28 Aug 2007

P, C & C are shopping with mother (I): Junk Opera in LA, Lonely Boys and Per Gessle's plans after the Summer Tour

News from US and from Sweden.

Roxette is over now (or for now). At least it is what we could think after some recent interviews with Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson. I think we should not believe in a fully new Roxette album in 2007 or 2008. However, there is no Official Information about a Roxette-split up.

On 21st August, T. Evensson, from The Daily Roxette, published an interview with Gessle:
T.E.: Right, your new project… Speaking of projects, your other project - Roxette, will it get off the back burner anytime soon? They say Marie was at your Stockholm gig, did you get to discuss anything?
P.G.: Sorry no, no plans there either.
According to Judith Seuma, from The Daily Roxette, Per Gessle will release a new Son of A Plumber's album in 2008.

On 28th August, Álex Pérez, from www.littlemarie.net, interviewed Marie.
Probably the saddest thing was to hear from those lovely lips, which so many times have made us fall in love with her, “I’m afraid that Roxette is over now. We have been there for so many years, now we would like to do new things”. In the other hand, good news for all Marie’s fans, she told Alex that she will release a new solo album really soon, so you better watch out!
LJdM's editor grew up with Roxette's music. Although it is not a surprise, he is sure that many feelings come to us. Per Gessle is working with the SOAP band but we should remember that he likes the revivals of his old projects, as Gyllene Tider. We should consider 2006's Rox Box (with 2 new songs) simply as a revival. We are not really worried if Roxette is over now. They gave great music to us. And Per Gessle has released since 2001 his better albums, in our opinion, together with Clarence Öfwerman and Christoffer Lundquist (P, C & C), with Helena Josefsson as backing singer. We were never so big fans of Roxette, but we are really fans of P, C & C music. We even got angry when a Son of a Plumber's tour were delated because of the recordings of two not very interesting 'new' Rox songs.

I like what RoXoR, an anonymus fan, wrote in TDR:
Well this discusion is totaly worthless. What would it change if they say: “Yes, it is over, Roxette had been a great part of our lifes for so many years, but it is over now!” It will be a part of their lifes and our lifes forever. Would it undo the music they did, would they stop to exist, would all the great memories you have be worthless? The answer is NO. They never said they will stop doing music. Roxette is/ was big enough to get still some money out of it: remastered albums, maybe unreleased demos or even whole songs, live dvds etc. Ever thought about the idea that they both even don’t know if Roxette will make music again!? Per is doing music like there is no tomorrow and spoils us with new music every year. And Marie, well I don’t know, but she IS alive and after all the time of fear and darkness she seems to enjoy life even more with new music, art and so on. Let’s see what the future brings and concentrate on more important things of your own life.


This is Niketa Calame in the world premiere workshop of JUNK: A Rock Opera, performing "Martina Says". Music and Lyrics by Brainpool (2004). Directed by Shakina Nayfack (in the picture with the band in Los Angeles).

2007.09 Brainpool with Shakina Nayfack in LA
August 16, 2007 - L.A., U.S.

There's a lack of spice in every Art Director's life
The Suntanned Ghost is lying face down on the floor
There's a lack of spice in every Copywriter's life
There'll be no waiting around for the Man anymore

Now He's gone and what's the meaning?
I can't see why He had to sacrifice his life
It is yourself that you're deceiving
I shouldn't have to tell you so




And after 20 Swedish towns and 128,800 friends in the audience Per Gessle & his band have finished his latest tour. Thomas Evensson, from the The Daily Roxette, got a word with him.




Life's empty, boring and quite sad to tell the truth. It always is when you’ve finished a tour. So the whole band is singing the blues at the moment!!! Everyone wanted to go on for at least another month. This has been the most enjoyable tour I’ve ever done. Maybe it’s the music, maybe it’s just the cycle of life I’m in at the moment, I’ve got so much more confidence in what I do these days. And of course it helps to have all these wonderful people in the band, both on and off stage. The crowds' reception have been tremendous. That helps, of course. And yes, I’ve got some great songs to play. I’m really proud to be able to offer this smorgasbord of music without even a glimpse at the Roxette door. By the way, I have to send some big hugs to all the incredible fans all over the world who came to our shows this summer. You’re so sweet!!! We loved to see y’all in the front row!

