Look Sharp! (Roxette album)

Look Sharp! is the second studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette. The album was released on 21 October 1988, 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 there.

Look Sharp!
Studio album by Roxette
Released	21 October 1988
Recorded	March – September 1988
Studio	EMI Studios, Stockholm Trident II Studios, London
Genre	Pop pop rock
Length	53:12
Label	EMI
Producer	Clarence Öfwerman Adam Moseley
Roxette chronology
Dance Passion (1987) Look Sharp! (1988) Joyride (1991)
Singles from Look Sharp!
"Dressed for Success" Released: 3 August 1988 "Listen to Your Heart" Released: 27 September 1988 "Chances" Released: 28 December 1988 "The Look" Released: 18 January 1989 "Dangerous" Released: 10 May 1989

Although commercial success elsewhere was initially modest, the album was the duo's international breakthrough. It went on to be certified platinum or multi-platinum in numerous territories, while four of its singles went on to become global hits. "The Look" and "Listen to Your Heart" both topped the Billboard Hot 100, while "Dangerous" and "Dressed for Success" reached numbers 2 and 14 respectively on the same chart.

Background and release

"Dressed for Success" and "Listen to Your Heart" were released as the album's first two singles in Sweden, with Gessle and EMI choosing to highlight Fredriksson as Roxette's lead vocalist.[1] They were immediate hits in Sweden, peaking at numbers two and three respectively.[2] "Chances" was released as the album's first single in France, Germany and Italy, but it failed to chart.

"The Look" was released as the album's fourth single in January 1989, becoming another top 10 hit in their home country.[2] While studying there, an American exchange student from Minneapolis, Dean Cushman, purchased the album and brought it home, giving a copy of it to his local Top 40 radio station, KDWB 101.3 FM.[3] "The Look" quickly became popular, and the station began distributing the track to their sister radio operations.[4][5] EMI America had previously rejected the duo as unsuitable for the American market, and Roxette did not have a recording contract there.[6]

"The Look" had already entered the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100 before the duo began official promotion. It would go on to peak at number one eight weeks later.[7] It gradually became a global hit over the next year, topping the charts in 25 countries.[8] It also spent six weeks at number one on the Australian Singles Chart.[9] The album's previous singles – excluding "Chances" – were re-released internationally. Roxette would go on to have four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Listen to Your Heart"; while the album's final single, "Dangerous", peaked at number two.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Los Angeles Times	[12]

The album received mixed reviews from critics. In a retrospective review, AllMusic complimented its singles, but said that the album tracks "aren't necessarily filler, but they also aren't as strong as many of the cuts that made up Roxette albums that followed. [...] Only 'Chances' and 'Shadow of a Doubt' show glimmers of the skills the duo would soon flourish."[11] A review for Los Angeles Times echoed a similar sentiment, praising its singles and "Shadow of a Doubt" – along with "Cry" – but said that: "the problem is that most of Look Sharp!'s music is of such a light, ephemeral nature that it disappears without a trace the minute the record leaves the turntable. Looks like Roxette's forte is pop music that is prettily presented but totally disposable."[12]

Accolades

Roxette were nominated for two Grammis Awards – the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards – in 1989, for Artist of the Year and Best Pop/Rock Group. Fredriksson and Gessle each won an award for Best Pop/Rock Female and Best Composer, respectively.[13] Both Roxette and Fredriksson won numerous Rockbjörnen awards during this period. They were awarded Best Swedish Album and Best Swedish Group at the 1988 ceremony, and won the latter award again the following year. Fredriksson won the award for Best Swedish Female over four consecutive years, from 1986 to 1989.[14]

Commercial performance

Look Sharp! was an immediate commercial success in Sweden, selling over 140,000 copies within ten days of release.[15] It spent seven weeks at number one,[2] and was certified 6× platinum in the country for shipments in excess of 600,000 units. In the US, the album was certified platinum on 20 January 1990 by the RIAA for shipments in excess of one million units.[16] As of 2005, it sold 402,000 copies there since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in May 1991.[17] It peaked at number four in the UK, where it spent over a year on the charts.[18] It was certified platinum by the BPI in December 1990 for sales in excess of 300,000.[19] As of 2001, Look Sharp! has sold over 9 million copies worldwide.[20]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Per Gessle; all music is composed by Gessle, except where noted.

