The Look

"The Look"
Single by Roxette
from the album Look Sharp!
B-side	"Sleeping Single"
Released	12 January 1989
Format	7" single 12" maxi CD maxi
Recorded	1988 at EMI Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Genre	Pop rock
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.

7" single "The Look" – 3:56 "Silver Blue" (demo) – 4:05 12" maxi "The Look" (headdrum mix) – 7:16 "The Look" (7" version) – 3:56 "Silver Blue" (demo) – 4:05

CD maxi "The Look" (headdrum mix) – 7:22 "The Look" (7" version) – 3:58 "Silver Blue" (demo) – 4:06 "Sleeping Single" (demo) – 3:46 12" remixes "The Look" (Visible Mix) – 6:03 "The Look" (Power Radio Mix) – 4:09 "The Look" (Big Red Mix) – 7:33 "The Look" (Invisible dub) – 5:11 "Silver Blue" (demo) – 4:00

Remix: "The Look '95"

"The Look '95"
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
Canadian RPM 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 IRMA Singles Chart	10
Italian Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ 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 which she is the new endorser of that clothing brand.

References

1. "Roxette - News". Roxette.se. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
2. "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! liner notes.". www.pergessle.net.
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. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
10. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
11. UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 10 April 2008)
12. "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 50 Singles 1989". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
13. "Candlelight Red Hits Radio Hard With She's Got The Look Single / Prepare To Hit The Road With Trapt". Evigshed. 2012-03-01. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
14. Bonann, Gregory J.; Brad Alan Lewis (2000). Baywatch: Rescued from Prime Time - The Official, Behind-the-Scenes Story of the World’s Most Popular TV Show. Beverly Hills, CA: New Millennium Press. p. 200. ISBN 1-893224-09-0.
15. "Roxette's official website".
16. "GTA: The Ballad of Tony Gay - official website".

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics