The Look

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This article is about the Roxette song. For other uses, see Look (disambiguation).
"The Look"
File:TheLook.jpg
Single by Roxette
from the album Look Sharp!
B-side "Sleeping Single"
Released 12 January 1989
Format
Recorded 1988 at EMI Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Length 3:57
Label EMI
Writer(s) Per Gessle
Producer(s) Clarence Öfwerman
Certification Gold (USA, NZ, Canada)
Roxette singles chronology
"Chances"
(1988)		 "The Look"
(1989)		 "Dressed for Success"
(1989)
Music video
"The Look" on YouTube

"The Look" is a song by the Swedish rock duo Roxette, released as the second single in early 1989 from their second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). The song became Roxette's international "breakthrough" single, finally exposing the duo to music consumers outside of the duo's native Sweden and Europe after more than one attempt. It topped the U.S. singles chart in 1989 becoming their first U.S. #1 success and scored #7 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also topped the charts in 24 other countries. This song is also known as "She's Got the Look" [1]

Background

While still unknown outside of Sweden, Roxette released their second album Look Sharp! With the success of the first two singles from the album, they toured Sweden again. When "The Look" was about to be released in Sweden as the third single, an American exchange student named Dean Cushman 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.

With the song's radio success, EMI quickly released "The Look". Suddenly, Roxette had a #1 scoring single in the United States, and the record wasn't even released. When Look Sharp! was finally released, it was able to debut on the U.S. album charts at #50, an unusual feat at the time for a newcomer artist, and later scored #23, eventually staying in the charts for 71 weeks.

According to Gessle the first two verses lyrics were guide lyrics but were kept anyway; however, many listeners interpret such lines as "tasted like a raindrop", "heaven's got a number when she's spinning me around", and "shaking like a mad bull" as sexually connotative.

"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[2]

Track listings

All formats were released on 12 January 1989, (by EMI/Parlophone; 1363337). Also released on many formats, including 3" CD, 5" CD, 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 few exist in clear vinyl.

Remix: "The Look '95"

"The Look '95"
File:The Look '95.jpg
Single by Roxette
from the album Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! - Roxette's Greatest Hits
Released 1995
Length 5:08
Writer(s) Per Gessle
Roxette singles chronology
"You Don't Understand Me"
(1995)		 "The Look '95"
(1995)		 "June Afternoon"
(1996)

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 single were eventually included on the European release of the single "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore".

Track listings

CD maxi 1
  1. "The Look" (Chaps 1995 remix) – 5:08
  2. "The Look" (Chaps Donna bass mix) – 6:53
  3. "The Look" (Rapino club mix) – 5:22
  4. "The Look" (Rapino dub mix) – 5:14
CD maxi 2
  1. "The Look" (Chaps 1995 remix) – 5:10
  2. "The Look" (original version) – 3:59
  3. "Crazy About You" – 3:59
  4. "Dressed for Success" (U.S. mix) – 4:53

Charts

Chart (1989-1996)[3][4][5][6][7][8] Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 2
European Hot 100 Singles 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 1
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
Spain (AFYVE)[10] 1
Swedish Singles Chart 6
Swiss Singles Chart 1
UK Singles Chart 7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
Chart (1995)[11] Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 28
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 47

End-of-year charts

End-of-year chart (1989) Position
Australian Singles Chart[12] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 17

Cover versions

  • Candlelight Red included a modern rock cover of the song on their 2011 album The Wreckage, and released the single "She's Got the Look" in March 2012.[13]

Appearances in other media

The first appearance of "The Look" was a montage featuring Erika Eleniak and Chris Gartin (as Greg who is always around Shauni at the beach) in the Baywatch episode "The Cretin of the Shallows" of the first season broadcast on 1 December 1989.[14]

In 1990s, an adaptation of "The Look" was used in a television advertisement for India's Lakmé Cosmetics featuring Aishwariya Rai. In 2009, "The Look" was used in a trailer and TV commercial for the game Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.[15][16] It can also be heard on in-game radio station Vice City FM.

"The Look" appears as a playable track in the 2010 music rhythm game Rock Band 3.

The song was mentioned in the Family Guy episode "Baby Not on Board" when Stewie announced his remorse for staying up all night listening to Persian radio.

It served as the theme song for the TV Land reality TV competition She's Got the Look.

The song was covered by Filipina singer Sarah Geronimo and it was used as a promotion for Jag[disambiguation needed] which she is the new endorser of that clothing brand.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ "The Look", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  4. ↑ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  5. ↑ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  6. ↑ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved 30 May 2008)
  7. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  8. ↑ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
8 April 1989		 Succeeded by
"She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals
Preceded by Norwegian number-one single
17/1989 – 24/1989		 Succeeded by
"Eternal Flame" by The Bangles
Preceded by New Zealand number-one single
5 May 1989 – 12 May 1989
26 May 1989		 Succeeded by
"Fire Woman" by The Cult
"If You Don't Know Me By Now" by Simply Red
Preceded by German number one single
26 May 1989 – 23 June 1989		 Succeeded by
"Das Omen (Teil I)" by Mysterious Art
Swiss number one single
28 May 1989 – 16 July 1989		 Succeeded by
"Express Yourself" by Madonna
Preceded by Australian (ARIA) number one single
2 July 1989 – 6 August 1989		 Succeeded by
"You Got It (The Right Stuff)" by New Kids on the Block
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