Look Sharp! – Original 12" vinyl release

No.	Title	Music	Producer	Length
1.	"The Look"		Clarence Öfwerman	3:57
2.	"Dressed for Success"		Öfwerman	4:09
3.	"Sleeping Single"		Öfwerman	4:38
4.	"Paint"		Öfwerman	3:30
5.	"Dance Away"	Marie Fredriksson Gessle	Öfwerman	3:25
6.	"Cry"	Fredriksson Gessle	Adam Moseley	5:19
7.	"Chances"		Moseley	4:57
8.	"Dangerous"		Öfwerman	3:48
9.	"Half a Woman, Half a Shadow"	Fredriksson	Öfwerman	3:35
10.	"View from a Hill"		Moseley	3:40
11.	"Shadow of a Doubt"	Gessle Mats MP Persson	Öfwerman	4:14
12.	"Listen to Your Heart"	Gessle Persson	Öfwerman	5:28
Total length:				50:40

Look Sharp! – Original CD release

No.	Title	Music	Producer	Length
11.	"(I Could Never) Give You Up"	Gessle	Öfwerman	3:58
12.	"Shadow of a Doubt"	Gessle Persson	Öfwerman	4:14
13.	"Listen to Your Heart"	Gessle Persson	Öfwerman	5:28
Total length:				54:38

Look Sharp! – 2009 reissue (CD bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Producer	Length
14.	"The Voice"	Öfwerman	4:14
15.	"One Is Such a Lonely Number" (Demo)	Öfwerman	3:31
16.	"Don't Believe in Accidents" (Demo)	Gessle	3:41
Total length:			66:04

Look Sharp! – 2009 reissue (iTunes bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Music	Length
17.	"Cry" (Demo)	Fredriksson Gessle	5:07
18.	"Dressed for Success" (Chris Lord-Alge/US Single Mix)		4:10
19.	"Listen to Your Heart" (US Single Mix)	Gessle Persson	4:52
20.	"Surrender" (Live)		3:09
21.	"Neverending Love" (Live)		3:27
Total length:			86:49

Look Sharp! – 30th Anniversary Edition (bonus disc)[21]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Look" (T&A Demo) (30 March 1988)	3:29
2.	"Dressed for Success" (T&A Demo) (20 May 1987)	3:22
3.	"Dressed for Success" (EMI Demo) (26–30 May 1987)	3:53
4.	"Sleeping Single" (T&A Demo) (22 May 1987)	3:54
5.	"Sleeping Single" (EMI Demo) (26–30 May 1987)	3:48
6.	"Paint" (T&A Demo) (28 April 1988)	3:36
7.	"Dance Away" (T&A Demo) (9 February 1988)	3:36
8.	"Cry" (T&A Demo) (9 February 1988)	5:08
9.	"Chances" (T&A Demo) (24 November 1987)	4:19
10.	"Dangerous (Acoustic Version)" (T&A Demo) (25 February 1987)	3:08
11.	"Dangerous" (EMI Demo) (26–30 May 1987)	3:29
12.	"View from a Hill" (T&A Demo) (17 November 1987)	3:17
13.	"(I Could Never) Give You Up" (T&A Demo) (18 December 1987)	3:45
14.	"Shadow of a Doubt" (T&A Demo) (9 February 1988)	3:12
15.	"Listen to Your Heart" (T&A Demo) (9 May 1988)	4:26
16.	"From Head to Toe" (EMI Demo) (26–30 May 1987)	3:20
17.	"Never Is a Long Time" (EMI Demo) (26–30 May 1987)	3:53
18.	"(I Could Never) Give You Up" (Album Version) (bonus track on vinyl editions of the reissue)	4:00
19.	"The Voice"	4:16
20.	"One Is Such a Lonely Number" (EMI Demo) (September 1987)	3:34
21.	"Don't Believe in Accidents" (Demo) (Spring 1988)	3:43
Total length:		79:08

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Look Sharp!.[22]

• Roxette are Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson
• Recorded at EMI Studios, Stockholm, Sweden and Trident II Studios, London, England
• Remastered by Alar Suurna at Polar Studio, Stockholm (2009 reissue)
• All songs published by Jimmy Fun Music, except: "Dance Away", "Cry" and "Half a Woman, Half a Shadow" published by Shock the Music/Jimmy Fun Music

Musicians Marie Fredriksson – lead and background vocals, piano, keyboards, mixing Per Gessle – lead and background vocals, mixing Per "Pelle" Alsing – drums and hi-hat Erik Borelius – Spanish guitar Graham Edwards – bass guitar (tracks 6, 7 and 10) Erik Häusler – saxophone (track 3) Anders Herrlin – background vocals, bass guitar, engineering, programming Jonas Isacsson – electric and acoustic guitars Henrik Janson – talkbox (track 8) Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson – harmonica (track 8) Adam McCulloch – saxophone (tracks 6 and 10) Morris Michael – electric and acoustic guitars (tracks 6, 7 and 10) Adam Moseley – engineering, production (tracks 6, 7 and 10) Clarence Öfwerman – background vocals, keyboards, programming, production Jan "Janne" Oldaeus – slide guitar Alar Suurna – engineering, mixing Andrew Wright – keyboards, programming (tracks 6, 7 and 10)

Technical Julian Adair – production assistant (tracks 6, 7 and 10) Kjell Andersson – sleeve design, executive producer Carl Bengtsson – photography Lennart Haglund – engineering assistant Mikael Jansson – photography Rolf Nygren – executive producer Pär Wickholm – sleeve design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1988–89) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 3 Canadian Albums (RPM)[25] 5 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[26] 17 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[27] 8 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 7 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29] 85 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[30] 12 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] 1 Spanish Albums (Promúsicae)[32] 6 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[2] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[18] 4 US Billboard 200[34] 23

