Releases

Per Gessle’s Roxette – Quotes + pics around Europe in 2018

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When the Per Gessle’s Roxette tour ended in 2018, I wrote this as a closing thought in my last concert review: ”Now fingers crossed for a fat tour photo book full of beautiful pictures, a live CD and a DVD! AND an announcement of any PG-related tour in the not too far future! GT40, anyone?” Oh well… except for a live CD everything else is there to enjoy. Haha.

Per Gessle’s Roxette – Quotes + pics around Europe in 2018 is a photo book consisting of 144 pages which also includes the whole last show of the tour (in Gothenburg, Sweden) on DVD. Together with Anders Roos’ amazing pictures you’ll find interviews with Per and all band members. The edition is limited to 1000 copies, all of them signed by Per Gessle. The book comes in the size of an 7” inch single, 17 x 17 cm. Each book also holds a piece of the printing press plate which makes every book unique.

The book looks beautiful already on the outside. I like the color choice of it, as well as the Per photo appearing on the cover and hey, there is Mr. G’s signature too. It’s actually a box and inside you will find the book. The book’s binding is a bit strange. I’m not a pro in book binding, so I don’t know how this type of bindery is called, but it’s used creatively, the way Per Gessle’s Roxette is printed on it. On the cover of the book you can see another wonderful Per Gessle shot and on the back cover you can see the number of your limited edition copy. Your number / 1000. Don’t be surprised if you bump into an edition that has XXX/1000 written on the back. Some extra copies were printed above the 1000 limited edition for reviewers, give-aways to friends, etc. All those are marked by XXX/1000. The rest is divided among several resellers. So from the official resellers you will get a book with a number / 1000 upon order.

When I first got to know about what would be included in this limited edition goodie, I thought I might have misunderstood something. A piece of the printing press plate. I thought there would be a print-out pic, similarly to the RoXXXette On The Road’s Roxers edition, but it turned out I read it right. It’s indeed a piece of the printing press plate. Nice addition! It’s glued inside, under the cover. Be very careful when you open the book, because this part is sticked together with a velcro fastener. The DVD is in the back of the book and there you also have to be careful when opening it, because the same type of velcro fastener is used on the inside of the back cover too.

As the title says, the book contains quotes. Sven Lindström asked Per and all band members and they shared their thoughts on the tour, the preparations, song choices, the creative process and they also talked about how they had got asked by Per to join him on tour. This is first of all a photo book, so of course there are many pictures of Per and all band members, the crew, taken backstage, at the rehearsals, on stage, in town, in hotel lobbies, on the bus and other strange places. Anders Roos obviously had an all access pass, so he could follow the guys and girls anywhere. This is how we can now see fab photos of Per and Co. in places where we would otherwise never see them. 144 pages make the book thick, but one can flick through very quickly. I would happily flick through at least another 144 pages full of such great pics.

Do you remember? The first song on the setlist was The Look! When the DVD starts and I hear the intro, I suddenly want to be there again, in the front row and listening to those magical Roxette hits live. The DVD contains the complete last show (16th November 2018, Gothenburg). Complete gig is not really true though, because the talking parts are not in there, at least most of them. No band presentation either. It’s all focusing on the songs themselves.

I remember several concerts where Anders Roos was present, taking pictures and I saw him fixing cameras here and there and everywhere. Now one can check out all camera angles on the DVD. Cool thing! The whole vibe of the shot material helps to relive our memories. There are far-away recordings, close-ups, moves that turn into slow mo, as well as shaking camera during uptempo songs while Per is doing his trademark left leg stomping. Lovely to see the interactions between the band members and Per and how they all pay attention to each other. Hopefully, one day we can see them all again on tour with Mr. G.

A trailer is available for the DVD HERE!

The book is officially out on 1st July, but you can already pre-order it e.g. HERE or at Ginza or Bengans. Don’t wait until it’s all sold out!

Gyllene Tider’s last album is out!

