Patrícia Peres

Happy marriage of the Per Gessle books

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Update by Per on 11th May:

PG BOOKS UPDATE: No, these are not the real covers. These were made for a catalogue that had to be printed early. The proper covers are not done yet. However, the titles are correct./P.

Some days ago we wrote an article about the 2 books of Per Gessle that are going to be published in September. Now the 2 covers are revealed and we can completely understand what the ”happy marriage they will make together” means as Per put it in his update. The covers look pretty cool and by putting the books next to each other on your shelf, you’ll have that mysterious gaze of Mr. G.

PG_book_covers
Per informed that these are NOT the real covers.

You’ll be able to buy the books separately. Bengans has already listed them (English, Swedish) and Bokus, too (English, Swedish). One book is in Swedish and its title is Texter, klotter & funderingar. Den svenska delen. It will contain 153 Swedish lyrics, drawings, sketches, comments on songs by Per, as well as excerpts from Per’s studio diaries and private pics. The book will also contain an interview with Per about songwriting (done by Tomas Andersson Wij). The other book is in English and its title is Songs, Sketches & Reflections. The English part. It will contain 204 English lyrics, drawings, sketches, comments on songs by Per, as well as excerpts from Per’s studio diaries and private pics. The book will also contain a long interview with Per about songwriting (done by Sven Lindström). The 2 books together are appr. 700 pages long. Bokus might have the wrong number of pages, since in the Sydsvenskan article it was the other way round, the English book being longer, not the Swedish one. And it would make sense, taking into consideration that the English book will contain more lyrics.

The books are set to be published by Roos & Tegnér on 25th September, one day after the release of The Per Gessle Archives box-set. Ojojoj… It gets harder and harder to wait until September… What a torture! 😉

 

Thanx a lot for finding the books, Celestte Williams & Evgeny Perekopskiy!

 

Update on 13th May:

Ginza (English, Swedish) and Adlibris (English, Swedish) also listed the books.

 

The Per Gessle Archives – Demos & Other Fun Stuff!, Vol. 2

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We didn’t have to wait long for the tracklist of The Per Gessle Archives – Demos & Other Fun Stuff!, Vol. 2 after Vol. 1 appeared yesterday on iTunes for pre-order. The digital release of Vol. 1 on Spotify is 16th May and Vol. 2 is out on 23rd May. As iTunes announced it, the first 2 volumes of the total of 11 in the complete box-set will be available at them from 2nd June. Box-set is out on 24th September.

Vol. 1 includes 16 tracks (47:13) and 34m 01s conversation between Sven Lindström and Per; Vol. 2 includes 14 tracks (46:22) and 27m 39s talk.

iTunes price of Vol. 2 will surely be corrected just as Vol. 1’s price has been changed to 135 SEK (11.99 EUR). Very good price for a lot of goodies, right?

 

Tracklist:

1 Kvar i min bil (AGM – Apr 28, 2007)  2:37

2 Apple in the Mud (T&A Demo – Jul 4, 1995)  2:45

TPGA_Vol.23 Beautiful Girl (T&A Demo – Apr 19, 1999)  3:51

4 Stay (At Home, At Work, At Play) [T&A Demo – Jul 5, 1995]  4:00

5 When I Close My Eyes (No One Can See Me) [T&A Demo – Jul 20, 1999]  3:23

6 Heaven Is Just a Motion Away (T&A Demo – Jan 28, 2006)  2:42

7 Jo-Anna Says (T&A Demo – Jan 8, 2005)  3:15

8 Mannen med gitarr (T&A Demo – Nov 20, 2002)  3:11

9 Hold on My Heart (T&A Demo – Oct 6, 2012)  2:42

10 Västra sidan (T&A Demo – Nov 18, 1984)  2:57

11 Jag borde förstås vetat bättre (T&A Demo – Oct 28, 2003)  3:20

12 Being with You (T&A Demo – Sep 11, 1997)  4:00

13 Faller ner på knä (T&A Demo – Feb 15, 1996)  3:46

14 Gå & fiska! (T&A Demo – Feb 15, 1996)  3:53

 

1 Intro Demos & Other Fun Stuff! Vol. 2 (The Conversations with Sven Lindström)  3:23

2 Kvar i min bil (Agm – Apr 28, 2007 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:32

3 Apple in the Mud (T&A Demo – Jul 4, 1995 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:58

4 Beautiful Girl (T&A Demo – Apr 19, 1999 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  2:21

5 Stay (At Home, At Work, At Play) [T&A Demo – Jul 5, 1995 – Conversation with Sven Lindström]  2:07

6 When I Close My Eyes (No One Can See Me) [T&A Demo – Jul 20, 1999 – Conversation with Sven Lindström]  0:35

7 Heaven Is Just a Motion Away (T&A Demo – Jan 28, 2006 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  2:33

8 Jo-Anna Says (T&A Demo – Jan 8, 2005 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:35

9 Mannen med gitarr (T&A Demo – Nov 20, 2002 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  0:37

10 Hold on My Heart (T&A Demo – Oct 6, 2012 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  2:36

11 Västra sidan (T&A Demo – Nov 18, 1984 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  2:31

12 Jag borde förstås vetat bättre (T&A Demo – Oct 28, 2003 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:02

13 Being with You (T&A Demo – Sep 11, 1997 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:48

14 Faller ner på knä (T&A Demo – Feb 15, 1996 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:27

15 Gå & fiska! (T&A Demo – Feb 15, 1996 – Conversation with Sven Lindström)  1:34

 

