Per Gessle was interviewed for the Swedish public chanell SVT’s “The Seventies” series. He talked about his youth inspirations including punk music and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
More at SVT Play.
Archive for category Per Gessle
Arrival in Halmstad and one day left until the show. Fortunately we read about the “Kung av Tylösand” exhibition in Söndrum’s library and decided to go there. We saw around 30-40 pictures from the past – mostly from Per’s solo tour in 2003 and the Crash!Boom!Bang tour in 1994 – taken by Dan Karlsson.
Fortunately we didn’t have to pay any entrance fee because it wouldn’t have been worth it. The pictures didn’t reveal any new motives, persons, situations – whatever. So after we saw five or six we knew there wouldn’t be anything new to watch and laughed about the fact that they sold the photos for 1200 SEK (more expensive pictures cost 3000 SEK). I could win a contest promising that every long-term-fan has better photos on his/her computer. For those who couldn’t go: you didn’t miss a thing – maybe a good laugh about the high and totally unrealistic prices. If you have any good Gessle photos on your compter you should try to sell them somewhere, you could maybe make a killing..
Here you see some pictures taken at the exhibition by myself.
I asked Per on Twitter yesterday if we could know the songs that were played before the concert from his pre-mix tape, as there were a few I spotted being British and growing up in a world of 60’s music (mostly Northern my Dad hailing from Liverpool!)… and the list appeared late last night, so hear it is!
KICKS by Paul Revere & The Raiders
SURFIN’ BIRD by The Trashmen
TEENAGE KICKS by The Undertones
* TEACHER TEACHER by Rockpile
HOT LOVE by T. Rex
BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY by Daniel Boone
* WASHINGTON SQUARE by The Village Stompers
JOLENE by The White Stripes
STOP! IN THE NAME OF LOVE by The Supremes
MY BABY LOVES LOVIN’ by The White Plains
SON OF A PREACHER MAN by Dusty Springfield
A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE by Mindbenders
MMM MMM MMM MMM by Crash Test Dummies
THE RAIN, THE PARK & OTHER THINGS by The Cowsills
MY SWEET LORD by George Harrison
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES by Alice Cooper
TAKE ME TO THE RIVER by Al Green
GIVING IT ALL AWAY by Roger Daltrey
BETTE DAVIS EYES by Kim Carnes
GREEN TAMBOURINE by The Lemon Pipers
1-2-3 by LEN BARRY
ECHO BEACH by Martha & The Muffins
TOY SOLDIERS by Martika
* TICKET TO RIDE by The Beatles
TELEGRAM SAM by T. Rex
THE ONE I LOVE by R.E.M.
PLEASE MR POSTMAN by The Marvelettes
JESSIE’S GIRL by Rick Springfield
MO’REEN by The Mascots
TRETTIFYRAN by Nisse Hellberg
SUNDAY MORNIN’ COMIN’ DOWN by Kris Kristofferson
TAINTED LOVE by Gloria Jones
LOLA by The Kinks
HEY JOE, WHERE YOU GONNA GO? By The Leaves
* MUSTANG SALLY by Sir Mack Rice
LITTLE BIT O’SOUL by The Music Explosion
SHOPPING WITH MOTHER by Per Gessle
AFTERGLOW (OF YOUR LOVE) by The Small Faces
SHOPPING by Pet Shop Boys
MARIE PROVOST by Nick Lowe
COTTON JENNY by Gordon Lightfoot
WORDS ENOUGH TO TELL YOU by The Mascots
* YOU WON’T BE HAPPY by Paul Collins’ Beat
MIDNIGHT RIDER by Paul Davidson
SYMPATHY by Rare Bird
TONIGHT, TONIGHT by Smashing Pumpkins
BEHIND THE WALL OF SLEEP by The Smithereens
* MUSIC SOUNDS BETTER WITH YOU by Stardust
As you’ll notice there is a fair few 60’s and 70’s artist’s in there, some classic music pops by fab four from Liverpool The Beatles and then we have The Kinks, Dusty Springfield, The Supremes and the fab George Harrison plus some tracks from the fabulous Swedish group The Mascots which many will be well-known with from the En Händig Man tour pre video warm up! There is of course some modern day artists as well like Smashing Pumpkins, Crash Test Dummies, Pet Shop Boys, Nisse Hellberg and even Per’s Shopping With Mother makes the list!
