The Swedish pop rock duo, Roxette consisted of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s,
It was 1981, that Fredriksson sang for the first time with Gyllene Tider on stage and was featured as a background vocalist for a Swedish-language album the band released in 1982. Gessle also worked with ex-ABBA singer Frida, for a song that appeared on her 1982 album Something’s Going On, setting music to a Dorothy Parker poem.
While working on her first solo album, Het vind (Hot Wind), Fredriksson performed more background vocals for Gyllene Tider’s only album in English, The Heartland Café. The 11-track album was released in February 1984 and sold 45,000 copies in Sweden. According to Gessle, the group’s first English-language release was in response to interest expressed by EMI’s American label Capitol Records.
Capitol took six of the tracks and released an extended play (EP) record in the US with an abridged title, Heartland, but the company insisted on a different name for the band. Gessle and the other members of Gyllene Tider (Swedish for “Golden Times” or “Golden Age”) chose the title of a 1975 Dr. Feelgood song, “Roxette”. Wiki
Sweet!
Thanks very much KoolKosher. The European music flair is very American. XOXO Cheers to your upward, spiraling week.