Music for the ages
CONTINUING WITHOUT FREDRIKSSON NOT AN EASY DECISION
Recapturing the romance of the Golden Era.
They just don’t make them like they used to. And nearly 40 years ago, the recipe was already there. Bands like U2, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran and A-ha’s music have stood the test of time – like the beer ad said.
So, too, has the music and legacy of Roxette, the Swedish pop outfit that’s become as ingrained in popular culture as its predecessors Abba.
Per Gessle, singer, writer and musician, founded the band in 1986, along with vocalist Marie Fredriksson, and their debut album was released within a year.
It spawned some local hits but it was only in 1988 that their fresh collection of tunes on Look Sharp was released and secured their breakthrough. Since then, well, it’s been hit after hit.
Gessle said their rise to superstar status was “pretty far out”.
Coming from a small country like Sweden, their global success was nothing short of extraordinary.
“We had a lucky break,” he said.
But luck was only part of the equation.
“When we eventually had the break, we had the guts to deliver,” Gessle said because they had put in the sweat beforehand.
“We knew how to perform. We knew how to play. We knew how the music industry worked. We knew how music publishing worked.
“We knew all those little things that make a big difference in the end of the day,” Gessle explained.
The duo’s complementary talents, Gessle as a songwriter and Fredriksson as a singer, created a seamless synergy, along with the chemistry that the pair had.
“That’s how we started off. We were very good friends,” he said.
Roxette hit the big time during what many punters called the Golden Era of music.
He remembered it with great nostalgia: “I miss the romance of it all,” he shared.
For Gessle, the magic of music was intertwined with a ritual-like experience of buying records, reading liner notes and immersing himself in the artistry of albums and the muso’s who made them.
“That whole procedure, that whole thing, got me into pop music,” he said.
This romanticism extended in reverse to the rebellious spirit of the 1960s and ’70s when he was growing up.
Gessle shared an anecdote about his struggle to keep his hair long as a teenager, despite society, demanding it be short at the top and trimmed on the sides.
“I could just never do it. I wanted longer hair, and it was quite a negotiation just to allow my hair to extend over my ears,” he remembered.
Today’s music industry is a far cry from the one that launched Roxette to stardom.
The loss of the tangible aspects of music, such as vinyl records and music magazines, has taken some of the magic and the romance away. The digital age, he said, has transformed music into a commodity, stripping away some of its cultural and artistic significance.
“Everyone is basically working on laptops and using plugins, and creating music from the same sounds,” Gessle said.
There is a sameness to contemporary music production which he feels stifles creativity.
“Everything is so formatted and formula thinking-like, and I think that’s really depressing,” he said.
Then again, this is why bands like Roxette keep being discovered by new and younger audiences while never losing fans from previous generations.
Gessle attributed this enduring appeal to the authenticity and emotional depth of their live performances.
“Otherwise, it becomes like just entertainment. It’s just the production,” he said, and shared the importance of genuine connection in music between artist and audience.
“The pop scene, the music scene, was so much part of society, much more than it is today,” he said.
This connection, he believes, is what has allowed bands like Roxette, U2, and the Rolling Stones to maintain their relevance and continue selling out stadiums.
In 2019, the world lost Marie Fredriksson, his musical other half – a blow that was devastating for Gessle and Roxette fans alike. Continuing without her five years later was not an easy decision.
“After a couple of years, I just felt like I just wanted to continue playing my songs,” Gessle said.
A new tour with singer Lena Philipsson is not a reinvention of Roxette but rather a tribute to their legacy: “I’m not starting a new duo. I’m not starting a new Roxette,” he said.
The tour featuring Philipsson and the classic Roxette band, focuses on their greatest hits.
“We’re concentrating on, let’s say, 25, 27 of Roxette’s biggest songs,” Gessle shared.
The decision to tour was rooted in a desire to honour the music and the memories it creates.
The pop scene, the music scene was so much part of society, much more than it is today.
Per Gessle
Singer, writer, and musician