Crazy ‘Bout You Baby – new single by Marie Fredriksson

On Tuesday, 30th May, Marie Fredriksson would have turned 65. In the series of jazz and blues singles that were very close to Marie’s heart and that have been released, both before and after Marie’s passing, now comes a cover of Ike & Tina Turner’s song Crazy ‘Bout You Baby. The song was recorded in 2003 at Polar Studios after the recording of Marie’s solo album The Change. As a tribute to Marie and as a thank you to all the fans, the song is now being released – 20 years after it was recorded. It is a reminder of Marie’s versatility and greatness as an artist and how her musical legacy continues to live on.

Listen to the song HERE or on YouTube!

Vocals: Marie Fredriksson
Guitar: Staffan Astner
Drums: Nicci Notini
Bass: Peter Forss
Electric piano: Mikael Bolyos

It’s very sad that Tina Turner passed away 2 days before this release, at the age of 83, after a long illness.

 

Per Gessle releases two albums on his birthday

Since a while it’s a wonderful tradition that Per releases stuff on his birthday. This year he decided to give us access not only to one, but two albums full of demos. One of them is the updated Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition. Many of us have the physical box (2018), but the good thing is that now we get some extras. 11 demos are added that weren’t released on the box and some of them haven’t been officially released at all before. Those 11 tracks are the ones marked with a * next to the title in the tracklist below.

The other surprise is 20 vackra demos, all the demos PG made and used for the Nashville-sessions in 2016. This album is released under The Per Gessle Archives.

It seems that Mr. G won’t ever run out of demos. Lucky fans we are! Haha. Per tells:

That’s the way it goes. I find recordings and demos all the time in my drawers and old pockets!

The two albums are now available on all streaming services (links next to the album titles above the tracklists). No physical release is planned.

LOOK SHARP! 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION tracklist (Spotify, Deezer, YouTube)

Disc 1 (Original album)

  1. The Look
  2. Dressed For Success
  3. Sleeping Single
  4. Paint
  5. Dance Away
  6. Cry
  7. Chances
  8. Dangerous
  9. Half A Woman, Half A Shadow
  10. View From A Hill
  11. (I Could Never) Give You Up
  12. Shadow Of A Doubt
  13. Listen To Your Heart

Disc 2

  1. The Voice (B-side Dressed For Success-single)
  2. One Is Such A Lonely Number (Demo – September 1987) (B-side The Big L-single)
  3. Don’t Believe In Accidents (Demo – Spring 1988) (B-side Run To You-single)
  4. The Look (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)
  5. Dressed For Success (T&A Demo – May 20, 1987)
  6. Dressed For Success (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  7. Sleeping Single (T&A Demo – May 22, 1987)
  8. Sleeping Single (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  9. Paint (T&A Demo – Apr 22, 1988) [On the physical release it’s Apr 28. /PP]
  10. Dance Away (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  11. Cry (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  12. Chances (T&A Demo – Nov 24, 1987)
  13. Dangerous (T&A Demo – Feb 11, 1987)*
  14. Dangerous (acoustic version) (T&A Demo – Feb 25, 1987)
  15. Dangerous (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987) [On the physical release it’s Sep 26-30, but the correct date is this on the streaming release. /PP]
  16. View From A Hill (T&A Demo – Nov 17, 1987)
  17. (I Could Never) Give You Up (T&A Demo – Dec 18, 1987)
  18. Shadow Of A Doubt (T&A Demo – Feb 9, 1988)
  19. Listen To Your Heart (T&A Demo – May 9, 1988)
  20. Boom Boom (And Boom Boom Again) (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  21. In My Own Way (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  22. Love Spins (T&A Demo – Sep 15, 1987)*
  23. Love Spins (T&A Demo – Nov 18, 1987)*
  24. One Is Such A Lonely Number (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)*
  25. Drowning In You (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)*
  26. Silver Blue (T&A Demo – May 21, 1987)*
  27. The Thrill Of It All (T&A Demo – Aug 26, 1987)*
  28. Physical Fascination (T&A Demo – Apr 17, 1988)*
  29. From Head To Toe (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  30. Never Is A Long Time (EMI Demo – May 26-30, 1987)
  31. Never Is A Long Time (T&A Demo – Nov 11, 1987)*

Update on 1st February 2022: Mr. G added 6 songs to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

  1. Let’s Party! (T&A Demo – Jul 14, 1988) (B-side I Want You To Know-single)
  2. Start! (T&A Demo – Feb 19, 1988)
  3. Night Wire (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
  4. Pocketful Of Rain (T&A Demo – Jun 12, 1987)
  5. Rocket (T&A Demo – Apr 9, 1987)
  6. The Voice (T&A Demo – Mar 24, 1987)

Update on 7th February 2022: Mr. G added 1 song to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

38. Silver Blue (Demo)

Update on 25th February 2022: 1 more song added to the Look Sharp! 30 set:

39. Here Comes The Weekend (T&A Demo – Mar 30, 1988)

 

THE PER GESSLE ARCHIVES – 20 VACKRA DEMOS tracklist (Spotify, Deezer, YouTube)