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Samma skrot och korn, Gyllene Tider’s 7th and last studio album is released today. The 43 min 43 sec long album is available on CD, standard black gatefold double LP and limited edition gatefold coloured double LP (Bengans, Ginza, CDON) and on all digital platforms: Spotify, iTunes, Deezer.

Tracklist

  1. Skrot och korn (3:03)
  2. Det kändes inte som maj (2:27)
  3. Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten (3:56)
  4. Någon att hålla i hand (2:42)
  5. Vid hennes sida (3:13)
  6. Aftonstjärna (3:12)
  7. Vanliga saker (3:01)
  8. Bjud till! (3:08)
  9. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga! (3:54)
  10. Mannen med gitarr (3:15)
  11. Bara i en dröm (3:06)
  12. Henry har en plan på gång (3:06)
  13. Allt det andra (3:49)
  14. Final (1:51)

This is what Gyllene Tider told about the record:

We are terribly pleased with our very last album. Our ambition was to maintain our tireless love of pop music while the time has passed and we have grown older. It’s been 40 years since we started playing together. Everything has changed, but everything has also stood still in some strange way…

The guys can be very proud of what they have created. If it is really the end of their career as Gyllene Tider, this album is a fab last one. You can hear the unique GT sound as well as fresh melodies. You can dance along the uptempo and midtempo songs and get sentimental during the ballads. The Gessleish rhymes can’t be missing of course, there is a great dose of them.

While listening to the trumslagarpojke song I’m wondering why Micke Syd didn’t sing too often in GT. He sounds amazing! Helena Josefsson and Malin-My Wall provided backing vocals on Samma skrot och korn and they also sound great. Mr. G shows well his high and low voices. His vocals are powerful on the uptempo songs and soft on the ballads.

Göran’s Farfisa magic is outstanding, but you can hear several other instruments playing, including saxophone and trumpet too. MP’s guitar-playing and Anders on bass sound perfect too, not to mention Harplinge Ringo’s drumming.

By each and every re-play of the album you can discover new elements of the songs. A sound you didn’t hear before, a vocal addition you didn’t pay attention to for the first time you listened, an instrument that your ears couldn’t recognize until you heard the song for the third time. Those tiny little details that make the songs so enjoyable every time you listen. Hats off!

Samma skrot och korn cover (photos from Gyllene Tider’s archives)
Samma skrot och korn LP on the inside (photos by Anders Roos)

New Gyllene Tider book in the making

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As Hallandsposten informs, there will be a new book about Gyllene Tider. It will be written by Jan-Owe Wikström (Wicke) and photographed by Anders Roos. Both names guarantee a wonderful end result. Title of the book is said to be Gyllene Tider 2.019 – en sista refräng.

6 years ago, Jan-Owe and Anders created the book, Alla tiders Gyllene Tider. Anders says it was like being a fly on the wall while he was around taking photos of the band on tour and in the studio and he thinks it’s awesome to have the guys’ confidence so that he can do his job calmly.

Wicke is the person who actually wrote the very first Hallandsposten article about a young band, Gyllene Tider more than 40 years ago, on 8th July 1978. He has been following the guys ever since and wrote books, as well as a lot of articles about them.

Jan-Owe and Anders spent some time with GT in France this year while they were recording their last album and will be there with Per, Micke Syd, MP, Anders and Göran on tour. They will accompany the Golden Guys on several shows, especially in key locations like the premiere gig in Halmstad, then Ullevi in Gothenburg and they go to Stockholm as well. They of course won’t miss Fredrikstad, Norway, the last concert either.

Wicke says the book will be a time travel, about all the years passed and since a big part of GT’s history is about others’ experiences related to Gyllene Tider’s songs and concerts, they will also ask other artists to share their memories.

It’s not only artists who will be asked to tell what GT means to them. Fans can also contribute to the book by sharing their personal memories. Anders says they already got appr. 70 mails. They will choose some stories to be published in the book, but it’s important that those picked anecdotes represent various events and happenings. As a fan, you can send your stories to: minnen@gyllenetider.com. Per says any craziness is encouraged! 😉

It’s going to be an intense summer not only for Gyllene Tider and their fans, but also for Wicke and Anders who have GT’s full support in this project. Per says it feels safe and great to have exactly this duo writing about the band. He looks very much forward to the book and hopes he can get a signed copy. Haha.