The tabloids tend to see everything in black or white. Check this out: the tabloids ran a story in Malmö’s Kvällsposten the other week just before our Malmö gig. The article mentioned that my tour was by far the biggest one in Sweden this year and that our Malmö-gig was the highlight on the season in that particular area. The headline? "The Fiasco continues"…

I’m 100% satisfied with this tour and the number of people that came by but apparently the blood seeking journalists' commercial expectations were even higher. And I think that whole discussion is a load a crap. I can’t understand why it’s so important if 6000 or 16000 come to a show. The most important thing must be if the concert’s any good! And I'm convinced that the audience thinks so as well.

The last seven or eight gigs all went up the #1 spot immediately!!! The last half of the tour was totally mindblowing. At least to me and the band. I'm thrilled that we recorded the Stockholm gig for the DVD. I've seen a rough copy, and it looks and sounds really amazing!!

I think the difference for the crowd is quite marginal, to tell the truth. Cos this band has got a very high “low level”. We notice ourselves, of course, that we get tighter and better for every show we play. I thought the opening gig was excellent, but sure, compared to the finale in Stockholm, or the burnouts in Örebro or Karlstad, I guess it was slightly weaker.

Plans for Gyllene Tider? There’s nothing there. There’s no fighting at all between us, it’s all in the tabloids wet dreams. And there are no plans either. I'm sure Gyllene Tider will be back sometime in the future, but not for a while. I'm busy doing other things. However, it was a treat working with M.P. on stage again.

Yes, Marie was at our Stockholm gig. Plans for Roxette? Sorry no, no plans there either.

Since we love to play together we have discussed possible options for doing some more. And a club tour has been discussed. Sounds like fun but I really can’t see it happen until late 2008 at the earliest. Unless, we’ll do a couple of shows in Finland/Norway later this year. At the moment, I don’t know.
Per Gessle



The album "The Lonely Boys" has been re-released, remastered and with two bonus tracks today in Sweden. The album was released as a limited edition together with the first issue of the book "De ensamma pojkarna" written by Swedish journalist Mats Olsson in 1995. The "real" edition came a few months later, in 1996. The Lonely Boys is a ficticious band basically consisting of:
  • Thomas Nyberg (Per Gessle, from Gyllene Tider) - rhythm guitar & vocals
  • Richard Andersson (Nisse Hellberg, from Wilmer X)- lead guitar, harmonica, maraccas, tambourine & vocals
  • Lasse Göransson (Thomas Holst, from Wilmer X) - bass guitar
  • Roland Bergström (MP Persson, from Gyllene Tider) - Vox- & Hammond organs, piano
  • Kalle Johansson (Micke Syd Andersson, from Gyllene Tider) - drums & tambourine

Per wrote himself in Stockholm in March 1996:
Who are The Lonely Boys? Good question. The Lonely Boys was from the beginning the name of a novel written by the Swedish writer Mats Olsson. The story was about a young rhythm'n pop band located in the south of Sweden circa 1965. Mats asked me and a mutual friend Nisse Hellberg if the two of us could provide a soundtrack for this book, writing and recording what could in fact be The Lonely Boys' debut album. What a wonderful idea. A soundtrack to a book. It must be a first. So, Nisse and I formed The Lonely Boys together with some friends and recorded the album in 6 days and nights. Did we have a ball! All of the 14 songs are originals except Jagger/Richards' "So Much In Love". The Rolling Stones never recorded it but The Inmates did. And now The Lonely Boys. To get the sound we wanted we used only equipment from the era; reverbs, echo chambers, amplifiers, guitars, microphones. Everything in our power was done to make the record "for real". The debut album by a Swedish rhythm'n pop band 1965. Nisse can usually be found in the rhythm'n blues combo Wilmer X. And myself is paying the rent with money made from Roxette records. We plan it to stay that way. This is a one-off project for both of us that we enjoyed enormously. Lots of laughs, lots of beer and a lot of love for the '60s. Don't you wanna come?
In our honest opinion, The Lonely Boys was the previous step before the "Son of a Plumber" sound. Per came back to his roots: rock, rhythm'n blues, ... And after it, he seriously thought about forming a new personal "small" band and making the music he likes so much.

In 2007 the album has been remastered, has a new sleeve and of course the two bonus tracks; namely the demos of "Lonely Boys" and "Adam & Eve."

And what do we know about Christoffer Lundquist and his studio?


Originally from Melbourne, Dean Stevenson first played drums with Texas Blues band ‘The Conrays’ before Tasmania beckoned and brought him to the attention of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music where Dean earned the 2004 Directors Prize - the first in the history of the award to be given to a contemporary performer - in his first year for outstanding performance. Dean soon began many associations that spurred successful working groups and a steady flow of shows that had Dean working most nights almost immediately. Dean was a founding member of Funky Hammond trio ‘Recliner’ and soul group ‘Velour’. He has toured with Mick Thomas for five years on The TANK show.

