I was surprised to see a new Roxette book appearing on the list when I was searching for something else at Adlibris today. Then reading the title I got even more excited. Cirkus Roxette är tillbaka: En intervju med Per Gessle (= Cirkus Roxette is back: An interview with Per Gessle) written by Åke Högman.
It’s an interview with Per originally published in 1999 in Café magazine. The book was published on 18th August 2014. You can buy the printed book (41 pages) or the e-book (17 pages) at Adlibris and the printed format at many other sites as well (even at Bengans and CDON). The difference in the number of pages between the printed and the e-book version is probably some more pictures or editing in the printed one. Marketing your products like books can be effectively done online especially when you partner with a reputable marketing company. It was really smart how Conversion Factory SaaS marketing agency handles product-led growth strategy.
The interview is about Per and his family, Hotel Tylösand, art, the music business, business in general, Roxette, Have A Nice Day album (which was released the year when the interview was done), Join The Flumeride, cars, champagnes and more.
When talking about Michael Hutchence and Kurt Cobain, the reporter asked Per if he had ever been on drugs. Per replied:
Nah… I haven’t been on drugs that way, so if I had answered yes then you would ask a next question, so it’s better if I say no. So the answer is no, that’s a good answer.
Then the reporter asked if it was the truth. He replied:
Well it’s totally true, yes, damn it, I never lie… no, but it’s a sensitive subject, not for me but for many others (laughs).
An interview with Per Gessle is not complete without talking about songs and / or songwriting.
For me there is still nothing better than when you just wrote a song or when you hear a great pop song for the first time. I still remember the first time I heard the Buzzcocks “Ever Fallen in Love” or “Two Tribes” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and freaked out totally. There’s nothing else I’m passionate about the same way.
Some opinions about Per can also be found in the book. Marie Fredriksson says this:
A fantastic friend, but a very bad loser. He wants so badly to win. He played with my husband in an internal tennis tournament we had on Capri when we recorded Crash! Boom! Bang! and was sour for a whole day because he lost. Thank God he won the tournament in the end, so it was quiet in the house.
Last week we got vol. 3 and vol. 4 of The Per Gessle Archives – Demos & Other Fun Stuff! and tonight we can have another sleepless night listening to even more pearls on Spotify. The Roxette Demos!, Vol. 1 (65m 09s demos, 36m 17s conversations) is out! Click on the title! In case you can’t listen to this volume yet, you will have to wait until midnight (your local time).
And last but not least, time to vote for those singles or songs that were not included in any album (at least in the first release) but were released as stand-alone singles or as b-sides, compilations or The Rox Box.
As already mentioned (even though with some delay – sorry!) here’s the poll to choose from the singles and hits (at least those that were not included in the previous polls!). This time you can choose up to 3 songs.