Mixed by Humberto Gatica
The Big L (The Bigger, The Better Mix)
The Big L (US Mix) – An edit of The Bigger, The Better Mix
Joyride (AC Mix)
I’m sure we’ve missed some here too?
Although not labelled as a Roxette release, this was a great collection released for Per’s Birthday 12th January 2024 on Streaming only. 14 previously unreleased demos, the entire album in fact plus a couple of others:
Why Dontcha? (T&A Demo – Sep 27, 2014)
It Just Happens (T&A Demo – May 5, 2014)
Good Karma (T&A Demo – Apr 3, 2015)
This One (T&A Demo – Sep 21, 2014)
You Make it Sound So Simple (T&A Demo – Jan 18, 2015)
From a Distance (T&A Demo – Oct 22, 2014)
Some Other Summer (T&A Demo – Jul 1, 2014)
Why Don’t You Bring Me Flowers? (T&A Demo – Dec 15, 2015)
You Can’t Do This to Me Anymore (T&A Demo – Jan 8, 2015)
20 BPM (T&A Demo – Sep 10 2015)
April Clouds (T&A Demo – Aug 3, 2014)
Let Your Heart Dance with Me (T&A Demo – Apr 19, 2015)
Piece of Cake (T&A Demo – Jan 15, 2015)
Everybody’s Jumping (T&A Demo – Sep 12, 2014)
Missing – “I Come Alive” – Rumoured as a track for Good Karma but has never seen the light of day. It does exist (refer to the BMI website and there it is listed in black and white – with many many more!). Most likely not written for Roxette though, therefore we had originally omitted it from the other tracks listed in the previous articles.
Now this was an epic anniversary edition, released 13th December 2024. The vinyl (with exception of the horrendous paint splatter “art”) was just awesome. We really enjoyed this collection, especially as five more treasures came out of the Roxette Archives, namely:
The First Girl on the Moon (T&A Demo – Dec 20, 1992)
I Love the Sound of Crashing Guitars (T&A Demo Jun 27, 1993)
What’s She Like? (T&A Demo Jan 29, 1992)
Lies (T&A Demo May 14, 1993)
She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (T&A Demo Dec 16, 1992)
Love Is All (Edit), Crazy About You (CBB Version) and Almost Unreal (AC Mix) were also added to Streaming later on too. Great!
Missing – We’re not sure now what else, if anything, remains from the CBB recording sessions. It’s possible that some have been held back for another BAG OF TRIX release in the future, who knows?
Although not strictly a Roxette project, we were treated to not only a digital release, but a very cool vinyl EP, released January 2025 for Per’s birthday. We’ve included this one as some of the tracks were considered for Roxette at one time or another.
Indeed, one of the demos included here was considered for the DBUGTTC Greatest Hits album in 1995, as per discussed as part of his The Per Gessle Archives interviews.
We were treated to the following demos, we loved this EP:
Lonely Boys (T&A Demo July 4, 1995 – 2024 Mix)
Apple in the Mud (T&A Demo July 4, 1995 – 2024 Mix)
Keep the Radio On (This Is The Perfect Song) (T&A Demo July 5, 1995 – 2024 Mix)
Adam & Eve (T&A Demo July 4, 1995 – 2024 Mix)
Genius Gone Wrong (T&A Demo July 5, 1995 – 2024 Mix)
Stay (At Home, At Work, At Play) (T&A Demo July 5, 1995 – 2024 Mix) – considered for DBUGTTC
I Wanna Be with You (T&A Demo – Nov 2, 1994 – 2024 Mix) – digital edition only
We do have mixed feelings on this one. It was great to be able to celebrate the 30th Anniversary with both digital and physical releases, but the attention to detail here was sadly lacking. Additionally, the inclusion of two songs outside of the 1988-1995 era represented, was an unfortunate decision misstep that ultimately ruined the slick, perfect original 1995 Greatest Hits collection. Never mind. We were very grateful to see reissues nonetheless, thank you Mr G.
Missing – We’ve still not heard “Only You” which was recorded the same day (30th July, 1995) as the epic “You Don’t Understand Me”. “Sounds like Bon Jovi” according to Per, but at their worst apparently? I think the fans should decide, don’t you? Not sure if this was intended for Roxette though? YDUM wasn’t either, as far as we recall.
Digitally, we could have seen an accompanying “CD2” with collected demos for us hardcore fans, “The Look 95” mixes, Abbey Road, and demos of songs that were recorded for the compilation at the time. Perhaps that’s still to follow? Who knows, as Per is known to make later additions. Something like:
June Afternoon (Tits & Ass Demo, 17 July 1994)
You Don’t Understand Me (T&A Demo July 30, 1995)
She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (T&A Demo Dec 16, 1992)
I Don’t Want To Get Hurt (T&A Demo – Jun 23, 1995)
Only You (T&A Demo July 30, 1995) * previously unreleased
Stay (At Home, At Work, At Play) (T&A Demo July 5, 1995)
Help! (Abbey Road Sessions November 15, 1995)
Listen To Your Heart (Abbey Road Sessions November 15, 1995)
The Look (Abbey Road Session November 15, 1995)
You Don’t Understand Me (Abbey Road Sessions November 15, 1995)
The Look (Chaps 1995 Remix)
The Look (Chaps Donna Bass Mix)
The Look (Rapino Club Mix)
The Look (Rapino Dub Mix)
OR, how about releasing the 1995 promo gig, recorded at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on November 16, 1995.