Year-end charts Chart (1989) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 17 Canadian Albums (RPM)[36] 20 German Albums (GfK)[37] 38 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 2 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 4 US Billboard 200[40] 81 Chart (1990) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 56 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[42] 58 German Albums (GfK)[43] 11 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[44] 21 US Billboard 200[45] 45

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[41]	3× Platinum	210,000^^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[46]	3× Platinum	150,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[47]	6× Platinum	600,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[48]	Platinum	54,376[48]
Germany (BVMI)[49]	2× Platinum	1,000,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[50]	2× Platinum	200,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[51]	Platinum	15,000^^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32]	Platinum	100,000^^
Sweden (GLF)[52]	6× Platinum	600,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[53]	2× Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)[16]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
Summaries
Worldwide		9,000,000[20]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "Digital booklet". Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus (liner notes). Roxette. Stockholm, Sweden: EMI Records. 1995. 7243 836203 2 6.CS1 maint: others (link)
2. "Swedishcharts.com – Roxette – Look Sharp!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
3. Ninni O Schulman (14 April 2001). "Sagan om Roxette: Tacka Dean för succén" [Lord of Roxette: Thank Dean for success (part 2)]. Expressen (in Swedish). Bonnier AB. Archived from the original on 20 April 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
4. J.D. Considine (23 September 1989). "Sweden's Roxette Is Making It Big Almost by Accident". Los Angeles Times. tronc. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
5. "Talking Shop: Roxette's Per Gessle". BBC News. BBC. 15 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 April 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
6. Dennis Hunt (13 May 1990). "Roxette Ridicules Rumors". Los Angeles Times. tronc. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
7. Gary Trust, Fred Bronson (11 February 2015). "Rewinding the Charts: In 1989, Roxette Roared Onto the Hot 100 With 'The Look'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
8. Simon Collins (27 October 2011). "Roxette are on a roll". The West Australian. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
9. Gavin Ryan (3 August 2013). "ARIA Singles Report: Avicii Is Longest Number One Swedish Act Since Roxette". Noise11. Paul Cashmere. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
10. "Roxette Album & Song Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
11. Bryan Buss. "Look Sharp! - Roxette | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
12. "Milli Vanilli "Girl You Know It's True; Roxette "Look Sharp!"". Los Angeles Times. tronc. 4 June 1989. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
13. "Grammis 1989 - nominerade/vinnare". Grammis (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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15. Therese Färsjö (9 May 2009). "Den otroliga sagan om Roxette" [The incredible saga of Roxette]. Expressen (in Swedish). Bonnier AB. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
16. "American album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp!". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
17. Keith Caulfield (16 August 2005). "Billboard.com > Ask a Question > Roxette's Rocky U.S. Relationship". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
18. "Roxette | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
19. "British album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp!". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Look Sharp! in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
20. Ninni O Schulman (15 April 2001). "Sagan om Roxette: På väg tillbaka - eller?" [Lord of Roxette: On the way back - or?]. Expressen (in Swedish). Bonnier AB. Archived from the original on 5 June 2001. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
21. "Roxette: Ein Pop-Meilenstein wird 30: Roxette feiern drei Jahrzehnte "Look Sharp!"" ["Roxette: A pop milestone turns 30: Roxette celebrates three decades of Look Sharp!"] (in German). Warner Music. 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
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27. "Finnish album charts 1966-1995: Heinäkuu 1989 July". Suomen Albumi Listat. Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
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31. "Norwegiancharts.com – Roxette – Look Sharp!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
32. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 8480486392.
33. "Swisscharts.com – Roxette – Look Sharp!". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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35. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1989". ARIA. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
36. "Top 100 Albums of '89 Albums/CDs - Volume 51, No. 8: Dec 23, 1989". RPM. RPM Library Archives. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
37. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 1989". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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39. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1989" (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
40. "Billboard 200 Year End 1989". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
41. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums Chart 1990 (1–60) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 50)". ARIA, via Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016. N.B. The triangle symbol represents platinum certification, with the number beside it specifying the level of platinum achieved.
42. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1990". MegaCharts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
43. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts 1990". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
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45. "Billboard 200 Year End 1990". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 21 January 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
46. "Austrian album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp!" (in German). IFPI Austria.
47. "Canadian album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp". Music Canada.
48. "Roxette" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
49. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Roxette; 'Look Sharp')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
50. "Dutch album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp!" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Look Sharp! in the "Artiest of titel" box.
51. "New Zealand album certifications – Roxette – Look Sharp!". Recorded Music NZ.
52. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
53. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Roxette; 'Look Sharp!')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.

External links

• Look Sharp! (CD version) at MusicBrainz
• Look Sharp! (LP version) at MusicBrainz