Per Gessle

Per & Marie & GT in ”Alla tiders hits” on SVT

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SVT starts broadcasting a program called ”Alla tiders hits” on 7th September. The essence of this show is that famous Swedish artists are interpreting Swedish greatest hits. Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson and Gyllene Tider songs are chosen for the first 3 shows. The article will be continuously updated with the available videos. Here is the list of relevant hits and the dates.

Mazarin

 

8 pm CET, 7th September, SVT1 and SVT Play:

Christer Sjögren – Tycker om när du tar på mej/Per Gessle
Tomas Andersson Wij – Här kommer alla känslorna/Per Gessle

 

Sparvoga

 

8 pm CET, 14th September, SVT1 and SVT Play:

Panetoz – När vi två blir en/Gyllene Tider winner of this part!
Cookies n Beans – Sparvöga/Marie Fredriksson

 

GT_Soldans

 

8 pm CET, 21st September, SVT1 and SVT Play:

Jasmine Kara – Ljudet av ett annat hjärta/Gyllene Tider

 

 

The show you can watch live all around the world at this link: Alla tiders hits

2 videos for the first show are available on SVT’s website. In the videos they are showing Per, talking about these 2 of his songs and showing the artists who will be interpreting his hits. Click here to watch the short video with ”Här kommer alla känslorna” and here to watch the other with ”Tycker om när du tar på mej”.

Host is Niklas Strömstedt (yes, he’s the host of ”Tack för musiken”, too, where we will see Ms Fredriksson in December), who will be assisted by a stand-up comedian, Karin Adelsköld. A stand-up comedian? Well, watching some videos on YouTube from this Christer Sjögren and seeing he’ll try to perform Per’s most beloved song…, it might turn out to be a comedy. Let’s see what happens.

 

Update, 13th September:

2 videos for the 2nd show are available on SVT’s website. In the videos they are showing Gyllene Tider, as well as Marie, including a short a capella of “Sparvöga”. Looking at the artists who will perform the 2 songs tomorrow, it’s gonna be interesting. Hopefully, better than last week’s 2 PG song interpretations. Click here to watch the short video with “När vi två blir en” and here to watch the other with “Sparvöga”.

 

Update, 20th September:

1 short video for the 3rd show is available on SVT’s website. In the video they are showing Gyllene Tider & Per Gessle, as well as Jasmine Kara, who will perform GT’s “Ljudet av ett annat hjärta” tomorrow night. Click here to watch the video. Let’s see whether Jasmine makes a completely different version of the song or just a standard cover.

 

Update, 26th October:

Here you can read our article about the final.

Changes in facebooking habits are much appreciated

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Roxette_Official_FBYou might remember this article with the voting regarding what you think about Mr. G’s facebooking habits.

230 Roxers voted so far (which – considering that ~673 000 fans are there on Roxette Official – is not representative at all, but thanx to everyone who voted!).

 

 

 

Next to 33% of Roxers who chose they love anything Per is posting, 54% of the voters don’t really like the repostings, but new stuff or at least if Per is sharing his thoughts shortly. Well, after the article was published and there were already some votes, Mr. G’s facebooking habits changed (back) to something very adorable. Long post about the release party of the book and even a photo, short daily updates about relevant happenings in the Rox world AND comments on fans’ posts / comments. Even if he’s making fun of us sometimes, by e.g. stating he’s in Munich, making many fans think about heading to Munich immediately, this is just lovely.

We all like it, so keep up the good thing, Per! Thanx a lot for caring about our opinion. 😉

 

Mr. G’s facebooking habits

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Roxette_Official_FBNo, I won’t write an article about Per’s tagging skills, but as lately (and earlier, too – usually when there is a tour break or no touring period) there were many posts / comments / questions about why Mr. G is posting on Facebook the way he is often doing it, I thought it would worth a poll to get to know what fans really think about it. Even yesterday – when one could have thought there might be some tiny news – after the release party of Sven Lindström’s ”Roxette – Den osannolika resan tur och retur” he rather reposted pics posted by fans on Roxette Official and old facebook videos from 2012 tour than posting e.g. a sentence (not mentioning a pic) about the book is available SOON at the nearest petrol stations. This soon is tomorrow by the way.