I’m so glad to see my personal fave PG demo, Mannen med gitarr on the list! A pity that there is only a very short conversation about it (0:37). It’s not too easy to wait until the digital release of these 2 volumes and hear all the gems, as well as the story of all the songs. I bet it will be even harder to wait for the box-set release after we get to hear these 30 tracks and all the other fun stuff.

 

Where have the official Roxette videos gone?

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Tonight Per posted a non-official video of ”June Afternoon”, because he couldn’t find the official one on YouTube. Weird, because he shared it several times during the past years and we watched it many times for sure, so there is something strange happening here. Now we could find the official JA video only on other sites, e.g. on Dailymotion.

Official videos available on emimusic’s channel (with actual views) are:

  • It Must Have Been Love – 34 074 356 views
  • Listen To Your Heart – 31 078 061 views
  • IMHBL_LTYH_YT_emimusicJoyride – 8 352 248 views
  • The Look – 7 460 461 views
  • Dangerous – 6 347 994 views
  • One Wish – 160 404 views

Roxette VEVO channel has the following clips (with actual views):

  • Wish I Could Fly – 2 907 618 views
  • She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio) – 1 763 301 views
  • Queen of Rain – 1 128 350 views
  • Way Out – 258 114 views
  • It’s Possible – 229 435 views
  • No One Makes It On Her Own – 120 789 views

 

But where are all the others??? Well, it seems that the videos are being moved to another channel or the channel is changing, because many videos got private settings now. (Other bands, Iron Maiden, Blur and Daft Punk among others are facing the same issue it seems. Thanx for letting us know, Tina Engmann.) Hopefully, Warner Music will be able to solve it, because if emimusic channel deletes all the remaining Rox videos – even the 2 most popular ones with more than 30 million views each – it won’t be too funny. No clue if there is any chance to keep the statistics and the view counts. As far as I know, they can only be kept if the video stays where it is and has the same code / link.

By the way, I couldn’t even find e.g. Per Gessle’s ”Silly Really” official video on YouTube anymore. Probably, it’s the same situation.

Marie Fredriksson’s YouTube channel is still working, but there you can only watch ”Sista sommarens vals” and the PR videos for Nu! and the tour. And of course, Per’s home video channel is still there.

Until it gets – hopefully – solved, you can go to the Roxette channel on Dailymotion to watch 42 official videos and to the Per Gessle channel to watch 5 official videos.

 

2 books written by Per Gessle to be published in autumn

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PG_SydsvenskanWe could already read about it in the press release of The Per Gessle Archives – A Lifetime Of Songwriting that there will also be two books related to the project. Now Sydsvenskan informs that both books will be quite fat.

One will be in Swedish, containing approximately 150 of Per Gessle’s Swedish songs with Gyllene Tider and from his solo career. This book is said to be 300 pages long and will probably have the title: “Texter, klotter och funderingar”.

The other will be in English and is about the English songs, mainly from Roxette. Its title will probably be: “Songs, Sketches and Reflections” and will be approximately 400 pages long.

There are books about Per, but now these two books are written by himself. He gathers his notes and thoughts on songwriting over the years. The books will be richly illustrated with Per’s notes and sketches, as well as with private and so far unpublished photos. Even the lyrics will be featured, some printed and some in the form of original notes Per had taken. As we know, Per is always doing sketches, drawing and takes many notes while writing songs. Now all these will be in the books next to his thoughts and stories related to the lyrics. How exciting is that!

And if it’s not enough, each book will contain an interview with Mr Gessle about songwriting. In the Swedish version it’s Tomas Andersson Wij who does the interview, in the English version it’s Sven Lindström.

The publisher of the books is Roos & Tegnér, the same company that published the fabulous book “Alla tiders Gyllene Tider” last year. So, we can be sure that these two books will be of very high quality not just in terms of content, but also in their appearance.

According to the article, both books will be launched at the Gothenburg Book Fair during the last weekend of September 2014. It’s not yet known if Per will be there at the book fair, but looking back at the past book launches related to him – last time in 2013, one month after Sven’s “Roxette – Den osannolika resan tur och retur” was published –, it’s quite predictable he’s going to be there.

September is going to be a fantastic month this year, isn’t it?

