With more than 80 million records sold, three Australian #1 singles and numerous Top 40 hits, Roxette are Sweden’s biggest music export after ABBA. Hitting the big time with Australian and U.S. #1 single "The Look", taken from their second album Look Sharp!, singer Marie Fredriksson and songwriter Per Gessle found themselves rapidly going from local Swedish heroes to global chart-toppers in the spring of 1989.
Said Per Gessle: “It was a mind-blowing sound – exactly the kind of updated turbo-pop I had been looking for. The future looked so bright we had to wear shades.”
Boxette, a 4-DVD collection of five live shows, spanning from 1988 to 2001, brings Roxette’s stage dynamic back. It covers concert footage from the two tours following the release of Look Sharp! in 1988 and 1989, as well as material from later world tours: Live-Ism (Sydney, 1991) and Crash! Boom! Live! (Johannesburg, 1995). Finally, there is a live concert recorded on the final leg of the band’s Room Service tour (November, 2001); which was streamed back in the day, but has now been remastered and released for the first time on DVD. Boxette also features a booklet complete with unique pictures and interviews with former band members.
Read more: Roxette's Top 10 Best Videos
Look Sharp! featured two U.S. #1 singles, "The Look" and "Listen To Your Heart", along with the high-charting singles "Dangerous" (an Australian #2) and "Dressed For Success" (#14 in Australia). Lavishly packaged in a classic LP-sized box with the original album on 180g vinyl, a 21-track CD with Gessle’s demos and rarities, as well as Gessle’s 45-minute “home movie” DVD, the Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition takes fans behind the scenes and into the studio. A richly illustrated booklet, featuring track by track, interviews with Gessle, Fredriksson, Clarence Ofwerman, Anders Herrlin, Mats “MP” Persson and Alar Suurna offers insight and memories from the recordings and is the icing on the sharp-looking cake.
Boxette and Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition will be released in a limited edition on October 5 and are available to pre-order now.
Read more: An Interview With Per Gessele
