Another Thursday, another part of Per Gessle’s podcast. Lovely to listen to. In this one Mr. G and Sven Lindström talk about those Swedish musicians and songs that had an effect on Per’s own music. The chosen songs are again from the ’60s and ’70s. Listen to the podcast or download it from HERE!
Per Gessle’s Top9 Swedish heroes:
9. Ola & The Janglers – Come And Stay With Me
8. Ola Magnell – Nya perspektiv
7. Tages – Fantasy Land
6. November – En Ny Tid Är Här
5. Ted Gärdestad – Come Give Me Love
4. Cornelis Vreeswijk – Balladen Om Fredrik Åkare Och Den Söta Fröken Cecilia Lind
3. Ulf Lundell – Sniglar och Krut
2. Pugh Rogefeldt – Klöver Linda
1. John Holm – Den Öde Stranden
Per has always been an Ola & The Janglers fan, because they have a unique sound. Come And Stay With Me he listened to many, many times. The lead member is called Ola Håkansson, so Per and Sven start talking about their second names and mention Per’s mum called him Per Håkan and Sven’s other name is Magnus. Mr. G says he also listened to Ola Magnell a lot in the ’70s. He is a great songwriter and a fantastic singer. Tages is a band from Gothenburg and Per still likes them very much, their songs still sound great. November is a band that also formed Per’s songwriting, he listened to them a lot as well. He sees November in his world as a pop band. Per listened to Ted Gärdestad a lot when he grew up. Come Give Me Love is one of the nicest and most brilliant Swedish songs, Mr. G thinks. Per compares TG to Paul McCartney. Cornelis Vreeswijk has very good lyrics and he is a unique artist, Per thinks. Ulf Lundell’s best song according to PG is Sniglar och Krut that’s why it’s at No. 3 on his Swedish heroes list. Pugh Rogefeldt’s 2nd album, Pughish is the best Swedish album of all times, with fantastic songs and production. Per chose a song from that album as the 2nd on his list.
No surprise that John Holm is at No. 1 on Mr. G’s list. He is Per’s greatest Swedish idol. You surely remember he met John last year after John’s concert in Halmstad and got a wonderful hug from him. So heartwarming to think about it. Per says John has a very special voice, he does great music and melodies. Den Öde Stranden is a very attractive song to Per, he even covered it on his first solo album in 1983.
Next podcast part will be available next Thursday.
As we already informed you about it, Per has his own podcast on Swedish radio together with Sven Lindström. The first part was made available this morning. Listen to the 57-minute-long show HERE!
It’s about 9 songs Mr. G wishes he had written. Earlier on Nordic Rox there was a Twelve Peaks show where Per listed 12 songs he wished he had written and discussed his choice with Sven. The list from today is completely different, which shows there are many awesome so well written songs mainly from the ’60s.
It’s always very entertaining to listen to these 2 pop nerds who know everything about music. They know when the songs came out, if those hits were on the charts and at which position, who the songwriter is, etc. While they are talking about the songs on the list, of course Per’s songwriting is a topic as well. This way they relate to Roxette and Gyllene Tider. Per and Sven also discuss what songs they were listening to in the ’60s and ’70s and how those songs effected them.
Here are the Top 9 songs Mr. G came up with during the show:
9. Petula Clark: Downtown (1963)
8. The Byrds: Goin’ Back (1967)
7. The Carpenters: Yesterday Once More (1973)
6. B.J. Thomas: Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head (1969)
5. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Something Big (1981)
4. The Young Rascals: How Can I Be Sure (1967)
3. The Kinks: Waterloo Sunset (1967)
2. Astrud Gilberto: Never My Love (first released by The Association in 1967; Astrud G. in 1968)
1. The Beach Boys: God Only Knows (1966)
Per says he remembers he was listening to her sister’s singles when he was 8-9 years old. Besides Presley’s Jailhouse Rock and The Beatles, Petula Clark was also among those singles. He says he was never a real fan of The Carpenters, because it’s a bit too nice music for him, but Yesterday Once More is a well-produced song, it has a feel-good feeling and he loves the sha-la-la-la in it. He mentions that one of the songwriters he likes the most is Burt Bacharach. They also talk about B.J. Thomas and they have no clue what his real name was (Billy Joe Thomas). Per says Tom Petty always had an important place in his heart, he likes his lyrics and his storytelling style. How Can I Be Sure charmed him with its damn good lyrics and the waltz tempo. Terry and Julie from Waterloo Sunset appear in the Roxette song Me & You & Terry & Julie. All in all, these 9 songs are either catchy pop songs or wonderful love ballads, they are easy to listening to and all of them are masterpieces. One can’t stop listening to them.
The show is an awesome listening even if you don’t speak Swedish. Hearing 2 friends chatting, having much fun while talking about their favourite topic, laughing a lot, kidding each other. Fab start into the day! Is it next Thursday yet?
As you could read in our article this morning, Per starts a radio podcast on 24th March. A great chance to practice your Swedish by listening to 2 nerds chatting about music.
Today Per visited Swedish Radio P4 Halland and talked about the podcast. In the short interview he also mentioned that he is busy with other things as well. Besides that he started his own record label Space Station 12, there are also a lot of things happening around Roxette. The new album is out in summer, the single is out in April and he confirmed there will be a video to the single which they are shooting next week. Too cool!
Another interesting thing Mr. G mentioned is that they are playing 18 shows in Europe this summer. We know about 14 dates so far, so there are at least 4 more to come. Sounds promising!
According to today’s news, Per Gessle will have a podcast on Swedish Radio P4 together with Sven Lindström. The title of the program is Gessles nio i topp (Gessle’s Top 9).