His partnership with guitarist Dave Wilson began shortly after arriving in Hobart. Quickly forming the band 'Wilson, Dean and Hope' with bass player Nigel Hope, they began an interesting phase in Tasmanian music as Dean marked his new territory as a versatile singer/drummer. For 3 years WDH made music that changed Deans direction towards music. This was fuelled by regular writing sessions at Dave Wilson’s house in the hills outside Hobart.

Upon Nigel Hope’s departure of WDH, Dean and Dave continued as an acoustic duo, Dean taking up the guitar. This produced a broader feel to Dean’s playing and writing as the harmonic element to the sound was now in his hands. The duo, now named ‘4 Letter Fish’, had a resident show each week at Hobart’s Irish Murphy’s. This waterfront venue proved a great working ground for Dean and Dave to create their textured sound. A year later and to augment these wide, lush sounds, a new feel was needed. Shayne Rodgers (drums) and Pat Breen (bass) were recruited to fill out the band that had created a unique show paying tribute to the British 60’s and 70’s rock and psychedelia that fuelled their sound. The band worked so well, Dean took them into the studio to record an array of songs he had written largely on the tours of the previous years and from the sounds 4 Letter Fish had inspired. Dean had found the right team to play the songs written in his own unique fashion drawing on Brit pop sounds and his own blends of folk and contemporary ideas.

In Time’ (2005) was his first major recording, and his first to be made in Tasmania. According to Dean, this new collection of songs is due to having a great collective team about him. It’s these people who support music that make it happen and inspire the songs.



Dean wrote in April 2007:

"Through the togetherness with Producer Alistair Campbell we're making a new album in June. We have 16 days to make a record at Aerosol studio in southern Sweden near Vallarum. We leave with a boot full of tunes and empty space ready to record. It's just been made official, so I'll keep you knowing what's going on and keep a regular diary of the event itself. A bit like race around the world except different."
Now we can see the pictures and watch the videos of two Australian guys that have spent this summer time in Christoffer Lundquist's studio.

19 Aug 2007

Sandy Mouche's new ideas (I): new songs for a coming album - Fans keep the band virtually alive


According to Helena Josefsson (as it is said in her website and in SM Official Guestbook), Sandy Mouche is thinking about a new album.

On 21st May 2007, Helena said: "Martinique and I were in Paris last week, singing some Sandy Mouche songs, and he got some fun ideas about new projects for us! So next week, after Ola Blomgren´s (guitarist) wedding, we will discuss this! I hope it will be a positive result and then Martinique and I can start writing together!!".

On 14th July 2007, Helena said: "We have just found new ideas for the next album!".

HJ and MJ, August 2007 - by Lotta Josefsson
Picture by Lotta Josefsson, August 2007

And today she has written: "Martinique is writing new songs for a coming album. We will start recording it the coming winter"




According to Björn Folbert, he was checking out The Smashing Pumpkins at Vega in Copenhagen last week with his friends Hanna Karenil, Martin Josefsson, Helena Josefsson and Jimmy.



Meanwhile, the drummer Per Blomgren has been working in Fred Whitling's new solo album. Fred Whitling (aka Fred Vaine) is a singer from Malmö that played with the bands Plastic Soul (with Johan Duncansson, Helena Josefsson and Per Blomgren, between 1996 and 2000) and Sing (in 2001, with Johan Duncansson and Per Blomgren). When his high school's friends began other projects (The Good Mornings and The Radio Dept), Fred joint other bands like The Resurrection (Morning has broken my heart EP, 2003) , The Heartfalls (C'mon Baby, Album, 2005) and Achordian (My dear listener, Album, 2004; A product of the 80's, Album, 2007), usually playing the bass together with Jesper Bjellerup (leadvocals and guitar) and Jakob Bjellerup (drums and backing vocals). Fred left Achordian before their second album and began to work in a solo project with some friends (The Downloaders) like Per Blomgren. Whitling has released some songs in his myspace. We can find things about Fred there:
Fred Whitling would like to think of himself as a contemporary crooner, inspired by the humble and modest hope that his experiences and reflections communicated in song might reach out and touch some people. He has played music for as long as he can remember, and has written songs since his early teens. After graciously serving time with several southern Swedish bands he decided last year that it was time to go solo and to move to Italy. So he did. Fred amusingly likes to think of his backing group as The Downloaders. The set-up of the band varies depending on who happens to be in town when he calls. He hereby wishes to express his heartfelt thanks and love to all concerned. All songs are written by Fred Whitling. The recording took place at Mission Hall Studios and was engineered by Henrik Larsson.
'The Downloaders' consist of Fred Whitling (vocals, piano & guitar), Tobbe Larsson (keyboards), 'Plastic' Per Blomgren (drums), Marcus Anderberg (double bass), Henke Larsson (guitar), Emil Johannisson (backing vocals) & Edith Söderström (backing vocals).

