"They said they had David Bowie on board. They had Go West, Natalie Cole.... and they wanted us to write a song for the soundtrack”: How Roxette repurposed a Christmas song for the Pretty Woman soundtrack and ended up with a US number one

"They said they had David Bowie on board. They had Go West, Natalie Cole.... and they wanted us to write a song for the soundtrack”: How Roxette repurposed a Christmas song for the Pretty Woman soundtrack and ended up with a US number one

There’s less of a link between successful movies and hit singles these days, but back in the glory days of the CD single, getting your song into a box office smash could make your career. Just ask Berlin (Take My Breath Away) or Wet Wet Wet (Love Is All Around) or for that matter Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) whose record-breaking 16-week stay at the top of the UK charts in 1991 has only recently been beaten by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean.Or inde…

"The stench of success was horrible for a lot of people." How David Bowie, Jane's Addiction, self-loathing, bitterness and jealousy led Gavin Rossdale to write Everything Zen, the song that turned unknown Brits Bush into superstars in America

One day in 1993, George Michael's former manager Rob Kahane received a tip from a producer friend at London radio station GLR about a band called Bush who were receiving unusually enthusiastic support from listeners for a demo track, titled Honky Manchild, that had been aired on alternative/indie DJ Gary Crowley's show. None of Kahane's many contacts in the British music industry seemed to care about the London quartet, or even be aware of the b…