I’ve been belatedly catching up with Roxette’s 3-CD remix collection ROX RMX, which came out in September last year but which was another acquisition from my recent UK trip.
With 45 tracks, it’s a solid representation of the band’s career, with songs from albums from 1988’s Look Sharp! through to 2016’s final Good Karma. (Pedant note: nothing from 1986’s Pearls Of Passion, which is no surprise, since that wasn’t a hit outside Scandinavia.)
But a quick glance at the track listing shows some tracks do appear multiple times. Indeed, a detailed analysis shows the 45 tracks reduce down to 24 individual songs (plus two remix medleys incorporating multiple songs).
These are the songs that showed more than twice and how often they appeared:
| Title | Count |
|---|---|
| The Look | 5 |
| Stars | 4 |
| Fading Like A Flower | 3 |
| Wish I Could Fly | 3 |
So a third of the compilation is covered by just 4 tracks. (Pedant note: I’m not counting appearances in the two medley tracks, or the occasional incorporation of a riff from that song into another remix.)
Some of this is not surprising. ‘The Look’ was Roxette’s breakout hit globally and still, arguably, the group’s signature song.
‘Fading Like A Flower’ was also a major hit, including in its Dancing DJ vs Roxette 2005 hit version (which makes an appearance here).
‘Stars’ is perhaps more surprising. That said, the Almighty reswizzle is genuinely one of my favourite Roxette remixes.
But three remixes of late-ish single ‘Wish I Could Fly’ would not have been on my predictions list.
Another eight tracks appear twice, but that’s not as disruptive to the listening flow. Here they are:
- Crush On You
- Dressed For Success
- Milk And Toast And Honey
- Reveal
- She’s Got Nothing On (But The Radio)
- Some Other Summer
- The Centre Of The Heart (Is A Suburb To The Brain)
- Why Don’t You Bring Me Flowers?
Final bonus fact: The average remix length on ROX RMX is 4:31. As the band once wisely titled a greatest hits compilation: “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”.
For more pop musings, check out the songs ABBA could never release as singles or Tina Turner’s forgotten Australian touring career. For more PopMaths™️, check out the average age of the celebrities mentioned in ‘Wrap Her Up’.
Main image: Wikimedia Commons
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