This summer, we could notice that Sandy Mouche is still alive in Wikipedia and Fan Forums.




I was at Youtube today, searched for Helena Josefsson, found the user Sandy Mouche. And look what i found!! Sandy Mouche's videos:


Enjoy!!



We have started a poll in the HJ Official Forum about fans' favourite song of Sandy Mouche. Hard to decide! Cherry Pie is my favourite one. You can listen to some of their songs on their myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/sandymouche or in the Sandy Mouche's Music Player http://www.sandymouche.com/

Cherry Pie (2003) - 33 %

C'est pas juste (2003) - 33 %

Spiderweb suit (2006) - 33 %




Spiderweb suit:
soundtrack in New York Waiting


The Sandy Mouche song "Spiderweb Suit" is featured in the film "New York Waiting" by Joachim Hedén. Premiere in Greece: June 28th, 2007 as "Perimenontas sti Nea Yorki"





Tyko Runesson is a musician and guitar builder from Malmö. Now he has a new website for his handmake acoustic guitars.

Ola Blomgren, from Sandy Mouche, made the design of the logotype, visiting card and the label of the guitars.


Today I have been completing the first article in English about Sandy Mouche in Wikipedia. There was no reference in English, only in Swedish. Ilya Volkov, a Russian fan, had written a good article in wikipedia (August, 2006) about Helena Josefsson, but there was no article about Sandy Mouche. If you want to complete something, please do it. I have taken most of information from the official website. Update it if you want to.

SM in Wikipedia


Sandy Mouche is a Swedish band from Lund, Skåne County, southern Sweden. It consists of songwriter- and singercouple Martinique and Helena Josefsson, and the brothers Per (drums) and Ola (guitar) Blomgren. On live shows they bring a bassist and a pianist. They sing in English and French.

Sandy Mouche was born ...(2001)

Sandy Mouche was born on a beach on Crete, Greece, fall 2001. The Josefsson couple and Per with his girlfriend Hanna was on a holiday together as Martinique showed them a song, “A Year”, in his minidisc. They sat in a café on the beach, eating. The song was vibrating, with its thin sound. The melody, the voice of Martinique and the chords were strong and told us to start a band. Down by the towels again, we started looking for a name. Per and Helena had already played together for six years in other groups, but Martinique had played in other constellations.

Per dug the hot sand and shouted: -”Sandy!” Helena watched her new family. All three had a mouche in their faces, on the left side. Sandy Mouche had then seen the light of day. It sounded like a woman´s name. We would lay there telling each other about who she was. Then the idea to sing in French and English was born. To this day, the band believes she is a young woman who lives in every band member making sure we stay on the right track.

It didn´t take long before Pers big brother Ola was part of the band.

The E.P. (2003) and White Lucky Dragon (2004)

Demos were recorded in Per´s bedroom, and in a studio together with Danyal Taylan, who played the bass from that point until 2004. An EP was released and sent to producer Christoffer Lundquist, who with his huge ears and genuine feeling felt like the perfect collaborator. Sandy Mouche decided to release an album, White Lucky Dragon (2004) on their own label- Magpie Music. Magpies love things that glitter and collect them.

Swedish band Sandy Mouche doesn´t use thick distorsion and a cocky attitude to get your attention. It is just the other way around. They offer dual-language pop that grows the more you listen. Come to a concert and an arrow is fired towards your heart. The arrow spreads warmth from he inside and out. Somebody said they sound like they set a John Bauer-painting to music. A transparent fairy is mirrored in the silent, dark small lake- surrounded by the black, high forest where sorrow and the often so difficult triviality interrupts.

White Lucky Dragon was released in Sweden and Japan.

