As a pop group, Roxette has given Sweden's balance of payments its biggest musical boost since ABBA in the 1970s. Look Sharp, their first English LP, has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and already their newie, Joyride, is pushing 4 mil. "The title came from an interview I read where Paul McCartney said writing with John Lennon was like being on a long joyride," Gessle explains.
Roxette's ride began in 1985, when Fredriksson, daughter of a postman and a factory worker, teamed up with Gessle, son of a plumbing contractor and his artist wife. They released one LP in Swedish, then decided to record in English because "we both wanted to reach an international market," says Fredriksson.
Look Sharp quickly sold a million copies at home, but at first Roxette couldn't find a U.S. distributor. Then a college exchange student heard it while traveling in Europe, brought it back to the U.S. and persuaded a Minneapolis radio station to play it. Within three weeks, two dozen other U.S. stations had followed suit.
With six hit singles (including "It Must Have Been Love" from the Pretty Woman sound track), Gessle and Fredriksson are now planning a U.S. tour for early next year. Fan reaction probably will be different here. Although in Sweden "I've had fans sleeping on my lawn and stealing mailboxes for years," says Gessle, there have also been "ladies 65 years old inviting me over for coffee." Mick Jagger, eat your heart out.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
