What's the time? Seems it's already morning. I see the sky. It's so beautiful and blue. The TV's on, but the only thing showing is a picture of you... uhm, them, Roxette. So, now you are probably thinking: "I've heard that name before." All right, let us step back in time a little.
Let us go back to the time of "Pretty Woman", when Julia Roberts found her prince Richard Gere. There was a certain song hitting the global airplay, "It must have been love". But it's over now. It's where the water flows. It's where the wind blows. Really?
After "It must have been love", Roxette's third US No.1 after "The look" and "Listen to your heart", Roxette released more singles and more albums. They stayed creative. But they had already done so much more before that big smash.
While Marie was working hard for her breakthrough, Per was rocking Sweden with his band Gyllene Tider (Golden Times). And they were having golden times, successful times, and Marie supported them every here and then singing backing vocals.
On the other hand, Marie was packing her bags, taking control, trying to move into people's hearts and into people's souls. What Marie's band Strul could not do, MaMas Barn (Mother's Children) could. They released an album, which was not hitting like a hammer. But Marie was gonna get dressed for success, shaping her up for the big time as a deal for a solo-career came knocking.
Marie's star was rising, while Per's star seemed to be going down. After Gyllene Tider's split, Per was walking the solo-path releasing two albums, which did not do what everybody was expecting or hoping. But there was someone who did not want Per to dance away because he saw Per's potential, Rolf Nygren at EMI Sweden.
He had no shadow of a doubt that Marie and Per together could form a heart shaped sea of music by taking chances and painting a new project. They danced in the moonlight, ran on the wire drawing a fine line, the neverending love. Roxette, the duo, was born, Roxette, half a woman, half a shadow, and a fever turned slowly into a fire.
Sweden loved their new stars leaving the winter on the ground. Of course, they were dreaming of international success. By accident it all did happen. An US exchange student took a copy of "Loook Sharp!" home to the States, and a friend played "The look" on the radio, which caused an explosion all over the country. Roxette wrote history. They were having a No.1 Billboard song without having released a single over there! Marie and Per started to see the world through different eyes.
After having been part of the movie "Pretty Woman", Marie and Per invited everyone to join their amazing joyride. The response to that album, "Joyride", was so huge worldwide that it concluded a world tour. "Do you get excited?" Marie and Per wanted to know, and the answer was yes.
A tour-album, "Tourism", followed, and then Roxette wanted to leave the world outside just for a while. But they came back for one special night. Roxette became the first non-English speaking band to perform live for MTV Unplugged.
Later they went to Capri and produced a new studio album. "Crash! Boom! Bang!" Crashing guitars and silver blue ballads. But a certain deal with McDonald's in the USA stole opportunities of success in the land of neverending opportunities. The US market became a danger field for the Swedish duo. But was that the ending? No! Marie did not become the first girl on the moon, and Per was not waiting for the rain.
Besides solo projects, they wanted to go the whole way leading to their "Greatest Hits" album in 1995. They also made a record in Spanish, "Baladas en español", with some of their favourite Roxette-ballads. Furthermore, they re-released their very first album, "Pearls of Passion", which had only been open to the Scandinavian market up to then.
Passion had not died. Marie and Per still liked it to light those stars in people's eyes, just like fireworks in the sky. There were voices that wanted to be heard. The result was "Have a nice day", an over-produced record. With it came the try to get back into the US market. The song "It will take a long long time" appeared in the motion picture "Runaway Bride". A known combination. Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, and Roxette.
In 2001, Marie and Per returned to the centre of the heart and brought some real sugar, milk and toast and honey. The "Room Service" seemed perfect. A world, a love, a life. And a nostalgic trip.
A year later Roxette released their "Ballad Hits" (incl. hits like "Listen to your heart", "It must have been love" and "Spending my time"), introducing the project with a song called "A thing about you". Everything seemed alright until the shocking news made headlines.
Marie was suffering from a brain tumor, which was removed during an operation. While she was slowly recovering from the disease and the chemotherapy, she still wanted all releases to go on as scheduled.
The same autumn the nostalgic-trip continued with the single "Opportunity Nox" and the album "Pop Hits" (incl. hits like "The look", "Joyride" and "Sleeping in my car").
Roxette time suddenly stood still.
Marie started feeling much better. She was working on a new solo-album in her studio at home and taking it slowly with the result of "The Change", her first album in English. Per, on the contrary, was a busy bee releasing a Swedish album, "Mazarin" (Cupcake) followed by "The son of a plumber", "En händig man", and "Party Crasher".
The world assumed that time had completely stopped in Roxette-land, but a silent snail in 2009 marked the beginning of opening the doors again. While Per was on his "Party Crasher" tour, Marie made some surprising stage appearances re-tasting the Roxette life. It seemed almost unreal.
And the magic continued. Roxette were headlining the 2009 Nokia Night of the Proms, where classic meets pop. It was a huge success. There it was again, this soft whisper of beautiful music.
Last year, Roxette did what no one expected of them. They released a new single, "She's got nothing on", followed by a brand new studio album, "Charm School", starting a wave of passion. Roxette were back. Roxette ARE back. And they have now been on a world tour, which seems to be neverending. Roxette-land has been re-opened, and it is very much alive and beaming. And this year marks the release of their new tour album, "Travelling". The joyride continues.
There's a time for the good in life, a time to kill the pain in life. Dream about the sun... Let us dream with Roxette's music.
discography - albums
1986 Pearls of Passion
1987 Dance Passion - The Remix Album
1998 Look Sharp!
1991 Joyride
1992 Tourism
1994 Crash! Boom! Bang!
1995 Rarities
1995 Don't bore us - get to the Chorus! (Greatest Hits)
1996 Baladas en español
1997 Pearls of Passion (re-release)
1999 Have a nice day
2001 Room Service
2002 Ballad Hits
2003 Pop Hits
2006 The Rox Box / Roxette 1986-2006
2006 A Collection of Greatest Hits
2011 Charm School
2011 Greatest Hits
2011 Charm School Revisited
2012 Travelling