... and poems for the unborn (2006)

Sandy Mouche …”and poems for the unborn” is the last treasure of the band, financed by the band itself, distributed by Playground Music Scandinavia and Junk Music. Recorded and mixed in 10 early summer days with a collection of songs that believe in the ability of the listener. That you feel like coming into their world where it´s okey to be insecure or kind. An opportunity to step out of the pup and be reborn into the person you were meant to be. The last album is more shattered than the debut. The songwriters have written separately. We can find disco ( ”Baby Can´t Stop”), a mixture of Joanna Newsom and ABBA ( ”Fairies & Alves” ), cheerful pop ( ”Une Histoire” ) a blend of children´s music and Benjamin Britten (”Laisse les anges te protéger”). Sprinkled with a little soul and jazz. The group says that they have made the record they would like to buy themselves.

Future

Since 2006, Helena Josefsson, Martinique Josefsson, Per Blomgren and Ola Blomgren have been working in solo projects, although Sandy Mouche will probably record a new album soon, according to Helena and Martinique words. They have also made some promotion of …”and poems for the unborn” with gigs in France and Switzerland.

On February 28th, 2007, Helena Josefsson released her first solo album, Dynamo, produced by Christoffer Lundquist. Helena has worked with Per Gessle (Roxette), The Ark, Righteous Boy, Swan Lee, Andreas Johnson, Sebastian Karlsson, Gyllene Tider... and is a member of Son of a Plumber. Dynamo does not break the Sandy Mouche project: in fact Martinique Josefsson and Per Blomgren have been working in Helena's solo project (in the studio and/or in the gigs).

Albums by Sandy Mouche

  • Sandy Mouche (spring 2003) - ep
  • White Lucky Dragon (September 2004) - just in Sweden and Japan
  • ...and poems for the unborn (January 2006) - so far in Sweden only

Albums by Helena Josefsson

  • Dynamo (February 2007)

Singles by Sandy Mouche

Singles by Helena Josefsson

  • By Your Side (2006)
  • Never Never (My Dynamo) (2007)
  • Where Does the Unused Love Go? (2007)

Videography by Sandy Mouche

  • Cherry pie (dir. Johan Tholsson)
  • C’est pas juste (dir. Per and Ola Blomgren)
  • Papillon (dir. Jeffry Rich)

Videography by Helena Josefsson

  • By Your Side.

Links


17 Aug 2007

HJ's spreading summer light (VIII): Malmöfestivalen

Helena Josefsson has played in Malmö festivalen. Some fans were there. Sandra, from Kristianstad, SE wrote: "After Tingsek's concert, I went to Helena Josefsson's one. She had really a fantastic radiation and a great voice. No other artist at Malmöfestivalen was as good as Tingsek or Josefsson."

Ann de Vos (a.k.a. spyboo), from Kapellen, Belgium, said: "Hej Helena. I just got home from my lovely vacation in Sweden, where the intention was to go look Per (about 6 times), but ended up looking more at you than Per. So just wanted to say, thanks for the great concerts (also thank Per) and your really great album, it's sort of my summer revelation. Good luck!". Carolina Josefsson, from Malmö, SE added: "Idag sjunger Helena, min syster , på Malmöfestivalen =) såklart ska familj och vänner dit och lyssna på henne!".

2007.08.17 Helena at Malmöfestivalen - Postis-Poesi 2

During the Malmöfestivalen, Helena Josefsson read some poems by South-Swedish new authors. All the poems were taken from Postis-Poesi, an anthology published by Sydsvenskan.

2007.08.17 Helena at Malmöfestivalen - Postis-Poesi 1




During the tour with Gessle we have moved to Malmö, it feels good to be closer to the sea and a lot more concerts to go too! I am charging myself for Friday, the show at Malmöfestivalen which will be with the full band. And then we go to Berlin to play, and I think it will be wonderful!

See you on Friday!
Helena 15.08



Malmöfestivalen - Malmö
www.malmofestivalen.se

I am still trying to melt the concert last friday, I have never experienced something like that before!
The audience was incredible and helped us be better than ever before! What happens now, is we go to Berlin in September to represent Sweden at the Pop Komm festival, and my booker Johan at Blixten & Co tries to book 5-8 gigs around Sweden for this autumn!
And we will keep working towards releasing the album abroad, so far nothing has happened!

Helena 19.08
Helena Josefsson (Sandy Mouche)


HJ, August 2007 - by Lotta Josefsson
Picture by Lotta Josefsson


It seems Helena Josefsson's fans have been supporting her this summer while she tries to relax from time to time with friends and family.



I have added forums in other languages to the Helena Josefsson's Official Forum. You can also discuss in Swedish, German, Spanish and French now. I thought it was the right time to add it, because we are getting more members now. And more members means also more international. I hope you like it and use also the new forums. Thank you to the users for the idea! That´s why we have the Feedback section.





