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Mono Mind – Mind Control Q&A

Mono Mind – A Per Gessle Project ‘Mind Control’ album release January 12, 2019

Mono Mind comes clean!

Per Gessle’s Birthday present to himself and the fans

Per Gessle Presents Mono Mind – release January 12 when Per turns 60!

Per 60 for 60 up until today! Missing two songs, and all songs may not be available in all countries. None are in Russia of course.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6luywxaqN4U8EJaFKPzNPn

Per’s 60 for 60. #4 Being With You (the original 1997 demo). As you may know this was finally released on “Small Town Talk,” this is however how Per planned it to sound in the beginning. A Tom Petty-esque song with 12-string guitar. Per comments: “Some songs never get finished. ‘Being With You’ is one of those. I’ve made several demos of it and fooled around with different intros, verses and keys, but for so many reasons it never came across the way I wanted it to. This first take was made in September 1997 when it was really fresh and written for ‘Have a Nice Day,’ built on a 12-string guitar strumming. Then I had another go in 2004 which felt much better, but it was still left out in the cold when the SOAP project got going in 2005. I like it a lot so… third time’s the charm?” Noteable is that the 2004 demo lacks a verse. Top 3 left… #per60

Being With You

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #4 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Per’s 60 for 60. #5 Tycker om när du tar på mej (I Like It When You’re Touching Me). Badabam! The top 5 and the 3rd “Mazarin” song in a row! Another killer track. One of Per’s favorites, as well as wife Åsa’s. Gabriel wasn’t too keen on “I like your breasts in the morning light” but hey… This is what Per has to say about it: “‘Tycker om…’ was born October 1st in 2002. It had a very special vibe throughout the whole writing process. It’s very rare. Great guitar-riff, a classic but wonderful chorus, quite personal lyrics. It all made sense. Also, it was the first song we recorded for ‘Mazarin’ and it took forever. I think we did six or seven versions and arrangements before I was happy and could sleep properly. We spent two weeks on this song alone. Clarence and Christoffer wanted to kill me. I think they tried to put poison in my food. But it was worth it.” It certainly was. Chris also commented in one of our interviews a few years ago that Per was not happy with the first six versions of it. “You’re ruining my favorite song!!” Oh well, it turned out more than fine! #per60

Tycker om när du tar på mej

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #5 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Per’s 60 for 60. #6 Spegelboll (Disco Ball) Here it is, the hit of all hits! A great groove, the keyboards, the bass, the guitar, the drums, you name it! Per’s personal comment: “Written for the ‘Mazarin’ album and was first named ‘Jimmys gitarr’ but it didn’t really fit the concept. I made a new version with new lyrics and it suddenly felt a lot better. The album was in desperate need of an uptempo track and ‘Spegelboll’ fit the bill perfectly. It also became a killer track live.” It was released as a 12″ DJ single in clear vinyl, but it was never released as a proper single. That was a bad mistake guys… Another mistake was to let the Estonian band Vanilla Ninja destroy it in English! Dear god! Find “Crashing Through the Doors” and cringe a little… Anyway, a great #6, don’t you think? #per60

Per’s 60 for 60. #7 Om du bara vill (If You Just Want to). From “Mazarin” and a lovely song indeed. Today Per himself comments the track: Probably my favorite song off “Mazarin” (together with “Tycker om när du tar på mej”.) I started writing it in February of 2002 but didn’t finish until August the same year. It was originally called “Det bor en sorg.” (“A Sorrow Lives”) That’s how verse two starts. The recordings down in AGM in Skåne were magical. Christoffer’s slide guitar, Clarence’s piano, Jens’s soft drums and Helena’s unimaginable voice put a very special touch to this song. #per60

Om du bara vill

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #7 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Sundsvall 2010, the comeback!