All in all a great warm up to Roxette appearing on stage, a fantastic collection of songs and certainly one to remember the show by! You can go have most of them now over at Spotify…
*) not on Spotify… so I suggest you head over to faithful iTunes and purchase what you are missing there!
The King of Swedish Pop Per Gessle met with the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf just before Prince Carl Philip’s race in the Porsche Carrera Cup in Falkenberg on the hot and balmy afteroon July 10th. “It is a little bit of freezing… Naaah, I’m just kidding. I’ve read that there was 50 degrees in Bangkok and it was probably the same here in Falkenberg,” says Per to Expressen.
It was not long before he and his familly found the shelter from the sun. He chose the same tent where the King of Sweden Carl Gustaf followed Carl Philip’s race on the track. Just before the race began Gessle had time to say thanks for the royal reception at the castle after Victoria and Daniel’s wedding. “I thanked him for lately. The wedding was fantastic,” adds Per in Expressen’s article.
Prince Carl Philip finished the race in the eighth position.
Source: Expressen.se
Biljettnu.se wants to sue Per Gessle for the interview he has given few days ago. Per Gessle answered to Biljettnu.se via Aftonbladet, “all information around the AC/DC gig that I gave to the media, I have received from various sources – including Live Nation”. He apologizes in case the information is incorrect, but is at the same time glad that these things come to the light thanks to media’s interest. “It is terrible that, for instance, a fan from Russia or Argentina saves up money to buy a ticket online, travels all the way to Sweden and cannot be admitted because the ticket is invalid,” he tells Aftonbladet.
Source: Aftonbladet
Ozzy Osbourne, the ex-member of Black Sabbath and one of the world’s most famous heavy metal singers, said that he likes Roxette but at the same time wondering “Who the fuck is Gessle?!”. He will perform at the Globe on September 7th 2010.
If you have any idea from which interview this quote comes from, I will be greatful for any information.
Source: Expressen
Hallandsposten talks about the troubles with BiljettNu and LiveNation. You can read the article in Swedish on HallandPosten.se.
Aftonbladet also reports about this: We have contacted with our lawyer and we will sue them [Live Nation and Gessle?] for unfair imputation. They have no idea what they are talking about. None of what Per Gessle says is true, says Magnus Nilsson to Aftonbladet.
Interview with Per!
Jun 30
Interview starts around 4:35.
From June 18:
According to Aftonbladet, Per surprised Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling with a performance of a brandnew song at yesterday’s party. Aftonbladet describes it as a romantic ballad specially written for the couple. But that’s not all, there’s another song to be revealed at the actual wedding party – where Roxette will perform on Saturday! We don’t know yet if any of these songs are to be released by Roxette or who will sing the song on Saturday. Stay tuned! 
Thanks abysmo for the newstip!
Update, June 28: As tevensso reports at TDR, “Per says he did not perform a song for the couple on Thursday.”
So either the “special song” story was totally made up or the song was presented without a live performance. Also the rumours about Roxette performing a new song at the wedding party on Saturday were not true.
In the “Språk” (Language) summer issue several Swedish artists talk about their favorite languages. Per Gessle is one of them. He sings both in English and Swedish and likes both languages. But if you got to decide, which language do you think that Per Gessle should choose for his next song? [voting chart]
Tonight at Drottnigsholm Palace the big pre-wedding dinner takes place for 200 closests friends and relatives. Per Gessle is one of the guest and came to the castle at 7.15 PM local time with his wife Åsa. For pictures visit Expressen, Aftonbladet, SvD, SVT, Italehi, iltasanomat.fi
We got hold of Per Gessle during the rehearsals for the coming Roxette performance at Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling’s wedding this Friday and Saturday and asked him about the new Roxette album, the upcoming tour and Per’s online activity. Here is the interview!
