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‘Look Sharp!’ How A Roxette Fan Listened To His Heart And Made Stars Of The Band

‘Look Sharp!’ How A Roxette Fan Listened To His Heart And Made Stars Of The Band

Roxette’s second album, ‘Look Sharp!’, became a global success after a student took it to his local radio station, hoping to spread the word.

Look Sharp! , Roxette’s 1988 pop colossus, has a strange story behind its success. The album owed its worldwide breakthrough not to record company promotion, nor the duo of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson touring – not even due to rotation on the all-conquering MTV. Instead, it is the near-unbelievable tale of a young exchange student who kickstarted the Swedish duo’s international fame.

Listen to ‘Look Sharp!’ here .

“it was obviously fun and catchy. i loved the vocals”.

Gessle and Fredriksson had formed Roxette two years earlier, in 1986. They had known each other since the late 70s, and both were well-known musicians in Sweden (Fredriksson as a solo artist, Gessle as a member of Gyllene Tider). At the suggestion of their then label, EMI, the pair became Roxette and recorded a song together – Neverending Love – which gave them a huge homegrown hit. The new act then put together an album, 1986’s Pearls Of Passion , on the back of that single, to keep the momentum going.

That album’s follow-up, Look Sharp! , was a more considered affair from the start. To begin with, Fredriksson took on a greater share of the vocals. “I always thought we should promote the songs Marie sang,” Gessle said. “Me being a lead singer wasn’t part of the plan, not for me anyway.” Songs were demoed late in 1987, then recorded in March 1988. Surely everyone could tell that this new clutch of tracks – including The Look, Dressed For Success, Dangerous and Listen To Your Heart – had enormous commercial potential? Per Gessle had even written Listen To Your Heart with North American FM rock radio in mind.

EMI America had different ideas. They thought Roxette would not appeal to a US audience and rejected the duo. Gessle and Fredriksson must have been disappointed, but they cracked on with promoting Look Sharp! at home, with Dressed For Success and Listen To Your Heart both reaching the Swedish Top 3. Their fanbase grew. Soon it would include one Dean Cushman, from Minneapolis, who was studying computer science in the Swedish city of Borås. He heard The Look on Swedish radio. “It was obviously really fun and catchy, but I loved the vocals, they really speak to you,” Cushman recalled. He purchased Look Sharp! before wrapping up his studies and heading home.

“I did it because I wanted to share the music”

When back in the US, Cushman went to his local radio station, KDWB, loaning them Look Sharp! and enthusing about the duo that had recorded it. “I’d heard it can take a while for European bands and songs to make it over to the States and I thought a lot of people would like it,” Cushman has recalled of Look Sharp! , “so I just decided, Why not? There’s no reason not to. I did it because I wanted to share the music.”

Steve Cockran, a DJ at the station, heard The Look and was receptive. “First of all, it’s a good song as such,” he has said. “It suits the broad audience because it is ‘American’ in its cut.” When Cockran played the song on air, the listener reaction was immediate. KDWB had a number of sister stations across the US, shared The Look with them, and word of this catchy song soon spread.

Back in Sweden, Gessle and Fredriksson were stunned. “Good God!” Gessle wrote in his diary at the start of February 1989, reacting to the news that The Look was on the verge of making the Billboard charts. A few weeks later, it was No.1. “I don’t know how many times I’ve said the word ‘incredible’ in the last two weeks,” Fredriksson said at the time, as Roxette were deluged with press and promotional requests. Look Sharp! had proved a huge success in the UK and Europe, too. Roxette were now really living the life of Look Sharp! ’s starry cover art.

“I think when you listen to us, something new happens all the time”

Released on 21 October 1988, Look Sharp! remains a high-water mark for late-80s pop. It’s got the crunch of glam rock with the sheen of 80s production. The album is also unusual for its sustained focus on gender nonconformity, with the strength of unconventional women celebrated in many of its tracks. This aspect of Roxette – women who hit like a hammer and shake like a mad bull – was ahead of its time, and in retrospect is a radical aspect of a band commonly thought of as solidly mainstream.

Because Gessle and Fredriksson had long ago cut their teeth in the music business, when this global megastardom came they were able to take full advantage of it. “We’d made all the mistakes in Sweden when we were really young, so we didn’t make the same mistakes ten years later,” Gessle remembered in 2009. “When Roxette made it big, we owned our own rights to the songs.” This became even more important, as the duo’s first post- Look Sharp! release was their biggest, It Must Have Been Love, in 1990. One of the best Roxette songs , it was part of the Pretty Woman soundtrack, a film that celebrated a free-spirited woman – one who could have walked straight out of a Roxette song.

Though Roxette would have several further successful albums, there’s something unique about their first breakthrough album and the fact that its success was helped by a fan’s genuine enthusiasm. A few years after the release of Look Sharp! , Marie Fredriksson was asked what made Roxette so loved. “I think it has a lot to do with the songs,” she said. “And our voices are very special. Per’s and my voice together has a very special sound. I think when you listen to us, something new happens all the time.”

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Revisit Roxette’s 1988 Breakthrough Album, ‘Look Sharp!’

  • Marie Fredriksson

This week in 1989, iconic Swedish pop duo, Roxette were at number one in America with The Look from their platinum-selling second LP Look Sharp! We’re revisiting the album and its massive hit singles below. 

look sharp

Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle – aka Roxette – had seen some success in their native Sweden, but it wasn't until an American foreign exchange student brought a copy of their second album back home to Minneapolis and gave it to a local radio station that the pop duo really took off. That 1988 collection, Look Sharp! , included three U.S. Top Ten singles: Dangerous , Listen To Your Heart and The Look (which was the #1 song in America this week in 1989) and the deeper album cuts were nothing to sneeze at either. Look Sharp! went platinum in America, with many other gold and platinum certifications around the globe, racking up more than 9 million sales worldwide. Upbeat and fun, the music of Roxette is an irresistible combination of punchy dance pop and beautiful balladry, and this breakthrough album will give you a good look at it.

