Roxette 'Wish I Could Fly'

Chart Peak: 11

YouTube

Their first release since 1995, Roxette make a welcome return with ballad 'Wish I Could Fly'... One of Europe's most successful bands, over the last ten years Per and Marie have had 18 UK Top 30 hits and sold over 40 million albums worldwide!

Actually, they'd spent one week on the Top 75 with 'June Afternoon' in, er, July 1996, but it was their first major hit in a good while and their last new one here too, though they're still going and released an album as recently as 2011. Like their compatriots Ace Of Base, they seem to have abruptly lost their audience in English-speaking countries - both of them were pretty big in the US for Swedes, but by this point Roxette had lost their record deal over there and this single came out as a one-off without the album even getting a release there.

'Wish I Could Fly' benefits from a luxurious production, with those very 90s-sounding swooping string arrangements, and a big video with enough nudity to attract attention. Unfortunately the song doesn't really go anywhere, though it's a pleasant enough listen and one I like more now than at the time. The chorus oddly reminds me of a slowed-down version of Aswad's 'Shine' and it's not a million miles from their own 'It Must Have Been Love'.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 18, 20, 21, 23
Available on: Have A Nice Day

Roxette 'Joyride'

Chart Peak: 4

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The album seems to wake up somewhat at this point, and for a change we get an act represented by one of their biggest hits. Roxette were, as I might already mentioned, not an act I was ever fond of, even as the songs lodged themselves indelibly in my memory. There seemed to be something a bit too forced, a bit too gimmicky and greedy about their music.

Twenty years have been surprisingly kind to 'Joyride' though, possibly their goofiest hit. Obviously, that's a particular advantage in this context, amid a lot of rather po-faced rock, but I also think I've grown up a bit and I'm more inclined to laugh along with the song which brings out every silly trick in the book, including that immortal lyric "Now she's telling all her secrets... in a wonderful balloon!" and the whistling middle section. It's the crowning glory when ten seconds from the end Per Gessle shouts "Rox-ETTE!". I wouldn't enjoy hearing this every day and it's definitely too long, but it was cheery enough for me today.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 18, 21, 23, 42
Available on: Hits

Roxette 'How Do You Do!'

Chart Peak: 13

YouTube

An apt title, I suppose, because I don't think I've ever met this song before. Oddly, despite the fact that I clearly remember the existence of Roxette and what I thought was a substantial tally of hits, I keep finding out about other ones I've never heard of.

'How Do You Do!' (their punctuation, not mine) was the opening track from their odd album Tourism, a mish-mash of studio tracks, live versions and apparent outtakes. Notably, even both the people who gave that album good reviews on Amazon dismissed this track as pretty tacky, and they had a point. It's also notable for featuring a more prominent vocal role for Per Gessle than most of the Roxette songs I know, which I have to admit I don't count as a strength here.

Although this album has a habit of sequencing related tracks together, there's only a coincidental link between this and the previous cut: Roxette later contributed a song to the soundtrack of the Super Mario Bros film. Which is apparently even worse than this record.

Also appearing on: Now 15, 18, 20, 21, 42
Available on: Tourism (Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places)