P.S.: The box-set “The Per Gessle Archives – A Lifetime Of Songwriting” is out on 24th September and as Per informed yesterday, the first two volumes are available digitally on Spotify in May. Vol. 1: 16th May, Vol. 2: 23rd May. This includes “The Conversations” (open hearted comments on each and every track = PG interviewed in English by Sven Lindström).

P.S. #2: Until September you can go and read Per’s thoughts about his songs here, on RXB. This is the collection of Mr G’s thoughts and info on demos, songs, videos, etc. he shares on Roxette Official.

 

Update: info from Per about the books:

P G B O O K S U P D A T E :

2014 is the Annus Mirabilis Overdose Year!
Two books on steroids will be released in September 2014.

1. 204 English lyrics + drawings + sketches + comments on most of the songs by me + excerpts from my studio-diaries + private pics + long interview (Sven L) about songwriting etc. This book is in English.
2. 153 Swedish lyrics + drawings + sketches + comments on most of the songs by me + excerpts from my studio-diaries + private pics + two long interviews about songwriting (different journalists…) etc. This book is in Swedish.

Both are, as expected, totally humour-free and will be available as two different items but together they will make a happy marriage. Especially with The PG Archives-box on your lap. /P.

 

 

Smooth entrance during the Roxette tour? Vote now!

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roxette_goes_on_tour_2014The fact that Roxette goes on tour at the end of this year made all Roxers incredibly happy. There were rumours about it since long, but the time to announce some dates had just come last week. And the list of tour dates will be longer than just those 13 shows in Russia, Estonia and Lithuania, that’s for sure.

It might sound insane (oh no, it IS insane), but yes, discussions about queuing in front of venues and how to get to the front row already started… We are used to waiting tremendous amount of hours in front of venues and tons of us are used to run-run-run to the front row after the entrance is open. It’s really funny to read conversations on Facebook already now about how to organize the entrance by the fans themselves. We are fond of the numbering system, but what could we do with it, if there is no control over the lining up and when the doors are open, everyone is just running like hell? Should we ask local Roxers to be there at the venue early and ask the security guys to let us in some minutes earlier than the rest of the crowd? Or should we contact the local security team some days before the concert actually takes place? But they might not be used to any systems like this, so they wouldn’t care about the fans too much. What should we do then? I admit it: this is crazy to discuss it this early! And it’s half a year before the tour starts… We’re getting more and more fanatic it seems. 😉 At the same time, if something is going to be decided officially by the organizers, it needs a lot of time and negotiations to organize everything in advance for the whole tour. Wishful thinking it might be.

 

Atli (Show Security Sweden) at a Gyllene Tider concert in 2013
Atli (Show Security Sweden) at a Gyllene Tider concert in 2013

Since last year’s Gyllene Tider tour, where we experienced how calmed down and smooth the entrance could be if a well-prepared and cooperating security team is in charge, there is no discussion among Roxers about such things without mentioning Show Security Sweden. You might remember our article about them. The team did an outstanding job during the whole tour in Sweden, even at the biggest venue with the biggest crowd (Ullevi, Gothenburg). They paid attention to the numbering system, took control over the lining up and let us in only some minutes before the normal entrance. No running, no danger, no being nervous, just a smooth walk to the stage. Of course, they needed cooperating fans, but when you can see they absolutely know what they are doing and are fully in charge, plus their aim is the same as ours: to have a great concert experience without any troubles, then you can only wish they or a company with the same targets would be in charge at all of the future shows we attend. It was already nice to see them at Marie’s Stockholm concert. Why not having such system on Roxette’s tour? We know it’s almost impossible and maybe not the most effective to bring so many security guys from Sweden to all over the world, but maybe it would be enough to have a great team of supervisors like Atli or Malin, who can coordinate the local security teams. If I’m right, it was the same at the GT shows. We saw different faces among the security guys, so they surely worked together with local teams in different cities of Sweden. And it worked amazingly well.

 

We know it’s not our business who is chosen as security company, but it would be great if Live Nation would consider the possibility of implementing this working numbering system or something similar on the upcoming Roxette tour to make the entrance more secure and smooth and this way, the concert experience even better for both the band and the fans. Because as Micke Syd mentioned in the interview Judith did with him during the tour last year:

I think it’s just making the concert experience a lot better. We feel it too if you have been queuing for hours and then you are frustrated because of all the stress to get to the front row. If you are relieved of all that you can just relax and enjoy. And then we also have more fun.

So, how about a poll? Let your voice be heard and vote below! We are curious about your opinion. Voting is anonymous.

Would you like Management / Live Nation & a security team to organize a smooth entrance during the upcoming Roxette tour?

[poll id=”7″]

After you voted, you can share the poll on Facebook or on Twitter by one click to the share button below, so even more Roxers could vote and share their opinion. Thanx for your help in advance!

The RoxBlog Team