It's been a while since I did a music post. I fact the last one I did was a spotlight on INXS. Sticking with a similar era, I thought it might be a good time to highlight another one of my favorites from the late 80's and early 90's.

Most people are probably familiar with some of the big hits by Roxette like Joyride, The Look, and It must have been love (from Pretty Woman).

While I was familiar with their songs on the radio at the time, it wasn't until I heard a not as famous song of theirs that I really started to take notice.

I grew up listening to the ABBA Gold album that my dad had on vinyl, so it is no surprise that I would be drawn to another Swedish group!

If you have been following me at all you might remember from some of my other music posts that I have a soft spot for distinctive voices. While Marie Fredriksson has an amazing voice, it is actually Per Gessle's voice that really drew me to Roxette.

How Do You Do?

I don't remember how or why I first heard this song, but as soon as I did, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of it. Chances are it was in some movie at the time but not on the actual films soundtrack.

Don't you hate that when you hear an awesome song in a movie but it isn't on the soundtrack?

Anyway, at the time the only album I could find it on was the Tourism album which was basically a live album and material they had put together during their Joyride tour.

According to Wikipedia, this song got much more traction in Europe than it did in the US which I think is a crying shame because it just plain rocks. Despite their ballads Roxette had a way of making Pop a little rockier than it was at the time.

Fingertips

The Tourism album also introduced me to the song Fingertips. It is actually the second song on the album after How Do You Do.

Fingertips also starts with a distinct focus on Per so that could be another reason why I like it so much.

If you are looking for deep meaningful lyrics on this one, you probably aren't going to find them. In fact listening to it again the first verse is actually a little silly to me.

It's still a great jam with a good hook, so give it a listen.

Fading Like a Flower

Finally, this gem from the Joyride album didn't get as much play as some of the other hits, but it is probably one of my favorites from that record.

This one is pretty much all Marie and in my opinion she totally kills it putting massive emotion and passion into the vocals.

After Tourism Roxette kind of feel off in the United States. I remember some fast food restaurant (I think it was McDonald's) had a promotion and I got a free shortened copy of the Crash Boom Bang album. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I remember it had some decent songs on it like the title track.

In the early 2000's Marie was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The aftermath left her unable to speak, read, or write, but she eventually recovered.

Though she has done some solo albums (which I will have to check out), it also appears they reunited and have an album that was released as recently as 2016. Also according to Wikipedia they were supposed to have a tour for that album, but it was canceled due to concerns over Marie's health.

If you are not familiar with them, Roxette has an impressive catalog that you should spend some time digging into on Spotify or your preferred streaming service.

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