 

Whatever answer you choose below, one thing we can all agree on: no other artist dedicates as much time to keep in contact with and paying as much attention to his fans as Per. I know he knows how much we all appreciate it that it’s he himself who is handling all these social media sites. And of course, there is no offense at all, I’m just curious about what you all think, as this is also something which is kind of Per’s trademark – the re-re-re-repostings I mean – as I haven’t seen it yet from any other artist / brand on Facebook. At least not to this extreme. 😉

So, choose one from the below statements. The one that reflects your thoughts the most. Bear in mind that here we are talking about Per’s posts on Facebook: Roxette Official & Gyllene Tider. (Per Gessle Official & The Per Gessle Selection are not affected that much. Yet. 😉 ).

 

[poll id=”6″]

 

Anyway, the repostings always make me think about this interview with Per on TDR:

”TDR: Social media has become a big part of this tour. Do you enjoy the interaction? You have been doing it since the “Have A Nice Day” site’s “Ask Per” section.

PG: I  do, especially when we’re on the road as there is always an hour in the lounge at the airport and there is always so much time to do it so you might as well check out what people think. I think it’s really interesting to have this communication with people and they appreciate it. For me as a fan and I go to the Tom Petty site (laughs) which isn’t very active, but then they publish something and it’s “Wow! Check out that guitar!” So when you get some details like hanging out in the dressing rooms or pictures of… yesterday we went to this vineyard… I just think from the fans point of view it’s really cool.”

 

Is it the ”less is more” rule? Hm.

 

Per Gessle’s short message to all RoxetteBlog readers

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Today me and 5 friends met Per in Halmstad. He was very nice, stopped by when he saw us, all smiles, then parked his beautiful Ferrari on the side of the road and jumped out of it. We talked a bit and took some photos. Then, when he was about to leave, I asked him to send a message to all RoxetteBlog readers (sorry for my voice, as I wrote it in my report last night, I kind of lost it during the gig). So, he sent a message. It’s short, but pure Per. 😉

Thanx for always taking your time with us, fans, Per! Much appreciated.

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-IMEcjxarM

 

 

 

Motivation is what drives Per Gessle

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Hallandsposten made a long and interesting interview with Per in the garden of his house in Sandhamn. From the interview it turns out that Halmstad is the place where Per can get energy. He also mentions that Åsa is the best wife in the world and Gabriel is as interested in computer games as he was in The Beatles and all other music at the same age as now Gabriel is.

According to the article, first it was the answering machine, then the tape recorder and mini-disc, but today Per Gessle‘s most important “instrument” to record and collect his ideas is his iPhone. Later he is saving all his files to computer, too. Per’s mobile is full of cryptic names of draft files that later might become hits. The working name of e.g. ”Singel” was ”Apelsin” (= Orange – this word appears in the lyrics). Talking about hits, there are more than 1000 Gessle songs registered at Stim (International Music Agency of Swedish Composers).

As Per says to Hallandsposten, in terms of percentage, the lyrics take much more time to write than music. It’s often verses, quotes or events he’s picking. For example, ”Tiden är en dåre med banjo” (= Time is a fool with a banjo) is a Charles Bukowski quote.

Regarding ”Anders och Mickes första band” Per says:

It was my way of showing that we are five in Gyllene Tider, not just me.

 

Of course, we all know Per likes playing with words, he’s creating awesome rhymes. He says to Hallandsposten that ”Det blir aldrig som man tänkt sej” is about disappointment and with the rhymes ”Du kunde knappast knäppa knappar och knyta knutar på en och samma gång – du stod på fyllan bakom hyllan som en Bob Dylan väntande på varm buljong” he could express exactly what he wanted.

Hallandsposten writes it was 37 years ago when Per got his first ever fan mail – from Katarina. He remembers the letter clearly and says if he writes a song he thinks is good and then anyone else likes it too, he’s proud. He says he always wanted to succeed with his art, so today he feels that there is nothing left to prove. Therefore, being No. 1 on the charts or commercial success are not that important anymore.

To Hallandsposten’s question regarding what is driving Per, he replied:

Motivation. If I would lose it, no more melodies or chords would come to my mind. I wouldn’t be so open to ideas and wouldn’t take down what is out there.

 

Hallandsposten also asked how Mr. G can manage all the things he is doing at the same time: music, hotel, wine and even handling several social media sites. Per says:

If it wasn’t me doing it, then someone else would. And then I still should check it. So why not doing it myself? After all, it’s fun.

 

 

Per Gessle_Hallandsposten_photo_by_Jari_Valitalo

 

Original article © Hallandsposten; GT photo © Jari Välitalo

Celestte Williams contributed to the article.