"Dangerous" is a song by Swedish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

duo

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

. Written by

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbande ...

, the song was released as the fourth and final single from their second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Look Sharp!'' (1988). Gessle penned it just before Roxette's first tour in 1987. Released in May 1989, it was the group's third top-10 single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number two. It also entered the top 10 in Australia, Canada, and six European countries. The music video was recorded in the ruins of

Borgholm Castle Borgholm Castle () in Borgholm, Sweden, is today only a ruin of the fortress that was first built in the second half of the 13th century and rebuilt many times in later centuries. It is linked to Halltorp estate, to the south. The castle was des ...

. In the UK and Ireland, "Dangerous" was released as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

with " Listen to Your Heart".

Critical reception

Bryan Buss from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the song as " A/C-leaning". Bill Coleman from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' stated that this "undeniably infectious popper will no doubt keep the super-hot duo in heavy pop radio rotation well into the winter." Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' viewed the song as "another melodic, radio-friendly effort", that's "already doing well in the US."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Dangerous" was filmed during Roxette's concert at

Öland Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Oland'' internationally) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of and is located in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Småland. ...

, Sweden, in July 1989. It is a mix of rehearsal and live performance footage from that show, and was directed by Doug Freel.

Track listings

All songs were written and composed by

except "Joy of a Toy", composed by Gessle and Mats Persson. * 7-inch and cassette single (US 50233) # "Dangerous" (LP version) – 3:50 # "Dangerous" (12-inch version) – 6:26 * 7-inch single (Germany 006-1363707 · Australia A-2358) # "Dangerous" (7-inch version) – 3:46 # "Dangerous" (Waste of Vinyl 12-inch mix) – 6:26 # "Surrender" (live) – 3:12 # "Joy of a Toy" (live) – 4:10 * 7-inch single (Sweden 1363417) # "Dangerous" (7-inch version) – 3:46 # "Surrender" (live) – 3:12 # "

Neverending Love "Neverending Love" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 8 July 1986 by EMI as their debut single. The track was originally written in Swedish by Per Gessle, as "Svarta glas" ("Black Glass"), for recording artist Pernilla Wahlg ...

" (live) – 3:20 * US 12-inch single (US V-56159) # "Dangerous" (Power Mix – long) – 7:02 # "Dangerous" (Power Mix – short) – 3:39 # "Dangerous" (dub) – 3:50 # "I Could Never (Give You Up)" – 3:49 * CD single (Sweden 1363412) # "Dangerous" (7-inch version) – 3:46 # "Dangerous" (Waste of Vinyl 12-inch mix) – 6:26 # "Surrender" (live) – 3:12 # "Neverending Love" (live) – 3:20 # "Joy of a Toy" (live) – 4:10 # "Sleeping Single" (live) – 4:15 * UK and Ireland CD single (CDEM149) # " Listen to Your Heart" (Swedish single version) – 5:12 # "Dangerous" – 3:46 # "Listen to Your Heart" (U.S. mix) – 4:53 # "Dangerous" (U.S. club edit) – 3:46

Credits

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of '' The Rox Box/Roxette 86–06''. Studio * Recorded in May 1988 at EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) * Mixed at EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) Musicians *

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of pop-rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s an ...

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

– lead and background vocals, mixing * Anders Herrlin – background vocals,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

and

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Jonas Isacsson –

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s * Henrik Janson –

talkbox A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

* Jarl "Jalle" Lorensson –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer and musician, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album, ''Pearls of Passion'', in 1986, through to 2016's '' Good Ka ...

– keyboards, programming,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, mixing * Jan "Janne" Oldaeus –

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

* Alar Suurna – mixing, engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dangerous (Roxette Song) 1988 songs 1989 singles 1990 singles Cashbox number-one singles EMI Records singles Music videos directed by Doug Freel Music videos shot in Sweden Roxette songs Songs written by Per Gessle Song recordings produced by Clarence Öfwerman