Roxette

Goodbye 2016, welcome 2017

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2016 was a sad year for music fans, many “big ones” left us, artists like David Bowie, Leonard Cohen or Prince that influenced Marie and Per in a way or another.

It hasn’t been a perfect year for the Rox-world either. Roxette officially started in 1986 with the release of Neverending Love and they were celebrating these 30 years together with an amazing tour that had started in 2014 and took them all around the globe – once again and for the second time since Marie’s came back on stage (with Roxette) in 2009. They were about to embark on the last leg of the tour and meet the audience in Europe once again when the bad news came: touring if over for Roxette. News that we all somehow expected one way or another, but it hurt when it eventually happened.

And I won’t deny it, I think I still haven’t gotten over it and finally understood that there is no more Roxette live anymore. There will be Per performing Roxette songs, as it was already in 2009, but it will simply not be the same. It’s nothing against Per, I loved the 2009 shows and I will surely love the upcoming tour. It’s just not the same without Marie. Roxette are two great friends making magic together and there is nothing that can replace that.

But not everything were bad news. And since I like to concentrate on the positive, here is a summary of what happened in 2016 (hope I didn’t forget any highlight) and what we can expect in 2017 (that we already know of):

  • Roxette visited South Africa early 2016 and gave five concerts there, including two sold out ones and new plectrums that you can find on the PLECtionary.
  • The RoXXXette on the road tour photo book was released in June. It even came with a special edition for Roxers, limited to 300 copies, numbered, signed by Per – all packed in a nice box. We are collecting pictures of all of them here, so if yours is still not featured, send it in!
  • Roxette released an amazing new album in June: Good Karma. Three singles have been released so far off this album. Roxette also recorded a very nice video for the first single “It Just Happens” and asked fans to participate to make the “Why Don’t You Bring Me Flowers” video, probably inspired by Jakub and Dawid who recorded a funny fan video for “Some Other Summer”.
  • Per launched a new record label, Space Station 12, together with Marie Dimberg.
  • We also interviewed Per a couple of times, regarding Good Karma and SS12.
  • Marie’s book was published in German with an additional chapter for this version where she tells she is fine and working on the issues with her leg. We wish her all the best!!
  • Following the announcement we gathered thank-you messages for Marie. Kirsten also organised a surprise for Marie’s birthday, with the participation of tons of fans it was possible to send her bunches of roses. Marie responded with this video on her Facebook page <3.
  • In the background many things have happened to the website, we have had some hiccups with the server but nothing that couldn’t be solved. I had to postpone the project to redesign/update the website due to an accident but … let’s see what 2017 will bring 🙂

2017 so far…

  • More or less out of the blue but somehow expected, Per announced a new album and tour for 2017. The album is planned for Spring, the tour will be (for now?) in Sweden and will start on July 6th in Helsingborg, check the tour dates here
  • A DVD-box containing Roxette live recordings will be released this year. In connection to this, fans got busy and creative already on January 2nd as you can see on this article.

Sounds exciting huh? As always, thanks for reading and participating! See you on the road latest in summer.

 

 

 

 

 

WANTED – Complete Borgholm gig on DVD

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The demand to see Roxette’s complete Borgholm gig(s), recorded on 25th-26th July 1989 is h.u.g.e. There is an evergreen discussion among Roxers since the ’90s and we just can’t conclude what might have happened to the recorded materials.

Collage of some WANTED pictures shared during the flashmob.

The discussion started again during the last days of December when Sandra Knospe came up with the idea to organize a flashmob to show how many of us want the complete Borgholm gig on DVD. The plan was to post one or more screenshots of the live scenes that are already available of the Borgholm shows. The idea was of course supported by tons of us Roxers. Sandra created a cool ”WANTED – Complete Borgholm gig on DVD” background pic on which anyone could insert their own preferred Borgholm live stills. Those who were more into completely ready stuff either reposted others’ pics or posted the well-known What Do We Want meme generated by Zoltán Dúl stating ”Who are we?” ”Roxers!” ”What do we want?” ”The full Borgholm-gig on DVD!” ”When do we want it?” ”For Christmas 2017!” Clear messages on both types of pictures.