RoxetteBlog.com: We would like to start with questions about the recordings. How does the production of a Roxette album compare to an English solo album – apart from Marie’s input? Does it take longer to record and prepare? Do you have a bigger focus on commerciality? Do you get special requests from EMI or do you only show the finished product?
Per Gessle: Every record I’m involved with gets basically the same preparation. I’m sure it has a lot to do with me writing most of the stuff. I’ve always loved top-40 pop and great rock music, so being “commercial” has never been a big issue for me. If a song is good, it tends to be “commercial” in my book. I love a somewhat intelligent lyric, a brilliant melody line, exciting chord-progressions and a fitting production. If you can achieve all of that, you’re most likely to wind up with a “commercial” record.
EMI? I usually (not always) discuss my demos with Kjell Andersson at EMI Sweden. He signed me to EMI back in 1979 (!) and he’s a good sport, he knows when I’m getting lazy… but we always deliver the finished “product” to EMI and get no artistic input from them whatsoever.
RXB: Did the sound change – with new ideas – during the recording sessions this year, compared to the sound you originally planned/recorded during NOTP?
PG: No, not really. When Marie and I decided to make a new Rox-album last year, we inmediatelly went for a “classic” one. We haven’t worked together for many years, so musically the main thing we have in common is the love of the old Roxette-sound… that’s where we came from. Hopefully, I can write some decent songs, Clarence & Chris can provide superb production as always and Miss F. will deliver her beautiful voice. You’ll be the judge if it worked out!
RXB: OK, we will let you know if it worked out, but we are sure of that! Let’s move on to the tour and Roxette live. You are going to play for Princess Victoria and Daniel’s Wedding, how did it happen?
PG: Åsa and me have been friends with them for many years. They’re very nice people.
RXB: The six tour dates for Roxette in 2010 promise to be the first round of something bigger, maybe the “never ending tour”. In the past you said a Roxette tour needs a certain number of dates to be lucrative – which won’t work with a few dates here and then. How do you handle that now?
PG: Nobody knows if it’s possible for Marie to do a two-hour show, so we’ll do something like 70 minutes this summer. It’s all a test.
If you told me 18 months ago that these upcoming shows were gonna happen, I wouldn’t have believed you! It’s unbelievable that Marie is back on track. And she sounds terrific!!! So… if things go well, it might lead to a “proper” tour next year when the new album is released. I, for one, would love that. But it’s really up to Marie to decide.
RXB: Could you tell us about the rehearsals? Have you looked at the list of song suggestions from fans for the summer tour? Could you tell us if you already tried any of the Top-10 songs or if we can expect some of them? (Let’s help Roxette to make their playlist! or Facebook)
PG: Of course, we checked that list out. It’s really exciting!!! Quite surprising choices, I must say. We’re rehearsing right now and have tried a few of them, let’s see what happens down the road…
RXB: Are there finally plans for some live DVD release(s) and to record this summer tour? It’s a pity Roxette shows can only be found on the dead VHS format!
PG: I know, it’s such a shame. We have to work on that! Yeah, we’re talking about recording some upcoming shows for a DVD-release. Maybe something more, private pics, docu-stuff… Time will tell.
RXB: You spoilt us with entertaining videos from NOTP and the studio – of course without showing any song fragments, yet. In what form could we expect to see these making-of videos when the album is out? Deluxe album edition, future DVD release or just on the web…?
PG: I don’t know, I like the idea of communicating regularly with people who are interested in what I do, that’s basically it. There are so much more material lying around that hasn’t been shown yet. Eventually it will be released… One way or another. I’ve toyed with the idea of releasing 500 demos on the net!