Dany Etchart is a Brazilian fan that has been in Sweden this summer. Her videos are marvelous.



By the way, Helena Josefsson's Unofficial Fanclub has got new moderators like "Papillon". We hope the forum could be more active now. Furthermore, both the Official Forum and the Unofficial Fanclub's members have chosen their favourite songs from Dynamo.



We have started the HJ Official Forum with a poll about fans' favourite song of Helena Josefsson's Dynamo album. Isn´t it sometimes hard to pick only one song? Hard to decide! Where does the unused love go? is the final winner.

Third single (Swedish Radio) - Where does the unused love go? - May 28th, 2007

1. Where does the unused love go? - 30 %
My favourite. I loooove that song. Maybe it's the most original song in the album. At the same time, it has a sort of classic sound.

2. Waterlily love - 23 %
So sweet ... Sweet as sweet can be

2. Never never (my dynamo) - 23 %
The second single. A happy love song! It makes you feel very good!

4. Sleepyhead; Into the woods; Ghosts - 7 %


Nicole Breuer - HJ Official Forum



I know it is a hard choice but I ask to the members of HJ Unofficial Fanclub Portal which song is their fav at the Dynamo album? My fav is Meadow. These are our results:

1. Never never (my dynamo) - 37 %
2. Where does the unused love go?, Waterlily love, Meadow,
By your side, Big bad wolf
- 12 %

Emma Sonesson (aka BiLLY), from Höganäs, SE - HJ Fanclub Portal



Le Journal des Mouches has added the results of both polls:

1. Never never (my dynamo) - 28,57 %
2. Where does the unused love go? - 23,81 %
3. Waterlily love - 19,05 %
4. Ghosts; Into the woods; Sleepyhead;
By your side; Big bad wolf; Meadow
- 4,76 %
LJdM


Linda Bengtzing has been crowned Turnedrottning (tour queen) of the year by Swedish news paper Aftonbladet (www.aftonbladet.se). The poll was taken by over 5000 readers with Linda romping to victory with over 18% of the total vote! Below is the complete list of the top touring Swedish female acts as published by Aftonbladet. Helena Josefsson is the number 19.

Aftonbladet


  1. Linda Bengtzing 18,1 %
  2. Nanne Grönvall 12,7 %
  3. Maria Andersson (Sahara Hotnights) 9,7 %
  4. Annika Norlin 6,2 %
  5. Sonja Aldén 5,6 %
  6. Maja Ivarsson (The Sounds) 5,5 %
  7. Marit Bergman 3,7 %
  8. Amy Diamond 3,6 %
  9. Sarah Dawn Finer 3,0 %
  10. Laleh 2,6 %
  11. Molly Sandén 2,6 %
  12. Miss Li 2,2 %
  13. Sofia Karlsson 1,8 %
  14. Anna Ternheim 1,8 %
  15. Maia Hirasawa 1,7 %
  16. Jessica Andersson 1,7 %
  17. Marie Lindberg 1,6 %
  18. September 1,5 %
  19. Helena Josefsson 1,5 %
  20. Shirley Clamp 1,4 %
  21. Charlotte Perrelli 1,1 %
  22. Lotta Engber 1,0 %
  23. Sanna Nielsen 1,0 %
  24. Kikki Danielsson 0,9 %
  25. Sophie Zelmani 0,9 %
  26. Elin Lanto 0,8 %
  27. Velvet 0,8 %
  28. Lill-Babs 0,8 %
  29. Annika Thörnquist (Da Buzz) 0,6 %
  30. Frida Hyvönen 0,5 %
  31. Veronica Maggio 0,5 %
  32. Mapei 0,5 %
  33. Linda Sundblad 0,5 %
  34. Anna Book 0,4 %
  35. Emilia 0,4 %
  36. Pernilla Andersson 0,3 %
  37. Asha Ali 0,3 %
  38. Sofia Källgren 0,2 %
  39. Emmon 0,2 %
  40. Victoria Bergsman 0,0 %
By the way, HJ Unofficial Forum has got a new administrator.
LJdM


I'm a girl who is 16 years old. I live in a small little place in Småland, Sweden. I'm a big fan of Per Gessle and it was in that way I discovered Helena Josefsson. I knew who she was because I had heard her on his albums, and one evening when I had nothing to do I visited www.sandymouche.com and listened to some songs. I thought they were great and bought their albums. And well... then Helena released her soloalbum and I loved that to. I've never met Helena in person or seen her live (only four times this summer together with Per), but I hope I will have the oppurtunity to do that soon. I love Helena and think she is fantastic. I love how she goes her own way and just being herself. That is admirable. She always seems so sweet and happy and that makes me happy too.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Now I am one of the site administrators of the HJ Fanclub Portal: "Papillon".