We had been waiting impatiently for the time (2nd January) to come when we could all ”spam” Roxette’s Facebook page with our pics. If you check posts by others on the page, you’ll see that quite some Roxers joined the flashmob. We all love such happenings.

Later we got a little spam back from Mr. G. He shared some Memory Lane Monday pics on all the Facebook pages he is handling. At the same time, we could realize he saw the flashmob posts, but all he ”reacted” on them was sharing the old RXB article that collected those live materials which should be released one day, as well as posting the official video to Dangerous with the text ”Summertime at the Borgholm Castle. /P.” Oh. Yeah. THAT’s the summertime we would like to know more about. 😉

3 years ago Per posted on Roxette’s Facebook page that they were ”having discussions with EMI (Warner) about re-releasing all VHS/DVD Rox live + documentaries from the past. How about that? Maybe a huge box set? Rox channel on YouTube? Guess the hardest part is to find the stuff in the vaults….” A week later Mr. G was excited to post another update telling ”Hope to get most of the live VHS & DVD releases from the past out in the open (in top quality) for your insatiable eyes and ears to enjoy. It’s a little messy in the archives at the moment due to the huge EMI/Warner-merger but I’ve got new batteries in my flashlight! We’re on the case, promise.”

To help the team what to look for in the archives, Tomasz collected all possible live performances worth to release in an article.

It seems that the mess still couldn’t be sorted out completely, however, according to the rumor TDR shared there will be a DVD box including ”Sweden Live! (Norrköping 1988), Look Sharp Live (various 1989), Live-Ism (Sydney 1992), Crash!Boom!Live! (Johannesburg 1995) and Room Service (Stockholm 2001) from the Telenor webcast” without extras.

Last June when we interviewed Per, he still couldn’t tell us details about the DVD project. All he could share was his thought that ”the first things that should be made available are all those old live VHS-tapes and DVDs that’s not around anymore”.

Since most people nowadays don’t even have a machine to play VHS, it’s always nice to see old materials being released on DVD. Blu-ray is in this case out of the question, as those old tapes are probably not of real high quality for a BD release. But ”just” re-releasing old stuff is a bit sad. We are sure there is more to include.

Back to the original topic, Borgholm. What happened to the live recordings? Has there ever been a complete recording? Of both Borgholm shows and rehearsals maybe? Or was it just some footage we could already see in this or that video and on Look Sharp Live VHS? Nah… with such technology back then, shot by an American crew it’s impossible. There must have been a complete recording. Or if not complete, there is surely much more than what we could see so far. But where is that material hiding? Deep down in a cellar? Is it lost? Did the tapes get burnt? Or? Just for the record, we are happy with any raw cut material as well. It would look sharp as an extra in the DVD box. 😉 Haha.

Until we find out what happened (hope dies last…), you can still enjoy these videos and keep your fingers crossed: Listen To Your Heart, Dangerous, Paint, Dance Away, Cry, Silver Blue.

P.S.: Borgholm being such an important place in Roxette’s history, we are very happy about the fact that at least Per will play there this summer on his solo tour.

 

Metal tribute to Roxette

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After the lullaby hits by Baby Roxers in 2016 there seems to be a Rox metal project in 2017.

GS Productions is a Russian independent music label. In November they announced an official metal tribute to Roxette and they called for participants. They say they have an official permission from Roxette and that all information about the compilation will be announced on Roxette’s website. There we can’t see anything yet, but GS Productions posted on their Russian social media site (vk.com) the final list of metal bands participating in the project and which of them covers which Roxette song. Joyride and Fading Like A Flower seem to be very popular, since these 2 songs appear twice, each covered by 2 different bands.

Tracklist:

  1. Metal Priest (Germany) – “Joyride”
  2. The Nameless Cult (Russia) – “Sleeping In My Car”
  3. DEOS (United Kingdom ) – “It Must Have Been Love”
  4. Dominia (Russia ) – “Wish I Could Fly”
  5. Seduced By Suicide (Brazil) – “How Do You Do!”
  6. Nightmare Council (USA) – ”Things Will Never Be The Same”
  7. The Great Crusades (USA) – “Fading Like A Flower”
  8. WOLFHEART (Brazil) – “The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye”
  9. Strigampire (Canada) – “Dangerous”
  10. A Sorrowful Dream (Brazil) – “Spending My Time”
  11. Ole Alexander Myrholt Project (Norway) – “Stars”
  12. Catamenia (Finland) – “Joyride”
  13. Somnent (Italy-USA) – “Crash! Boom! Bang!”
  14. Depressive Mode (Turkey) – “Salvation”
  15. Anfel (Russia) – “Fading Like A Flower”
  16. Arrant Saudade (UK.Chile.France) – “Listen To Your Heart”
  17. Revelation (Belarus) – “So Far Away”