‘Dangerous’

‘Listen To Your Heart’ 

READ MORE: ROXETTE’S PER GESSLE ANNOUNCES EXCITING NEW PROJECT, ‘PG ROXETTE’

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COMMENTS

  1. Roxette

    00:01:01 - Dressed For Success00:05:17 - The Look00:09:39 - Cry00:15:01 - Joy of a Toy00:18:52 - Surrender00:21:54 - Neverending Love00:25:21 - Dance Away00:...

  2. Roxette

    00:00:41 - Dressed For Success00:04:57 - The Look00:09:20 - Cry00:14:41 - Joy of a Toy00:18:30 - Surrender00:21:30 - Neverending Love00:24:57 - Dance Away00:...

  3. Join the Joyride! Tour

    The "Join the Joyride!World Tour" was the third concert tour by Swedish pop duo Roxette.Their first tour to incorporate dates outside of Scandinavia, it was launched in support of their third studio album, Joyride (1991), and saw the band playing a total of 100 shows throughout Europe, Australia and the Americas. Canadian rock band Glass Tiger supported Roxette on all European dates, while ...

  4. Look Sharp Live

    Look Sharp Live is the second concert film by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 2 October 1989 on VHS format by EMI and Picture Music International. The footage consists of two edited concerts filmed on the Borgholm Castle ruin on the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Öland on 25-26 July 1989. The film was directed Doug Freel with a predominantly American production crew, who believed ...

  5. Roxette ‎- Look Sharp! (Album 1988)

    1.- The Look 2.- Dressed For Success 3.- Sleeping Single 4.- Paint 5.- Dance Away 6.- Cry 5:057.- Chances 8.- Dangerous 9.- Half A Woman, Half A Shadow 10.- ...

  6. Look Sharp! (Roxette album)

    Look Sharp! is the second studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 21 October 1988 by EMI, two years after their debut Pearls of Passion (1986). It was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm and at Trident II Studios in London between March and September 1988. The album was an immediate commercial success in Sweden, debuting at number one and eventually being certified 6× platinum ...

  7. The Daily Roxette » 1989: Roxette's "Look Sharp!" tour

    The Daily Roxette has 25591 articles online. Use our constantly growing archive to find out more about Roxette, Gyllene Tider, Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson, Son of a Plumber and more.

  8. Roxette

    Roxette - Look Sharp Live At Borgholm Castle. Roxette - Look Sharp Live At Borgholm Castle. Solutions . Video marketing. Power your marketing strategy with perfectly branded videos to drive better ROI. Event marketing. Host virtual events and webinars to increase engagement and generate leads. Employee communication ...

  9. Look Sharp Live! European Tour

    Look Sharp Live! European Tour - Roxette

  10. 'Look Sharp!' How A Roxette Fan Listened To His Heart And ...

    Look Sharp!, Roxette's 1988 pop colossus, has a strange story behind its success. The album owed its worldwide breakthrough not to record company promotion, nor the duo of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson touring - not even due to rotation on the all-conquering MTV. Instead, it is the near-unbelievable tale of a young exchange student who ...

  11. Revisit Roxette's 1988 Breakthrough Album, 'Look Sharp!'

    This week in 1989, iconic Swedish pop duo, Roxette were at number one in America with The Look from their platinum-selling second LP Look Sharp! We're revisiting the album and its massive hit singles below. 'Look Sharp!' Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle - aka Roxette - had seen some success in their native Sweden, but it wasn't until an American foreign exchange student brought a copy of ...

  12. Roxette

    About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright ...

  13. Look Sharp!

    LP/CD/MC/MD The CD, MC and MD contain the song (I Could Never) Give You Up.

  14. Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition by Roxette on Apple Music

    Listen to Look Sharp! 30th Anniversary Edition by Roxette on Apple Music. 2022. 52 Songs. Duration: 3 hours, 15 minutes. ... Roxette. POP · 2022 . Preview. Disc 1. Disc 2. January 12, 2022 52 Songs, 3 hours, 15 minutes ℗ 2022 Roxette Recordings and Parlophone Music Sweden a division of Warner Music Sweden AB. Also available in the iTunes ...

  15. Roxette

    Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). They are Sweden's second-best-selling music act after ABBA.. Before coming together to form the duo, Fredriksson and Gessle were already established artists in Sweden.Fredriksson had released a number of solo albums and Gessle was the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, a ...

  16. Roxette

    Look Sharp! is the second studio album by the Swedish rock duo Roxette. It was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm and at Trident II Studios in London between March and June 1988. The album was ...

  17. Roxette

    Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCh7iY0jKvjszpQFy9HykAw Roxette Hits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2C5TjS2sh4&list=PLgaFNC_I_Zkl7Jif6wiDMy-wD...

  18. Roxette

    Two new box sets document this unique Scandinavian success story. "Boxette" brings Roxette's stage dynamic back. "Boxette" is a four DVD collection of five live shows, spanning from 1988 to 2001. It covers concert footage from the two tours following the release of "Look Sharp!" in 1988 and 1989, as well as material from later ...

  19. Roxette

    Roxette - Look Sharp! More images. Label:Capitol Records - 50999 687116 2 7, EMI - 50999 687116 2 7, Roxette Recordings - 50999 687116 2 7: Series:Rox Archives - Vol. 2: ... Look Sharp! (LP, Album, Stereo)Parlophone, Parlophone: 064-79 1098 1, 064 79 1098 1Europe: 1988: Recently Edited. Look Sharp! (Cassette, Album)EMI, Parlophone ...

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