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Pearls of Passion XL

I don’t know why Pearls of Passion wasn’t given the thirtieth-anniversary edition treatment that Look Sharp!, Joyride and Tourism got, but I’m going to make a wild guess that it was because Roxette had just wrapped up the Neverending Tour and Per needed to take a bit of a breather.

Even though it got overlooked, over the years, most of the known tracks related to the album have been released in some form so this is mostly putting everything together.

Pearls of Passion: XL Edition

The first part of this puzzle is the artwork. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely, but it was designed long before digital music was a mainstream thing. With album artwork now being displayed at roughly half the size of a CD cover, it makes it a bit hard to read the title. My suggestion is to enlarge the existing art just slightly and add an “XL Edition” subtitle.

Album

  1. Soul Deep (3:41)
  2. Secrets That She Keeps (3:48)
  3. Goodbye to You (4:03)
  4. I Call Your Name (3:39)
  5. Surrender (4:23)
  6. Voices (4:46)
  7. Neverending Love (3:30)
  8. Call of the Wild (4:32)
  9. Joy of a Toy (3:09)
  10. From One Heart to Another (4:11)
  11. Like Lovers Do (3:25)
  12. So Far Away (5:17)

Demos

The majority of songs eventually recorded for the album were originally meant for Per’s third solo album, which is why a few of the demos are in Swedish. The demos appeared on releases sporadically through the years. The first was “Voices” on the Neverending Love maxi. Per’s På väg, 1982–86 box set from 1990 included the original demo of “So Far Away” — “Som i en dröm”. In 1997 we got “Neverending Love”, “Secrets That She Keeps” and “I Call Your Name” on the Pearls of Passion: The First Album re-release. 2014’s expansive The Per Gessle Archives box set filled some more holes with the inclusion of another eight Tits & Ass demos, and 2020’s Bag of Trix featured seven demos from the Montezuma Studio sessions on 25 and 26 July 1986.

  1. Like Lovers Do (demo, 3 February 1984) — Per Gessle
  2. From One Heart to Another (demo, 13 February 1984) — Per Gessle
  3. Like Lovers Do (demo, 24 February 1984) — Per Gessle
  4. I Call Your Name (demo, 11 April 1984) — Per Gessle
  5. Svarta glas (demo, 13 October 1985: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:02)
    The original Swedish version of “Neverending Love”
  6. Neverending Love (demo, 16 October 1985: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:15)
  7. Som i en dröm (demo, January 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (5:07)
    The original Swedish version of “So Far Away”
  8. Hjärta av glas (demo, 6 January 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:00)
    Presented for the album, but not used
  9. Fly Like the Wind (demo, 18 February 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:00)
  10. Dansar nerför ditt stup i rekordfart (demo, 7 May 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:56)
    The original Swedish version of “Soul Deep”
  11. En känsla av en kvinna (demo, Spring 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:56)
    The original Swedish version of “Call of the Wild”
  12. Jag älskar (jag tror inte hon förstår) (demo, Spring 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:42)
    The original Swedish version of “Surrender”
  13. Neverending Love (demo, Spring 1986: Tits & Ass) (2:45)
  14. Goodbye to You (demo, Spring 1986: Tits & Ass) (3:10)
  15. Joy of a Toy (demo, 14 July 1986: Tits & Ass) (2:51)
  16. Like Lovers Do (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (2:02)
  17. From One Heart to Another (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (3:06)
  18. Goodbye to You (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (2:29)
  19. Pearls and Passion (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (2:40)
  20. Joy of a Toy (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (2:25)
  21. Jag älskar (jag tror inte hon förstår) (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (3:20)
    The original Swedish version of “Surrender”
  22. Som i en dröm (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (4:15)
    The original Swedish version of “So Far Away”
  23. Voices (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (4:05)
  24. I Call Your Name (demo, 25–26 July 1986: Montezuma Studio) (3:04)
  25. Secrets That She Keeps (demo, 15 August 1986: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:54)
  26. It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted) (demo, 14 April 1987: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (4:20)

Outtakes, B-sides and non-album tracks

Thrown in for good measure are the two non-album singles I Want You and It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted) from 1987 as well as their B-sides.

  1. Pearls of Passion (3:35)
  2. I Want You — Eva Dahlgren, Ratata & Roxette (4:37)
  3. I Want You (digital lägerelds mix) — Eva Dahlgren, Ratata & Roxette (3:30)
  4. It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted) (4:49)
  5. Turn to Me (2:58)

Mixes and edits

Aside from the remixes released on singles in 1986–1988, an alternate mix of “Goodbye to You” by René Hedemyr—originally having appeared on a 12-inch vinyl of the single which was never released—was released on the 1994 bootleg Sweet as a Nut.

  1. Neverending Love (Love mix) (3:59)
  2. Neverending Love (extended club mix / Euro mix) (4:30)
    Remixed by René Hedemyr, also on Dance Passion
  3. Goodbye to You (mix) (6:43)
    Remixed by René Hedemyr
  4. Soul Deep (remix) (3:52)
  5. Soul Deep (extended mix) (5:16)
    Remixed by Kaj Erixon, also on Dance Passion
  6. Neverending Love (7-inch mix) (3:19)
    Remixed by Frank Mono
  7. Neverending Love (12-inch mix) (5:14)
    Remixed by Frank Mono
  8. I Call Your Name (7-inch mix) (3:21)
    Remixed by Frank Mono
  9. I Call Your Name (12-inch mix) (5:52)
    Remixed by Frank Mono

There are probably more tracks gathering dust in Per’s (digital) drawers, but this is as good a start as any. Live tracks from the Rock runt riket tour would be a nice addition, but that’s probably wishful thinking.