Hi... i am Marc Xavier LeBlanc... aka Bones... I'm a radio show host and DJ from Canada and i'm a big fan of Helena Josefsson and Sandy Mouche.

I am the host of (((la photo sonore))) radio show, that is every thursday nights from 7 to 9pm (Atlantic Standard time) - CKUM Radio J 93.5fm - and available online

On 16th August, I have played 28 songs. Numbers 26 and 27 were "In to the woods" and "By your side", from Dynamo.
Marc Xavier Leblanc, DJ Bones

12 Aug 2007

EHM Turné 20 - Stockholm






12 August Stockholm Sjöhistoriska

Official video

Per Gessle speaks about the last gig on the bus towards the capital:
Have stained our long, high, newly cleaned bus with yet another eastern German hamburgerjoint. Christoffer needs a doubledecker! Yesterday we played Brunssparken in Örebro. Now the final concert at Sjöhistoriska museet in Stockholm is waiting, lots of friends and colleagues are said to be turning up and the only thing I can say is that it's a pity the tour will be over soon. Another month would have been perfect. A club tour perhaps.....
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

According to Expressen and Marcus, from Roxette Service, some 12.800 spectators from Sweden and from all around the world came out to Sjöhistoriska Museét in Sweden's capital Stockholm on 12 August last to see the final concert for 'En händig man på turné 2007' (128.800 visitors in total). Having had Roxette-colleague Marie Fredriksson watching the show from the lighting stand before heading backstage, Per Gessle was a very happy man after the gig, as he felt that the audience with with him all the way through. He thinks he has never had such a good crowd on the stage.

It was fantastic fun. Goodbye performances are always somewhat special. It is a completely wonderful band. I have certainly done a 1,000 gigs in my life, but I've never felt such an authority in the band. They have been become so big throughout the country. I clearly notice that they carry backbones.

I am more than satisfied with the result and with my concerts, I am convinced that the audience is so too. Now we feel empty, dreary and depressed just like usual. The entire band is suffering from a hangover. All wanted to continue at least for another month. Honestly, this has been the funniest tour ever. Wonderful people in the band, both on and off the stage. A fantastic audience as always, shitcool songs to play. It feels fantastic to be able to offer a song firework like this one without having to open the door to Roxette.
I will start working on something new. An upcoming project with Marie Fredriksson or Gyllene Tider? Not just now, but it could happen in the future. There are no plans at all. For sure there will be more GT in the future, but that takes a long time. No plans with Roxette either. I am uptaken with other stuff. I will continue at the same speed. I write when it feels good. They are all the others who are lazy.

Thanks all of you who came and roared, bellowed, danced, tailed, were born and wore yourself out on this tour. An unforgettable journey that was far too short!! It tastes for more, but how???? But now there actually is a break for once. I'll be cooling down quite a bit, will start writing new songs a bit, schmooza a bit with an eventual third single from 'En händig man', perhaps a tiny bit of TV but in principle: b-r-e-a-k...

The Stockholm gig yesterday was just enormous! Overall the best gig of the entire tour!!! Quite unbelievable that we recorded this one for a DVD-movie that will be released in the autumn. I hope you all will have a superb end to the summer, make more babies, enjoy the blue sky and don't rely on evening papers!!!

Tjoho from the handy one
Per Gessle


Comments by fans:

Well, finally i am back!! I have need some days of relax after my journey, that's why i didn't write until now! What can I say... I´m sooo happy, it has been my best holydays ever!! Sweden is an amazing country, it is incredible beautiful and people were really nice with me and my friends.

The concerts of Per Gessle were incredible, I got the 1sr row in all of them (I had to sleep in the queueu in the Stocholm gig but i got it!!). Per was just awesome, he has been my idol since i was 9 and after seeing him live i must say i like him more than ever!! (i had seen him before with Roxette but this time was even better). He signed our Spanish flag we had took to the shows and i also got one of the picks he throw to the audience so i am extremely happy! Me and my friends were the ones who sang louder and jump the most and Per loved that, he was always laughing with us.. even we throw him a bra to see his reaction (and as we know they were recording that gig to make a dvd im sure we will appear on it! LOL). Wow it was really amazing.
Helena and Clarence were also great with us and they even took a pic with us when we asked them.. we also presented Helena with a t-shirt we had made with this message on the front: "I´m a Gessle addicted" that she inmediatly put on.. i would have loved to see Per´s faces when he saw the t-shirt! LOL

The 3 concerts I went to were amazing but the best one for me was the one in Vasteras. That night was just magic. We were there for 10 days and must say once again that the country is incredible (Malmo, Halmstad, Borgholm, Stockholm, Uppsala, etc,etc) , people very nice and my partners of the journey (fans of Mr.Gessle from different parts of Spain) were the best people i could have asked for. I started to miss them as soon as i got to Madrid again.. It has been a dream for me and I know they have been the most important part of this dream so i am very thankful for such great people. I cant wait to get back there, definetly i'll have to go soon!

