vinyl

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!

 

Busy April 12th for Roxette and Per Gessle fans

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12th April brings for us fans one surprise after another. First it was announced that Roxette’s 6th studio album, Have a Nice Day will be released as a limited edition 180g yellow double LP gatefold sleeve. It was released only on cassette and CD in 1999, but never on vinyl. Nice way to celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, isn’t it?

Per Gessle looks back at the record as a definite highlight in the band’s career:

Song-wise I think ”Have A Nice Day” could be our best album ever, maybe the only one that turned out like I hoped it would. That’s probably because the five-year break allowed enough time for lots of songs to grow — I wrote some of my strongest stuff and Marie’s ”Waiting For The Rain” and ”Beautiful Things” are among the best things she ever made for Roxette. And then we also added some crucial new members to our core team.

We were testing a lot of different things on ”Have A Nice Day”, mixing guitar pop ditties with drum machine driven dance beats, also adding more strings than on any previous album. And we’re talking real string sections here. You can tell that it’s recorded by a band with a big budget — maybe too big.

It has many songs and quite a long running time, a fact which in hindsight might have hurt it a bit — the “too much of a good thing” syndrome. Maybe ”Have A Nice Day” always was a double album that somewhat reluctantly was squeezed into a single CD. That’s why I love the double vinyl album format in this re-release. “Have A Nice Day” has come home again.

Tracklisting:

Side A

  1. Crush On You
  2. Wish I Could Fly
  3. You Can´t Put Your Arms Around What´s Already Gone

Side B

  1. Waiting For The Rain
  2. Anyone
  3. It Will Take A Long Long Time
  4. 7 Twenty 7

Side C

  1. I Was So Lucky
  2. Stars
  3. Salvation

Side D

  1. Pay The Price
  2. Cooper
  3. Staring At The Ground
  4. Beautiful Things

PRE-ORDER the album HERE!

 

Then there is another limited release by Per Gessle, tribute to The Ramones, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend on 12″ vinyl in 2 colours. Clear red limited edition (500 copies) and clear limited edition (500 copies). It will also be available as a bundle with both colours.

Per about the release:

Ramones was a huge inspiration when we started our first band “Grape Rock” in 1977. The unbelievable energy, the amazing guitar sound, the cool lyrics and the added touch of surf music floored us totally. Impossible not to fall in love with.

In 2002 White Jazz Records was about to make a Ramones tribute album and I was invited to participate. My choice of song was the brilliant “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”. I couldn’t stop there so I decided to do two more killer tracks outside the album at the same time. Just for fun. Hey Ho!

Tracklisting:

Side A

  1. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
  2. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
  3. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

Side B

B side is with engraving “Per Gessle” sign.

PRE-ORDER the album HERE!

 

Official song for the World Table Tennis Championship by Per Gessle

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Per Gessle’s new song, Name You Beautiful is the official song for the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad. The song premiered on February 27th during the European Championships qualification match between Sweden and Denmark (3-1). The game was played in Halmstad Arena.

We thought this really catchy hit song would be available digitally right after its premiere, but it seems we have to wait a bit more for being able to listen to it on the usual digital platforms. The good news is that it won’t be released digitally only, but as Per informed today, there will be 500 copies of 7″ vinyl singles. Woohoo! Can’t wait for the release date! Update on 1st March: there will be 500 blue copies & 500 yellow copies. How cool is that!

Official press release in English:

Per Gessle from Roxette writes official song for the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad

Halmstad native Per Gessle, with a track record of 80 million albums sold worldwide, is supporting the World Table Tennis Championship in Halmstad with a song composed especially for the event that will be seen by 350 million viewers all over the world.

Over 100 nations from all corners of the globe will visit the coastal city when the LIEBHERR World Team Table Tennis Championships descends upon Halmstad Arena between April 29th and May 6th 2018. On top of experiencing world class table tennis, visitors will also be able to enjoy world famous artist Per Gessle’s music, as he is behind the official WTTC-song “Name You Beautiful”, performed together with Helena Josefsson.

– When I was asked to write the official song for the tournament I didn’t hesitate. I was really up for the challenge. I wrote it together with some other local Halmstad-musicians, namely the guys from Galavant (Sebastian Atas and Victor Sjöström). Their super talented friend Viktor Broberg also contributed. We had lots of fun, says Gessle in a statement, adding:
– The song isn’t really a net ball, more like a killer smash in the backhand corner!

