Sounds of Europe: Roxette
Day Three of our European music travelogue takes us back to Sweden.
Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, 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 went on to achieve nineteen UK Top 40 hits and several US Hot 100 hits, including four US number-ones with "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love", and "Joyride". Other hits include "Dangerous", "Fading Like a Flower", "Dressed for Success" and "The Centre of the Heart".
Before coming together to form the duo, Fredriksson and Gessle were already established artists in Sweden, with Fredriksson releasing a number of solo albums and Gessle being the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, 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.
While still unknown outside of Sweden, Roxette released their second album Look Sharp! With the success of the first two singles from the album, they toured Sweden again. When "The Look" was about to be released in Sweden as the third single, an American exchange student named Dean Cushman returned from Sweden and urged radio station, KDWB in Minneapolis, to play "The Look". From there, "The Look" spread on cassette copies to other radio stations.
With the song's radio success, EMI quickly released "The Look". Suddenly, Roxette had a #1 scoring single in the United States, and the record wasn't even released. When Look Sharp! was finally released, it was able to debut on the U.S. album charts at #50, an unusual feat at the time for a newcomer artist, and later scored #23, eventually staying in the charts for 71 weeks.
According to Gessle the first two verses lyrics were guide lyrics but were kept anyway; however, many listeners interpret such lines as "tasty like a raindrop", "heaven's got a number when she's spinning me around", and "shaking like a mad bull" as sexually connotative.
I remember when "The Look" first came out. I loved the sound and rhythm of it and have loved the band ever since.
She's got the look (She's got the look)
She's got the look (She's got the look)
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you
And I go la la la la la she's got the look
While still unknown outside of Sweden, Roxette released their second album Look Sharp! With the success of the first two singles from the album, they toured Sweden again. When "The Look" was about to be released in Sweden as the third single, an American exchange student named Dean Cushman returned from Sweden and urged radio station, KDWB in Minneapolis, to play "The Look". From there, "The Look" spread on cassette copies to other radio stations.
According to Gessle the first two verses lyrics were guide lyrics but were kept anyway; however, many listeners interpret such lines as "tasty like a raindrop", "heaven's got a number when she's spinning me around", and "shaking like a mad bull" as sexually connotative.
"Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer"... the first two verses are guide lyrics, words just scribbled down to have something to sing. Couldn't come up with anything better, so we kept them. Everybody gets lucky sometimes..." —Per Gessle
I remember when "The Look" first came out. I loved the sound and rhythm of it and have loved the band ever since.
She's got the look (She's got the look)
She's got the look (She's got the look)
What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue
When everything I'll ever do I'll do for you
And I go la la la la la she's got the look
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