Photos from The Daily Roxette’s post

Per’s 60 for 60. #8 I Like It Like That. Per wrote this in January 2002, for the upcoming two Roxette compilation albums of hits. They needed some new singles and Per thought this could be a killer track with Marie in charge. It never happened. Again Roxette never recorded it, this time due to the fact that Marie became ill. Time went by and a couple of years later Per had a go at it himself, and he included it on the SOAP album. Still one of Per’s favorites. And ours. The song was also released as the last single from SOAP, even though a sticker on the sleeve noted that “Substitute” also was slated for release. #per60

I Like It Like That

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #8 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Per’s 60 for 60. #9 I’ll Be Alright. Per wrote this in the summer of 1994 for Roxette, but they never had the chance to record it. It made perfect sense to Per to include it on “The World” a couple of years later. The original idea was to have Agnetha Fältskog from ABBA sing the female vocals. They spent an hour on the phone talking about it, but it eventually never happened. That would have been nice, right? Very sweet lyrics about someone who’s been left but thinks the world of the girl who dumped him. Gracious indeed. A great #9. Which song would you take on an everlasting road trip? #9 or #10? #per60

Per’s 60 for 60. #10 A Girl Like You. With this fairly unknown gem we’re cracking the top 10! Another bonus track from Son of a Plumber, but also released as a demo in the PG Archives. The lyrics are fairly generic, but very positive. Who wouldn’t want to find the girl you’d been waiting for? Now, the SOAP version is not available on Spotify, while the demo is, so we added that. Nine more mindblowers to come! Oh I’ve been waitin’ such a long time/There’s been so many things on my mind/I’m really pleased I finally could find/A girl like you… #per60

A Girl Like You

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #10 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

We’re entering the Top 10 of our #Per60 list tonight. Which songs would you like to see there? In case you forgot which songs have already made it in the TDR charts, here’s an overview for you:

Per’s 60 for 60. #11 Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång) (Here Come All the Feelings (All at Once.)) Well. Here it is, the long awaited song. A major hit in Sweden in 2003. So big it created the whole summer tour in fact. The only problem the radio stations had with this song is that it’s so short, only about 2.5 minutes. Radio Rix solved it their own way – they played it three times in a row! It’s a happy song, while it in its own way isn’t. It is about a guy who feels really down after a breakup, rather being dumped, but he sees the future coming anyway. “It’s time to tie a knot. Open the gate because now I’m walking out.” Good for you! Oh and one last thing – Per did not believe in this song whatsoever, it was his team at EMI which said “this is the first single, dammit!” and it was… the rest is as you say, history. #per60

Per’s 60 for 60. #12 Reporter. Happy New Year! We start 2019 off with another epic track from “The World…” Nothing much to say here, but the lyrics are nice and Per’s fit Per and Marie in there nicely. The demo was called “Writer” but is basically the same. Enjoy 2019! #per60

Reporter

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #12 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Hej, we wish all TDR readers a very Happy New Year 2019! We are very sure we’ll meet you this year again more than once. Keep your eyes, ears and hearts open. No matter what Per has up his sleeve, we do have a couple of ideas to keep you well entertained. For starters, we began falling in love with tour books, really exclusive interviews and more song countdowns, hope so do you! All the very best from Visa, Thomas, Paul, Colin, Kai and even Stevo!

Per’s 60 for 60. #13 Smakar på ett regn (Tasting a Rain). OK, here we are, the last song of the year. And a good song at that. The year? Not too shabby either. “Smakar” is from “Mazarin” and can be described as a Kent song. The Swedish pop band Kent that is. The harmonies and the production reeks Kent. One of the stories behind this song, can’t vouch for its validity, goes like this: Per came tumbling down the stairs to the T&A studio asking if they had any Kent albums. They did not so MP went to the store and got some. Per got into the vocal booth and sat there for a few hours listening and writing. When he came out he had written this song. However, the story about this song in the book “Sketches” is not the same. Who know? #per60

Smakar på ett regn

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #13 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.

Per’s 60 for 60. #14 Stupid. Another great one from “The World.” Per comments “…is the kind of song I write after a bucketful of red wine on a Friday night. I really love Friday nights. I also love red wine. And I do love those three chords.” Nothing more really needs to be said, right? This was also branded a Roxette song after having been featured in the Jonas Åkerlund movie “Spun.” It’s too long ago to remember if the mixes were any different at all, but we’re sure you readers will tell us! #per60

Stupid

Per’s 60 for 60. This is #14 of TDR’s hand-picked list of songs from Per Gessle’s career.