“Hello, you fool, I love you – Come on join the Joyride!” Admit it….when you hear it on the radio, you sing along. “Joyride” by Roxette was tearing up the radio airwaves in 1991 with rocking guitar riffs and “whistling a private tune.” Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle eased their way onto the radio scene with their smooth voices and sexy spiky hairdos. Roxette enjoyed international success from the mid 1980’s through 1990s. Their first US hit was “It Must Have Been Love” on the Pretty Woman soundtrack in 1990. Their album “Joyride” was released the next summer, and quickly became the song I was always singing to myself.

The Swedish pop duo Roxette became my favorite band when I decided it was not cool to like New Kids On The Block anymore. I was so obsessed, that I actually did my 6th grade country report on Sweden. I remember walking all the way (over a mile!) to Fred Meyer, with my stonewashed denim purse, to buy the Joyride cassette (with my babysitting money, of course) I was thrilled when the cassette inside was bright blue, instead of the usual white, clear, or black casings.The “Joyride” music video was so fun! It made me want to ride on the back of a red Corvette with carnival-esqe leggings and a black leather corset. My favorite song on the album was actually “Fading Like a Flower,” but it never got as popular as “Joyride.” Did you love Roxette too?