Greetings, Forever Knights!!

By the time I had gotten to that one year and a half of college I took many moons ago, my musical tastes included four different Swedish bands or groups – ABBA (thanks to my Humanities professor’s obscene insistence that any free time in the auditorium had to be filled with the palindromed band’s melodies), Ace of Base (yes, I got sucked into it.  No, I don’t regret it), Yaki Da (produced by one of the members of Ace of Base, but never went anywhere in the US), and Roxette.  Of the four, only one can hold the distinction of being the first and the longest to last, to the point where I still listen to them regularly even to this day – Roxette.

It would be in the late eighties – sometime in 1988 to be exact, that I would hear their first hit single: “The Look”.  A catchy fusion of pop and rock, I would constantly be on the lookout for anywhere this song might get airplay – radio, MTV (back when MTV still played these cool things called “music videos”, some mix tape someone might happen to be playing (back when you could rip songs off of the original media to create your own custom-made life soundtrack without even an batted eyelash from faceless, corporate big-wigs).  The song was the closest I got to rocking out at the time (I know, I was a wuss in junior high… and senior high… and college… and currently as an adult), and I relished every moment when both the male lead and female lead (Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson) would jam together, either with rocking harmonies or while tagging each other on single leads.  By the time their next couple of singles came out (“Dressed for Success and “Listen to Your Heart”), I knew I had to get the album on cassette (back when music was put on magnetic tape).  “Dressed for Success” capture the same energy I liked from “The Look”, while “Listen to Your Heart” appealed to the hopeless romantic I was from seventh grade up to… what time is it right now?

When I finally got that album, I played the hell out of it, memorizing every note and lyric.  It was the first album I owned that didn’t contain a single song that I didn’t like.  I went through batteries on my Walkman like crazy (back when Sony was the top maker of portable music players).  And as is usually customary for an angsty teen who has found his musical muse, I thought ever song was about me.

Over the course of the next few years, I would pick up each and every album Roxette put out – Joyride, Tourism, and finally Crash! Boom! Bang! The last one I had to buy twice – the first copy I bought was part of a special music deal that McDonalds had with select bands (back when you could eat McDonalds without thinking about how bad it is for you).  Unfortunately, the version of Crash! that the McD was selling only contained select singles from the full album.  Irritated and jonesing for my fix, I went to my local Camelot Music (back when the store existed), and special ordered the full album.

Sadly, Roxette fell off the radar in the US right after Crash! came out, and I thought that that would be the last release I would ever hear from what became my favorite band of all time.  They sang the soundtrack of my life.  Every note they played, every note they sang, described every high and low I was going through during my young life.  And suddenly, there would be no more.

Well, it turned out that Roxette kind of faded out in general after Crash! But they weren’t down for the count.  It would be another five years after that album, but they came back with a slightly updated sound with Have a Nice Day in 1999.  By that time, I was almost done with my four years of Air Force service, and still kind of a wuss when it came to music.  The new album didn’t make it to the states, unfortunately.  Luckily for me, there was this thing called the internet just starting to make a name of itself (back when most people had to tolerate a series of screeches just to connect through a phone cable).  On a lazy day (which was probably every day), I decided to look up the band I still held a candle for.  And lo and behold, I discovered this new chapter of my soundtrack just beckoning me to order it from their website.

So I did.

It certainly wasn’t the same guitar-pop I was used to.  The band instead offered a more dance mix kind of sound.  I didn’t hate it, but I missed the guitar licks and perfectly blending vocals of the earlier albums.  It would also be the first album that contained a song or two of theirs I didn’t like.  Still, over time I would come to love this album just like all the rest, adding these musical narratives to the growing soundtrack of my life.

One more album would be released by Roxette in 2001 – Room Service.  This album seemed to be the meshing of the two sounds that Roxette had come to embody – dance and pop-rock.  I found myself enjoying this album more than the last, as I felt that the band finally found a perfect balance in their music.

Sadly, that album was the last one we’ve gotten, since Marie Fredriksson fell ill to a brain tumor in 2002, just over a year after the release of Room Service.  When I found out the news, I was hit hard.  The band that seemed to know my heart in and out, the band that I would easily listen to over any other, was hit by such a major blow.  I played their music almost all of the time after I found out, almost as if – in some way – I was sending my best wishes across the ocean to the female half of the band that I also considered my musical soul mate.

Fortunately, the operation Marie had to remove the tumor was a success.  She managed to survive, but did suffer some disabilities.  But despite the impairments, she hasn’t quit making music.  After releasing a couple of solo albums following her recovery over the past couple of years, she and Per made an announcement earlier this year that they were working on some more material together.  Originally, Gessle wouldn’t directly state if it was a new Roxette album, but he left a number of hints.  He has since mentioned that a new single is due out in December, with a new album expected next February.

I still continue to listen to Roxette all the time.  Since their last album, my tastes have expanded a bit, and I have picked up quite a few other favorite bands.  But time and time again, Roxette is always at the core.  If I can’t figure out what I want to listen to – Roxette.  If I’m feeling a particular, emotional high or low that I think only one band can understand – Roxette.  They are the band that has gotten me through most of my entire life.

And come February – if there be a new album, you can guarantee it will be played non-stop for a long time.

The Don loves the sound of crashing guitars.

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 9:54 pm and is filed under Donnie Sturges, Fandom, Music, stuff. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.