Check it out – they sounded awesome!
Don’t Bore Us – Get To The Chorus! Live! London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire November 16, 1995
Sleeping in My Car
Dangerous
Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)
So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
Crash! Boom! Bang!
Listen to Your Heart (Acoustic)
Dressed for Success
The Big L
The Look
You Don’t Understand Me (Piano)
Joyride
How Do You Do!
It Must Have Been Love
Next year we’ll be getting Room Service 25 where we’ve been promised another flurry of previously unreleased songs from the Roxette Archives. We’re very excited for these, as well as seeing this album on Vinyl for the first time (Red + Black Marble anyone?), hopefully a CD release and of course streaming too. Woo hoo!
We already have a fair few demos from the era via The Per Gessle Archives and BAG OF TRIX, but of course some are missing:
The Centre Of The Heart (RS Demo) – we already have the original HAND demo (via The Per Gessle Archives)
Make My Head Go Pop (Demo)
It Takes You No Time To Get Here (Demo)
Entering Your Heart (Demo)
Other rumoured titles also include (*not confirmed):
* Enter From The South (Demo)
* Rainclouds (Demo)
Easy Way Out (Demo) – this one as we know, eventually ended up on Charm School.
Following their first single together, “BAD BLOOD”. An album together is surely the next step, and a very interesting one too.
The one where it all began! Can you believe it? It’s been a whopping 40 YEARS of Roxette. Surely Per will want to celebrate this milestone and in style? We’re hoping to see 40th Anniversary Editions of this 80’s gem, alongside Dance Passion too – Double Gatefold Vinyl anyone… That would be awesome!
Will we finally get to hear From One Heart to Another (1983, 1984 and 1985’s Reggae Version)
Included in the track-by-track commentary for Bag of Trix (found on Spotify), Per mentions that there were several demos for this one. The first in 1983 which was guitar driven. Another in 1984 that was more sequenced with a “touch of Duran Duran”. Then surprisingly in 1985 it was demoed in a Reggae Version. Per must have been having a reggae moment in 1985 do we think as that’s now two reggae genre demos we know of.
We’ve compiled a POP 40th Anniversary Spotify Playlist curating all the available Pearls of Passion related tracks, demos and remixes. While doing so, we did notice that previous vinyl only b-side Voices [Montezuma Demo] isn’t available yet on Streaming, hint hint Mr G.
We’re patiently awaiting the release of the ‘rediscovered‘ live recordings of the Joyride Tour, the “newly remastered” Crash! Boom! Bang! Concert, and also MTV Unplugged that have all been teased for release by Per along the way, “soon“. Hoping that some, if not all, of these promised gems see the light of day in 2026.
We’d love to see a Live Album Series like Tori Amos did a while back, releasing a tonne of her Tours onto Streaming. We’re sure that Per is sitting on a lot of their recorded gigs from all the Rox Tours + Live Gigs just collecting dust. They’re no good left in a drawer…
Look Sharp Tour / Join The Joyride Tour / Summer Joyride Tour / MTV Unplugged 1993 / Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour / Don’t Bore Us Live in London 1995 / Room Service Album Launch Gigs in Cologne + Barcelona / Room Service Tour / Charm School + “Neverending” Tour / Roxette Live 2025 featuring Lena
Last but not least, we have our dear Marie. Fans have been delighted hearing previously unknown recordings from various studios, including her home. They were definitely a BAG OF TRIX highlight, “Pocketful of Rain” and “Beautiful Boy” to name a couple.
We know of a few more demos that leaked on another bootleg a long time ago, but again no official release (or remastered quality) exists. They are “Beautiful Things”, “Bad Moon” (later released on Marie’s “The Change” album), “Remember” and “Do You Wanna Go with Me”. We do have a soft spot for “Remember” – it’s a beautiful simple ballad that’s befitting of this time of year. We hope to get an official remastered version of these one day, amongst others.
Hopefully Per will open up the Roxette Archives enough to fill another BAG OF TRIX release. We remain hopeful as ever, to hear some other previously unreleased recordings and vocals by Marie. Demos, outtakes, live cuts – whatever they maybe, they’d be amazing to hear.
Hopefully these, the live shows and other surprises will come our way during 2026 and beyond….
If you can’t wait for BAG OF TRIX 2, here’s another playlist of Rox gems that didn’t make it to the first BAG OF TRIX. Enjoy!
We’ve probably missed/overlooked some releases here and there, or some songs? So please do comment below, and add to this.
As Per himself said, “So many songs, so little time…”
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