There isn’t a person who lived through the 80’s and doesn’t know Roxette. This band is a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). The duo was formed in 1986, five years after Abba’s final album in 1981. The duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!Their third album Joyride, which was released in 1991, became just as successful as its predecessor. Roxette had four US number-ones with “The Look“, “Listen to Your Heart“, “It Must Have Been Love“, and “Joyride“.
Johansson claims in his article that Abba created a role model for other Swedish artists to follow. I can see where Johansson draws this conclusion, after all Roxette was formed a mere five years after Abba’s album. The niche for a new Swedish pop sensation was certainly there.
However, before coming together to form the duo, Fredriksson and Gessle were already established artists in Sweden. Fredrikssonhad released a number of solo albums and Gessle was the lead singer and songwriter of GylleneTider, which had three No. 1 albums. On the advice of the managing director of their record label, they came together to record “Neverending Love“, which became a hit single in Sweden.Furthermore while Fredriksson and Gessle were already music artists in Sweden they had were not internationally known. Perhaps the success of Abba encouraged them to pursue a wider international market.
However, another reason that Roxette reached international fame could be that the Swedish state provides a generous amount of music related support. Approximately 30% of children attended publically subsidised music education after school hours. Going on these figures that would give children a great musical boost from a young age. When you add that to the fact that Swedish adult education associations offer rehearsal spaces, musical equipment, workshops and concert opportunities when bands are formed. Taking all these facts into consideration one can only wonder how there aren’t more Swedish bands, given the fabulous facilities and amenities people have at their disposal.
Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorusbecame agreatest hits record.Roxettetook a hiatus during the mid-1990s withHave a Nice Day (1999) and Room Service (2001). They continued to chart mainly in Europe and Latin America, where they earned various Gold and Platinum awards until the beginning of the new millennium.
Gessle went on to release solo albums and reunited with GylleneTider.Roxette took to the stage together again for the first time in 8 years, in 2009. In 2011, they released Charm School, their first studio album in ten years. It is my opinion that Roxette’s fame is partially due to their perfect english, almost as if it is their native tongue. It makes their songs much easier to listen to as they flow perfectly.
Their songs “It Must Have Been Love” and “Listen to Your Heart” continue to receive worldwide radio airplay, They have sold an estimated 60 million records ,with over 10 million in certified units from Germany, the US and the UK.
The Harney Scoop. 