Roxette has had a good year working on joyride. They had made all their bangers at home in Sweden and they would continue to make all their bangers at home in Sweden. EMI, Roxette’s American label, wanted them to come to Los Angeles to record with American professionals. But when it came time to make joyride, their third album, Roxette were stars, and they had to contend with record label expectations. “It Must Have Been Love” was even older – a Christmas song made for German radio, which eventually became a hit when it was re-used for the Beautiful woman soundtrack three years later. “The Look” and “Listen To Your Heart” both came from Looks sharp!, the 1988 album that the aforementioned Minnesota exchange student took to his radio station. Roxette’s first three chart positions all originated during a time when no one in America had heard of the group.

And coincidentally, Roxette’s finale Billboard #1 hit was the best and smartest and dumbest of them all.

Gessle and Fredriksson knew their way around a hook, and their production was big and tart and intensely sugary.

More often than not, though, those quasi-parodies worked better than the real thing. The rousing, hyper-focused guitar pop of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson sometimes came across as a loving parody of American studio rock, especially when you take into account the almost-gibberish lyrics. But Roxette’s music is outdated glorious. They didn’t leave much in the way of lasting impact For example, I’ve never seen an artist claim Roxette as an influence. In the grand scheme of things, that’s damn unbelievable.Īs a pop chart in America, Roxette burned fast and bright. But in that two-year period, Roxette amassed a total of four US #1’s – three more than fellow superstar Sweden ABBA. After all, it wasn’t that long Roxette’s period of American visibility really only lasted about two years. Maybe Roxette had nothing to do with the Hot 100, but once they got there, they stayed there longer than anyone logically thought possible. After that bit of luck, their mind-boggling nonsense stunner “The Look” somehow made it all the way to #1. The Swedish duo exploded in the United States after an American exchange student brought their CD to his radio station in Minneapolis. Roxette had one of the best random-ass pop-chart origin stories of all time. In The Number Ones I review every number 1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the beginning of the chart, in 1958, and working through to the present.

Roxette joyride guitar lesson