Roxette

[InvisibleMan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ghosty[/i]
<br>

Well, if it makes you feel any better in roughly 50 years the playing field will be leveled because I doubt anyone will remember Roxette or even an NWO approved band like Gang Of Four either. [;)]
[/quote]

not if they decide to create a Roxette musical called "The Look", and then make a movie based on it [:D]

[tileboy]

KJ

[eLeMeNOhPeaQ]

[quote][i]Originally posted by InvisibleMan[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>The most obvious Roxette thievery is Listen to Your Heart. If you start that song and then begin singing Heart's "What About Love" from the very beginning, you have a mashup that is all ready to be in an episode of Glee...
[/quote]

you're right, very similar melodies...too similar.

If you google plagiarism and roxette you will find there was also a court case with some other Swedish composer..
[/quote]

I always thought the end of "Listen To Your Heart" sounded a lot like Joan Jett & The Blackhearts' "Little Liar".

[InvisibleMan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by guyinsf[/i]
<br>Even though this section is called New Wave and General 80's discussion shouldn't the band be at least new wave since this site is called New Wave Outpost? Otherwise anyone can start a thread about Paula Abdul or Debbie Gibson, then it will become just another 80's site and not necessarily new wave which I thought this site was about. Maybe there should be a section called Non-New Wave 80's.
[/quote]

sorry but this site is not called "AlternativeMusicOutpost"... and I am pretty sure that a lot of New Wave bands were just as much pop..

and I don't think that Paula Abdul and Debbie Gibson are quite the same thing as Roxette.... that would be like equating Depeche Mode with Thompson Twins...yeah exactly the same thing

[djcraig]

Somebody's got their panties in a twist.

It's interesting that you feel so compelled to explain and convince us how "legit" Roxette is, especially when compared to other lightweight 80s artists that arguably had more impact. That you must plea for validation proves the point of your detractors more than anything else they could say.

The fact that you don't get this is an unending source of amusement.

You've got to learn to untie your sense of personal worth to whether or not the majority of contributors to this thread agree with you or you're going to be upset for a very long time.




<a href="http://www.djcraig.net/los_angeles_dj">DJ Craig</a>

[Frank_Chickens]

Roxette just proves that on the whole the Swedes weren't that good when it came to pop music.

Chris, what on earth happened to the German music scene?? In the early 80s it was cool and cutting edge with bands like Malaria, Ja Ja Ja and Amok then suddenly David bloody Hasslehoff became your musical icon?? How did things screw up so quickly?

[budaniel]

considering Abba is one of the most picture perfect pop bands ever, I wouldn't say Swedes are bad at pop. Of course, they're a pretty impossible act to follow, so no one else really stands a chance.

[ghosty]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>considering Abba is one of the most picture perfect pop bands ever, I wouldn't say Swedes are bad at pop. Of course, they're a pretty impossible act to follow, so no one else really stands a chance.
[/quote]

Gotta agree with that. The song "Waterloo" alone is better than any pop song by anyone in the 80's. In my opinion, however, the golden age of Top 40 pop was clearly the 60's. I may have affection for Top 40 pop hits of the 80's because I grew up during that period but nothing from the 80's approaches the sheer pop ecstasy of this:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MCUO7F2xjzw" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>

[budaniel]

it's not even Abba's hit singles that are their shining moments in most cases. their entire catalog of music really transcends pop--Benny and Bjorn really wrote mini-masterpieces orchestrated and then sung by the girls (and multi-layered vocally) to a level beyond anything any pop artists are doing these days. They were clearly classically trained and took that and applied it to pop sensibilities.

[InvisibleMan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>considering Abba is one of the most picture perfect pop bands ever, I wouldn't say Swedes are bad at pop. Of course, they're a pretty impossible act to follow, so no one else really stands a chance.
[/quote]

also considering that majority of pop songs on US radio from late 90's to today are produced in Sweden. Really, Britney wouldn't even have a career had it not been for Swedish pop. Nor would Gaga or Katy Perry or a few of the boy bands of that time. [:D]

as far as ABBA, well they were not taken seriously by many either... and regional differences were huge. Just compare the number of number one hits they had in UK with that in US..

for me they were close to the 80's version of ABBA... though there were some more interesting pop bands from Sweden at that time....some I'm still discovering thanks to the internet.

then in the 90's Sweden gave us Ace of Base, Cardigans, and oh so quirky and fun Army Of Lovers... AOL were freaky and unique pop when Gaga was still taking dumps in her diaper. [:D]

[Frank_Chickens]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>considering Abba is one of the most picture perfect pop bands ever, I wouldn't say Swedes are bad at pop. Of course, they're a pretty impossible act to follow, so no one else really stands a chance.
[/quote]

Which is why I put 'on the whole'.

[ExRat]

My brain is so full of WTF right now.

[schwenko]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ExRat[/i]
<br>My brain is so full of WTF right now.
[/quote]

1+

the voice of reason

[InvisibleMan]

[quote][i]Originally posted by chris74[/i]
<ll.

In Germany during the late 80s/early 90s our ears were tortured with Roxette on the radio: I simply couldn't stand it anymore. Now, however, I like their Spanish songs very much.
[/quote]

I always knew Germans have great taste in music and great sense and appreciation for melodies.... so no wonder Roxette was popular. Some of the best synthpop, commercial dance and rock come from Germany too... just like they do from Sweden. I think the fact that both are Schlager influenced cultures might have something to do with that as well [:D]

Roxette was and still is a very popular band in many Western and Eastern European countries

[ghosty]

Well, here's my handy way of looking at Pop music thru the ages:

20's to 40's - Awesome. Gershwin, Berlin, etc.
50's - Influx of Rock leads to awesomeness (with some dreck).
60's - Awesome all the way through. Pop from this era has stood the test of time (much like 20's to 40's)
70's - Great but ideas are running out fast.
80's - Good up to about 1985 and then arrangement and song construction dies a death in favor of cheap thrills and never recovers.
90's - Pop radio splinters into "formats". What's Pop? What's not? Are Boyz To Men and Hole both Pop? I guess so. Who cares?
00's - Ugh (American Idol)
10's - Ugh (so far)

That's a generalization of course. Rock has it's own quick summation [;)]