 

Gyllene Tider to release 4×2 vinyls

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40th anniversary celebration of Gyllene Tider continues! The guys will re-release their first 3 Swedish albums (Gyllene Tider, Moderna Tider and Puls) and for the first time ever, Parkliv! – Live Mjölby Folkets Park 31 juli 1981 will also be released on vinyl.

All releases will come both on regular black vinyl and limited edition, numbered, coloured vinyl (500 copies each). Parkliv! limited edition will be white. This time the numbered limited edition means the records are numbered during production, so underneath shrinkwrapping on the back cover and will be available as regular releases at all stores to order.

The recordings are remastered for vinyl from the original studio tapes.

The items are out on 21st June, but will be available to pre-order already from 17th May. Check Bengans, Ginza and CDON!

 

Gyllene Tider’s last album to be released in June

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The waiting is almost over! Gyllene Tider have announced today the release date of their farewell album and the first single from it.

As the press release says, in March 2019, Per Gessle, Mats “MP” Persson, Anders Herrlin, Göran Fritzon and Micke Syd Andersson – also known as Gyllene Tider – gathered to record their farewell album in the recording studio La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy de Provence in southern France. On Friday, 14th June, the result will see the light of day as Gyllene Tider’s 7th and last studio album, Samma skrot och korn (”Birds of a feather”). But already on 10th May it’s time for a taster in the form of the single Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten (”I dreamed I met the dental hygienist”).

Per Gessle had spent most of 2018 writing new golden gems such as Skrot och korn (”Birds of a feather”), Henry har en plan på gång (”Henry has a plan in progress”) and Det kändes inte som maj (”It didn’t feel like May”). A total of 15 songs were recorded, of which 14 made it to the album – by accident, exactly as many as The Beatles used to have on their LPs.

And for the first time since the intro track on Gyllene Tider’s debut album, a cover has been added. That time it was ”Skicka ett vykort älskling”, Gyllene Tider’s powerpop version of Shocking Blue’s hit, ”Send Me A Postcard”. Now it’s Sven-Ingvar’s 1965 single Någon att hålla i hand (”Someone to hold a hand”) (of which Brad Newman made the original version, ”Somebody to Love”) that gets a Gyllene tackle.

Per Gessle says:

In the past you often played some covers to show where you came from and pay tribute to your role models. That’s why we did ”Skicka ett vykort”, ”Tylö Sun”, ”Marie i växeln”, ”Vill ha ett svar” etc. You manage a music heritage and then you try to do something of your own of what you love.

And what do they say about the album in general?

Micke Syd Andersson says:

The last album was one of the most fun ever to record. We have a special contact where you just start playing a song and hardly need to look at each other.

Per Gessle adds:

It has become exactly as I hoped: you can hear that it’s a band that has maintained its sound, but still that it has actually been 40 years since they started out.

After four decades, an already legendary Swedish pop band says goodbye with an album that miraculously indicates continued top shape, even though the band has not even existed for long periods. And with a farewell tour that currently sells out more and more places, yet another Swedish music summer will be dominated by Halmstad’s pearls. 40 years of Gyllene Tider reaches its climax here and now.

Tracklist:

  1. Skrot och korn
  2. Det kändes inte som maj
  3. Jag drömde jag mötte Fluortanten
  4. Någon att hålla i hand
  5. Vid hennes sida
  6. Aftonstjärna
  7. Vanliga saker
  8. Bjud till!
  9. Låt denna trumslagarpojke sjunga!
  10. Mannen med gitarr
  11. Bara i en dröm
  12. Henry har en plan på gång
  13. Allt det andra
  14. Final

You can already pre-order the album (CD-hardbook, standard black gatefold 2LP, limited edition gatefold coloured 2LP) at the usual sites: Bengans, Ginza, CDON.


Photo by Anders Roos