Johnny Ewerstein, project manager of the 2018 WTTC, is happy and pleased that Gessle chose to contribute a song to Sweden’s biggest sporting event 2018:
– This is absolutely fantastic! Gessle is a world renowned artist, and the fact that he stems from Halmstad makes it all the more special and an honor for us as hosts. We’re very glad and grateful for this song, which fits in excellently with a sporting event of this scope and importance.

The WTTC-song will be played publicly for the first time during the European Championships qualification match between Sweden and Denmark. The game is played in Halmstad Arena on February 27th at 18.30. Entry is free of charge, so don’t miss this opportunity to combine world-class table tennis with a brand new song from Per Gessle. The song will be available shortly on both Spotify and iTunes.

LIEBHERR World Team Table Tennis Championships 2018 is held between April 29th and May 6th in Halmstad Arena. The championship will be followed by 350 million viewers from around the globe, and will be monitored from approximately 350 journalists on location. 72 men’s and 72 women’s teams from around 100 nations are participating. Hosts are the International Table Tennis Federation, the Swedish Table Tennis Association and Destination Halmstad.

Photo: Anders Roos

Per Gessle’s Mazarin is No. 1 again!

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When Per Gessle announced the release of Mazarin on vinyl in the interview we did with him in May, we all got excited. The fans always wanted Mazarin on vinyl, but it never happened. Until 7th July 2017! 1 week after its release date, the vinyl is No. 1 on the Swedish vinyl charts and it brought Mazarin back on the album charts as well! Woohoo! How cool is that!

Mazarin was released on 16th June 2003 and it became gold already on its release day. 2 days later it became platinum and platinum it is 5x! A little history:

  • Gold 2003-06-16
  • Platinum 2003-06-18
  • Platinum x2 2003-08-04
  • Platinum x3 2003-08-19
  • Platinum x4 2003-11-21
  • Platinum x5 2004-02-02

The album entered the charts at No. 1 on 26th June 2003 and kept its No. 1 position for 11 weeks. I mean 11 weeks!!! Mazarin was on the charts for 66 weeks and came back as No. 1 on 23rd January 2004 for 2 weeks. Now for the 67th time it’s on the album charts again at No. 15!

En vacker natt is at No. 21 now on the album charts and No. 9 on the vinyl charts.

Big congrats to Mr. G! And thanks for this release from the bottom of our hearts!

You can order your copy of the Mazarin vinyl here: Bengans, Ginza or buy it at the merch stand during Per’s summer tour or get yourself a signed copy at Hotel Tylösand. 😉

 

Good Karma entered the Swedish charts at No. 1 and No. 2!

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Roxette’s new album, Good Karma was released on 3rd June and so it’s the first week we can see it on the Swedish charts. The record entered at No. 2 on the album charts and at No. 1 on the vinyl charts! Yay! Fantastic news!

GK_entered_the_charts

Let’s have a look back on Roxette’s studio albums, at which position they entered the Swedish charts. Except for Pearls Of Passion, Charm School and Travelling, all other albums popped up on the album charts at No. 1, all 6 of them keeping the position for several weeks.

Pearls Of Passion
Entered the charts at No. 4 on 19th November 1986. Highest position was No. 2.

Look Sharp!
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 2nd November 1988.

Joyride
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 10th April 1991.

Tourism
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 16th September 1992.

Crash! Boom Bang!
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 15th April 1994.

Have A Nice Day
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 4th March 1999.

Room Service
Entered the charts at No. 1 on 12th April 2001.

Charm School
Entered the charts at No. 2 on 18th February 2011. Highest position was No. 2.

Travelling
Entered the charts at No. 8 on 30th March 2012. Highest position was No. 7.

 

Now Good Karma put Roxette back on track and who knows, maybe next week it’s at No. 1 not only on the vinyl, but on the album charts as well! Wishing as many top position weeks as possible!

Get the album at a record shop near you or at the following places: Bengans, Ginza, CDON, Amazon,  iTunes, Spotify, Deezer.

 

Update on 17th June 2016: 2nd week on the Swedish album charts: #12; vinyl charts: #5.