RXB: Do you have plans to re-launch www.roxette.se with more content and multimedia (e.g. videos, song streaming, tour agenda/history…) with the tour/ new album? As much as we enjoy your activity on services like Snowfish or Facebook, one would expect Roxette content at the one and only official site…
PG: I guess so, but I like the Snowfish-idea so I’ll stick to that for a while.
RXB: Why do you think we – the fans – are still longing for new Roxette songs after all these years?
PG: I don’t know. Like I said earlier, I’ve been doing this professionally for 31 years. I’m very grateful someone is still interested in my humble work. I’ve been very lucky to run into the talents of lots of people… Marie, Clarence, MP, etc…. It’s been a great trip. A great trip indeed.
RXB: Per, thanks a lot for your time!
PG: My pleasure.
Judith, Kirsten, Tomasz and Sascha @ RoxetteBlog.com
Pictures taken from Snowfish.com
Gessle-book gets cover
Jun 12
Amazon.co.uk published the very simple cover of “Per Gessle: Per Gessle Albums, Per Gessle Songs, Roxette, Roxette Albums, Roxette Songs, Roxette Video Albums, Songs Written by Per Gessle” book.
Meanwhile Amazon.de added description of one of books which seems to be different than these two on Amazon.co.uk – “Songs Written by Per Gessle: It Must Have Been Love, Listen to Your Heart, the Look, Joyride, the Centre of the Heart, How Do You Do!” has 156 pages.
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: It Must Have Been Love, Listen to Your Heart, the Look, Joyride, the Centre of the Heart, How Do You Do!, You Don’t Understand Me, Silly Really, Wish I Could Fly, Pratar Med Min Müsli, Real Sugar, Dressed for Success, Sing Along, Anyone, Queen of Rain, Stars, the Big L, Sleeping in My Car, Spending My Time, Milk and Toast and Honey, Neverending Love, Fading Like a Flower, Kix, Do You Wanna Be My Baby?, En Händig Man, Juni, Juli, Augusti, Soul Deep, Salvation, Vulnerable, I Like It Like That, C’mon/jo-Anna Says, Dangerous, Almost Unreal, Här Kommer Alla Känslorna, Goodbye to You, Always Breaking My Heart, One Wish, Run to You, I Want You to Know, I Want You, Sommartider, Tycker Om När Du Tar På Mej, June Afternoon, She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, På Promenad Genom Stan, a Thing About You, Church of Your Heart, Reveal, Fingertips ’93, När Alla Vännerna Gått Hem. Excerpt: “A Thing About You” ” A Thing About You “, written by Per Gessle , is the only single from Swedish pop duo Roxette ‘s 2002 compilation album The Ballad Hits . The song featured on BBC Radio 2 ‘s playlist. Charts This song was a medium-sized hit in Europe. It reached the top 20 in Sweden, and the top 40 in Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. While peaking just outside the top 75 in the UK. Track listing References (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at “Almost Unreal” ” Almost Unreal ” is a song performed by Swedish pop duo Roxette . The song featured on the soundtrack to the Super Mario Brothers movie and was released as a single in 1993. It was written by Per Gessle . “Almost Unreal” peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart , and performed well in most other countries. However, one exception was the US, where it only reached #94 in the US and became the duo’s penultimate single to make the US …
Does it mean there are three books not two?
Per Gessle has officially confirmed that Roxette will play on Victoria’s pre-wedding party on Friday, June 18th, Expressen reports. “Crown Princess has an extremely good taste, Per Gessle comments to Expressen.
He took part in the official banns of marriage ceremony, where Victoria and Daniel received gifts and presents from invited guests e.g. Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. The ceremony took place on Sunday afternoon, May 30th. Gessle came to the castle with a large silver package. When Aftonbladet’s reporter asked what’s inside, Gessle just laughed and answered “It’s a puppy“. Per Gessle was very happy when he came out of the castle afterwards and told Expressen that the dainty sandwitches were very good. He did not want to reveal any other details around the performance, since it would be no fun.
Sources: Expressen.se, Svenskdam.se, Aftonbladet.se
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