It will premiere on 24th March and will have 10 parts:
24 March: Nio låtar jag önskar att jag skrivit (Nine songs I wish I had written)
31 March: Nio svenska hjältar (Nine Swedish heroes)
7 April: Nio bästa sångerskorna (Nine best female singers)
14 April: 60-tal – de nio just nu bästa (’60s – the nine best right now)
21 April: 70-tal – de nio just nu bästa (’70s – the nine best right now)
28 April: 80-tal – de nio just nu bästa (’80s – the nine best right now)
5 May: Nio new wave från England (Nine new wave songs from England)
12 May: Nio bästa producenterna i rockhistorien (Nine best producers in rock history)
19 May: Nio bästa Beatleslåtarna sjungna av John Winston Lennon (Nine best Beatles songs sung by John Winston Lennon)
26 May: Nio bästa gitarriffen i rockhistorien (Nine best guitar riffs in rock history)
How exciting! Listening to Per and Sven talking about music is one of the best things in life. And now we will have some ear candy each Thursday!
When Per was asked about the idea by Per Scholander from P4, he never hesitated. He says it was obvious to say yes.
Sven and I like to talk at once and have no respect for each other’s opinions. Perfect breeding ground for a podcast.
When we heard about the Twelve Peaks show on Nordic Rox, we thought there would be at least one Twelve Peaks bonanza per month. The essence of the show is that Per Gessle chooses 12 songs according to the actual topic and he and Sven Lindström are discussing them. The first 2 shows were shared by Sven in February 2014. More than a year later, now he was kind enough to share a third program, this time via Sandra Knospe. Huge thanks for that!
At the very beginning of the 3-hour-long show (you can download it by clicking HERE), as well as at 00:34:00 and at 00:51:10 Sven is announcing his guest, Per Gessle and tells we will listen to the 12 peaks list of contemporary music that Mr. G grooves to right now. Per joins in at 00:59:20 and is on until 02:15:32.
Sven says he gave Per the choice to pick his 12 New Wave favourites, but in order to be hip and appear groovy, he chose contemporary songs instead. They named this part as ”Twelve Peaks of Now” since Sven couldn’t come up with a better title. Per jokes the title could have been ”12 peaks of what’s in my lunch box”.
At the time of recording the show (early March 2015) Sven said Per was in the middle of picking up ideas for the new Roxette album.
Per’s reaction to that was:
Most of the songs are already done, but I can change my mind.
Regarding how songs are influencing him he said:
I try to listen to lots of things, lots of different things. I mean I didn’t invent the wheel, I let myself be influenced by certain sounds or certain ideas or certain structures in songs.
They are also talking about the upcoming Roxette album. Remember, the show was recorded early March. PG says:
I started writing the new Roxette album half a year ago. Then of course we went on tour. We started touring in October in Russia and the Baltic countries and we just came back from Australia. In early May we start our big European tour over the summer with almost 40 shows in Europe. So this recording, this new album, we’re doing it when we’re at home. Which is like good and bad. The bad thing is that it’s very easy to lose focus, because you’re in the studio for a couple of weeks than you go on tour for like 2 months. Then you have to go back. I would prefer to be in the studio until it’s done and then do the tour. But we can’t do that at this point. But it’s going great, you know. We have a great material and it feels really cool, the new stuff. It’s a mix of classic Roxette combined with new ideas. … It’s a much stronger compilation of material than the last 2 albums. And also I think since we started touring again in 2010 Roxette has become this sort of working machine that I like to have. I think that really pays off when you’re making new songs for the band.
Sven who heard songs off the new album thinks it’s impressive and promising, quite a step forward compared to the last 2 albums.
Sven asked Per where he gets his music tips from for finding new music. Per replied:
Most of the time you just share playlists with your friends who know what I like and vice versa. … It’s easy to get lost, it’s also easy to get bored, because you listen to so many songs that you don’t like and you sort of give it up and start watching Breaking Bad instead. You have to find a way to filter all this. But I have a few friends and we sort of share ideas all the time. You should find friends, Sven! It’s a good thing.
They are talking about the great reception of The Per Gessle Archives and demos in general. They have a deep discussion about the question if mooses are elks and vice versa. You can also hear SMS messages coming in during the conversation. It’s always so cool listening to them. They are sharing jokes, kidding each other and their conversation about music is one of the most enjoyable things in life.
Sven and Per are also talking about 1975 and Mr. L asked Mr. G where he was in ’75. Per replied:
I was still in school. I hadn’t formed my first band yet. I was struggling with songwriting. I wrote lyrics and made up melodies in my head, but I couldn’t really play anything. But then in ’76 my mother – I think it was ’76 – my mother bought me a guitar. And I started to play this sort of fingerpicking style, you know, Leonard Cohen songs and Gordon Lightfoot songs.
Then came the New Wave and he had to form his own band. He was influenced by Blondie, Patti Smith, Tom Petty etc. He always thought each Tom Petty song could have been a single.
The main thing in the show, however, is that list of 12 songs Mr. G likes right now. They are talking about the artists on the list, as well as about the songs, why Per thinks they are good or even brilliant tracks.
Say Lou Lou – Julian
Tove Lo – My Gun
Bo-Dogs – She’s Got To Go
Jungle – Busy Earnin’
Feist – I Feel It All
Röyksopp feat. Robyn – Monument
Amason – Älgen
London Grammar – Hey Now
The 1975 – Chocolate
Banks – Beggin For Thread
Karin Park – Out Of The Cage
Lana Del Rey – Cruel World
We have no idea how many Twelve Peaks have been recorded so far, but hopefully, a next part can be shared soon.