  1. Min plats (T&A Demo – Sep 29, 2016)
  2. Första pris (T&A Demo – Apr 4, 2016)
  3. Småstadsprat (T&A Demo – May 9+17, 2016)
  4. Enkel resa (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  5. Allt gick så fort (T&A Demo – Sep 14, 2016)
  6. Tittar på dig när du dansar (T&A Demo – Aug 4, 2016)
  7. Några glas rosé (T&A Demo – Jul 4, 2016)
  8. Far Too Close (T&A Demo – Mar 10, 2015)
  9. En vacker dag (T&A Demo – Jul 20+21, 2016)
  10. Det är vi tillsammans (T&A Demo – Mar 24, 2016)
  11. Känns som första gången (T&A Demo – Nov 6, 2012)
  12. Trodde inte mina ögon (T&A Demo – Apr 16, 2016)
  13. Parentes (T&A Demo – Jul 28+29, 2016)
  14. Känn dig som hemma (T&A Demo – Apr 13, 2016)
  15. Ge allt du kan (T&A Demo – Apr 26, 2016)
  16. Ruby and Me (T&A Demo – Sep 16, 2016)
  17. Nypon och ljung (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  18. Första pris (T&A Demo – Mar 4, 2016)
  19. Tittar på dig när du dansar (T&A Demo – Dec 14, 2015)
  20. Måla mitt minne (T&A Demo – Nov 19, 2002)

Female vocals on 20VD are Helena Josefsson (Enkel resa + Nypon och ljung) and Anna Lönnberg-Volden (En vacker dag + Far Too Close + Måla mitt minne).

Happy birthday, Mr. G and many thanx for the prezzies!

Per Gessle’s surprise release on his birthday

Per decided to keep the tradition of releasing something special on his birthday. Last year it was the first Mono Mind album, Mind Control, this year it is the demos to Gyllene Tider’s last album, Samma skrot och korn. Better said, not all the demos, since Vanliga saker is missing, but there is a demo to Detektiv. The latter one was a left-over song from Samma skrot och korn, but in the end it was released in November as a single.

Per says he made no demo for Vanliga saker, because it was too late before they had to fly to France and that was the last song he had written. He only has a sketch on his iPhone.

Title of the album is Samma skrot och demos. The album cover shows a lovely pic of Per as a kid and his mother. You are surely wondering if it gets a physical release, but so far there is no plan for vinyl or CD.

It’s always great to hear / read about any steps of a song’s evolution, so it’s cool to have these demos now. You realize there are some bigger or smaller changes in the lyrics (no Kent in the demo for Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten for example) and it’s even more interesting to hear a demo to a song which is not sung by Per on the album. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! sounds totally different when Per sings it vs. when it’s Micke Syd behind the mic.

The demo to Mannen med gitarr is the same as the one you can find on The Per Gessle Archives (Demos & Other Fun Stuff!, Vol. 2). Per wrote it for the Mazarin album, but it never made it. Mr. G said back then that the reason was that Clarence and Christoffer hated it. They probably felt it was a little bit too poppy and a bit too lightweight for that album. Fitted GT now.

Tracklist

  1. Skrot och korn (T&A 1 aug 2018) – 2:55
  2. Det kändes inte som maj (T&A 31 juli 2018) – 2:23
  3. Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten (T&A 27 nov 2018) – 3:17
  4. Någon att hålla i hand (T&A 13 juli 2016) – 2:12
  5. Vid hennes sida (T&A 26 jan 2019) – 2:46
  6. Aftonstjärna (T&A 28 aug 2018) – 2:55
  7. Bjud till! (T&A 5 juni 2018) – 3:02
  8. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! (T&A 20 mars 2018) – 3:20
  9. Mannen med gitarr (T&A 20 nov 2002) – 3:12
  10. Bara i en dröm (T&A 30 juli 2018) – 3:16
  11. Henry har en plan på gång (T&A 26 jan 2019) – 3:00
  12. Allt det andra (T&A 30 juli 2018) – 3:47
  13. Detektiv (T&A 10 juni 2018) – 2:50

Listen to the album on Spotify, iTunes, Deezer or other digital platforms.

Happy birthday, Per! Thank you for the prezzie and keep the tradition going!

It’s May 30 – again! Happy Birthday, Marie!

8
All photos by Kirsten Ohlwein

Is it the 30th of May again, already? It feels like we have celebrated a very special birthday only yesterday. So, apparently, another year has gone by. Many great Roxette shows are behind us and many great things are still to come (more shows, a biography of the woman, a new album).

So, here we are again. The Roxetteblog team wishes the invincible, strong, brave, iconic and ebullient Marie Fredriksson a very happy 29th birthday. (Women never get older than 29, we all know that!) Have a great day! We are certain that there are some fans out there in Antwerp who not only enjoyed another great show of the European leg of the World Tour 2014-2016 but who definitely will get the chance to congratulate you in person today.

Thanks for all the joy you bring, for the role model you are for so many of us and for the strength you keep to show to us. A strength that keeps us carrying on as well.

 

Any Per Gessle birthday party today?

Another year passed and Mr. G became 20454 days old today. Wishing a splendido birthday to Per! The past year was again full of fun, joy and treats in many forms and most importantly, we got some more gorgeous & cool music from him. Cheers to another busy year!

Do you have any plans about how to celebrate Per’s birthday? You can choose more than 1 from the list below. If you choose ”Other”, we would be glad to read about your plans in a comment.

 

PG_1_year_20150112_rs
These photos in the collage were shared by Per during the past year at the uncountable number of Facebook pages he is handling. We are ready for even more pics until his next birthday, aren’t we?

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