The Look
| "The Look" | |
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| Song |
This article is about the Roxette song. For the band, see The Look (band).
"The Look", written by Per Gessle and released as a single in late 1988 and early 1989 from the album Look Sharp!, is considered to be Roxette's international breakthrough, finally exposing the duo to music consumers outside of its native Sweden and Europe after more than one attempt. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989 and reached #7 on the UK singles chart.
Background
Roxette released their second album, Look Sharp! and toured Sweden again. The album was a triumph in Sweden, but a flop everywhere else. An American exchange student returned from Sweden and urged radio station KDWB in Minneapolis to play "The Look". From there, "The Look" spread on cassette copies to other radio stations. Suddenly, Roxette had a hit single in the United States, and the record wasn't even released. When it finally was released, it was able to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 50 - an unusual feat at the time for a newcomer artist - and went on to peak at 23.
The song samples/extrapolates, albeit with modifications, the well-known "na na na na na..." sequence from Wilson Pickett's song "Land of a Thousand Dances". This section also bears direct comparison with the end of the Beatles "Hey Jude", which also features the "na na na" pattern. The repeated chord structure in both songs starts on the tonic (I), then goes to the flat VII, IV, and back to the I. [[1]]
According to Gessle the first two verses lyrics were guide lyrics but were kept anyway :-
"Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer"... the first two verses are guide lyrics, words just scribbled down to have something to sing. Couldn't come up with anything better, so we kept them. Everybody gets lucky sometimes...
Per Gessle, Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! liner notes.[2]
Track listings
All formats were released on January 12, 1989 (by EMI/Parlophone; 1363337). Also released on many formats, including 3" CDS, 5" CDS and 12" vinyl. Included on most of those was The Look (Head-Drum Mix). The first edition of the vinyls was in red vinyl. A precious few exist in clear vinyl.
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Remix: "The Look '95"
| "The Look" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
Background
"The Look '95" is a remixed version of Roxette's hit song and it was only released commercially in the UK in connection with the release of their greatest hits album "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! - Roxette's Greatest Hits".
This version of the song does not appear on the album, but two of the versions from this album were eventually included on the European release of the single "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore".
Track listings
- CD maxi 1
- "The Look" (chaps 1995 remix) (5:08)
- "The Look" (chaps donna bass mix) (6:53)
- "The Look" (rapino club mix) (5:22)
- "The Look" (rapino dub mix) (5:14)
- CD maxi 2
- "The Look" (chaps 1995 remix) (5:10)
- "The Look" (original version) (3:59)
- "Crazy About You" (3:59)
- "Dressed for Success" (U.S. mix) (4:53)
Cover versions
An cover of the song in English-language was recorded by the Spanish band, The Stunned Parrots.
Charts
| Chart (1989)[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 47 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 2 |
| French Singles Chart | 12 |
| German Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 10 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 1 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 7 |
| Chart (1995)[7] | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 28 |
References
- ^ "The Look", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)