There is a teaser on YouTube that includes the titles of Roxette songs and the above mentioned metal bands next to the hits. However, in this video there are 2 additional bands and tracks vs. what GS Productions posted on their site. The additional 2 songs are Almost Unreal (From Autumn) and Milk and Toast and Honey (Paid Charons Fare).

The release date is set for 1st September 2017. The compilation’s cover design can be done by volunteers as GS Productions states and the best one will be chosen by Roxette. Hm. Let’s see what happens.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Roxette songs get metal arrangement. There was that Swedish Hitz Goes Metal project in 2011 where The Look, Listen To Your Heart, Joyride and Sleeping In My Car were covered and 2 years later on Vol. 2 (Japanese release only) there was Dressed For Success. Not sure how often any Roxer listened to these versions though.

 

CONTEST: Win a Roxette stamp booklet!

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Santa thought it’s nice to surprise you all with a little retro contest. You surely remember that 25 years ago Roxette was honored by being featured on a Swedish stamp. The “Rock och Pop” theme stamp was released by the Swedish Post on 5th October 1991 in 3.6 million copies (source: a Swedish stamp site).

roxette_stamp_booklet_01
Photo shows the cover of the booklet

Per said at the time:

We’re not even dead. We thought it was a joke at first. I know ABBA was a stamp in 1982, but it’s not something that happens every day. It’s nice to have the entire Swedish nation licking your back.

Some months later he said:

That was a kick, of course. It was almost like being knighted, I guess. I have used them a lot. I used to send cassettes to my record company with them. They can’t refuse the music that way.

 

The stamp was also released in a special booklet featuring Roxette on the cover and including 6 stamps (2 Roxette, 2 Lena Philipsson, 2 Jerry Williams) and 3 postcards (1 Roxette, 1 Lena Philipsson, 1 Jerry Williams).

Now this booklet is what you can win! We have 3 of them to give away! In order to participate, answer the following questions correctly:

  1. What was the face value of the 1991 Roxette stamp? – 2.50 SEK (we also accepted 250)
  2. Which Roxette studio album was released in 1991? – Joyride
  3. Was there any Roxette tour in 1991? – Yes. Join the Joyride! World Tour 1991/92

Send an e-mail with your name, address (so we can send the booklet in case you win) and the correct answers to the questions to rxbcontests@gmail.com until 23:59 CET, 21st December 2016. The lucky winners will be announced a few days later. Good luck!

 

Contest terms and conditions:
– In order to participate, you have to send an e-mail to rxbcontests@gmail.com with name, address and correct answers to the 3 questions. We will consider all e-mails we receive until 23:59 CET on 21st December 2016.
– 3 winners will be picked randomly among those who have participated and sent the correct answers.
– You can only participate once, any attempt to participate twice or more times will lead to your disqualification.
– Prize won’t be paid out in cash. Prize will be sent by registered mail only once.
– Winners will be announced on this website, on our Facebook page and will also be notified per e-mail. You’ll be required to answer the e-mail confirming your address.
– RoxetteBlog.com will not enter into any correspondence regarding the result of the contest and is not liable for any damages, loss or expenses that may result in connection to the prize.
– All submitted data will only be used for the purpose of the contest and in case you are the lucky winner, to send you the prize.

 

Update on 22nd December 2016: The 3 winners are: Lana Sachse, Yonita Marto and Travis Wilhelm. They were notified via e-mail.

Why Don’t You Bring Me Flowers – snippet #2

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5054197420924_ROX_WHY_WT.indd We just received another snippet from the upcoming Roxette single Why Don’t You Bring Me Flowers – enjoy!

The single will be out this Friday November 4th.

You can listen to the other snippet on TDR.

Thanks to Warner Music Sweden and Dimberg Management