It was hard to go back to Spain.. i mean, i missed my family but i was having such a great time that i didnt want the journey to come over.. we even had warm weather with no rain at all! (what is really strange.. swedish told us that the we, as we come from a sunny country as Spain, had brought with us the sun of Spain LOL)

In short: I´ll go back to Sweden as soon as i can and i would be the luckiest girl alive if I could go with the same people of this journey and of course if i could see Per´s live again!


Beatriz, from Madrid - - (aka bevispain)


Tickets from the EHM Turné signed by Clarence, Christoffer and Helena.
Photobucket

Terese Alwinder (aka Torras), from Uppsala, SE - - gessle.blogg.se


11 Aug 2007

EHM Turné 19 - Örebro






11 August Örebro Behrn Arena


Per Gessle wrote in his blog:
We have played Brunssparken in Örebro. I played there in 1980s, perhaps 1981, with Gyllene Tider. Today turned out to be a quite excellent evening, most cheerful audience of the world and a peppering applaud to the orchestra came up, ruthless but nice. Loose and easy but overall the same...
Per Gessle

Comments by fans:

… and what would be the chance of (again!) just standing outside a hotel waiting for a taxi like last time to take you to the concert venue to suddenly realise the bus your stood next to is in fact the tour bus and you didn’t realise you where in the same hotel as the band and then you turn around to see Helena stood right behind you! She happily posed for photos, I’ll never forget that moment in Örebro August 2007! Ahhh the memories of those days!


10 Aug 2007

EHM Turné 18 - Västeras






10 August Västerås Lögarängen


Per Gessle wrote these words on 8th August (two days before the concert):
Day off in the sun. Warm again. I'd gotten used to my coat. Nice... and most of all a sin to complain... Am drinking strange juices with the children, teach myself how to use a new film camera (why are manuals so complicated, and I indeed are handy...) and a playing wonderful songs by e.g. Dylan: 'Just Like A Woman' (live at the Albert Hall, 1966), a masterpiece!!!!!!), Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell's 'The River' by brilliant Blue... and 'Chick-e-Chack' BY Docent Död. Almost air guitar position.

Chantal (a.k.a. chantie79), from Alkmaar, Netherlands, were in Jönköping and Malmö. This is her story:
It's strange how things can go sometimes. Last year I was so fed up with Gessle, I never listened to his music anymore. When his album was about to come out, still nothing happened with me. I was not interested. I was skeptical, to say the least, about 'En Händig Man'. I didn't like 'Son Of A Plumber' and now after giving it another chance, it's still my least fave. But then... somehow, out of nowhere, the wave hit me again. A friend sent me the songs from the new album. Per's promoteam posts a compilation video of the Mazarin-tour online... people start talking... a buzz goes around the Roxette-community on Internet... a tour is planned! Summer is coming!! CHANTIE GOES TO SWEDEN!! The trip to Sweden was fantastic. It was a dream. It was.... uncomplicated, for the first time. It was hilarious, warm, sunny, delicious, pretty, joyful and everything else. It was exactly what I needed! I've gotten a little closer to Sweden this summer. It seems I understand the language better every time I go back. I remembered places I've been to and coming back felt better than I expected. This vacation was a dream. I can't wait to do it again. I have to go back to see someone there, I promised him I'd come back. You see, I found a man dressed in white and he smiled at me from a distance... I wonder how long it's going to last this time. How long will these three shows keep me up? What's the next thing that pushes me away from this man? We'll see. Until then, I'm love-sick...


Gessle also speaks about Västeras concert in his blog:
Västerås. Believe it or not but it has been just as cool there! Fucking fab audience and the band in top shape after a 4-day break, calm and time-off from me!!!!Six plusses of five possible ones!!! An additional hurra! to all international visitors who came and greeted; from Argentina, Spain, Norway, the UK, Brazil, etc. You are a bit mad but just fantastic!!!!!