"The Big L." 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 ...

, it was released on 26 August 1991 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their third studio album, '' Joyride'' (1991). The song became a top ten hit in Belgium, Ireland and Sweden, and was the highest-charting single released from ''Joyride'' in France. It also reached the top twenty in a number of other countries, including Australia, Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Despite a US radio mix of the song appearing on CD versions of the single, it was never released as a single in North America.

Critical reception

Scottish ''

Aberdeen Press and Journal ''The Press and Journal'' is a daily regional newspaper serving northern and Highland Scotland including the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness. Established in 1747, it is Scotland's oldest daily newspaper, and one of the longest-running newspape ...

'' stated that "they can still bang out a decent tune."

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 ...

editor Bryan Buss wrote in his review of '' Joyride'', that "The Big L." follows in the successful vein Gessle and Fredriksson mined with "

The Look "The Look" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released in early 1989 as the fourth single from their second studio album, '' Look Sharp!'' (1988). It became an international hit, and was one of the most successful singles of 1989. It t ...

". Swedish ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' called it a "peppery pop song adorned with details from old rock 'n' roll". ''I Dag'' described it as "classic pop that could just as well be

Gyllene Tider Gyllene Tider (; "Golden Times") is a Swedish pop group fronted by Roxette singer, guitarist, and songwriter Per Gessle. They are one of the best-selling Swedish bands ever and have had numerous hits in Scandinavia, starting with their break ...

in the 90s". Kim Såtvedt from Norwegian ''

Laagendalsposten ''Laagendalsposten'' (lit. The ''Lågendal Post'') is a regional newspaper for Kongsberg and the Numedal, in Buskerud, Norway. Its main office is in Kongsberg. The newspaper is printed in 10.500 copies and has about 50,000 readers. ''Laagendalspos ...

'' named it a "useful up-tempo song". A reviewer from ''

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 ...

'' wrote that the song is "again proof of

's knack for writing pleasant pop underpinned by rocking beats. The casual but economic production further adds to the song's power."

Formats and track listings

All songs were written and composed by

. * Cassette and 7-inch single (Europe 1364347 · UK EM204) # "The Big L." – 4:29 # "One Is Such a Lonely Number" (Demo, September 1987) – 3:33 * 12-inch single (Europe 1364346) # "The Big L." (The Bigger, The Better Mix) – 6:17 # "The Big L." – 4:29 # "One Is Such a Lonely Number" (Demo) – 3:33 * CD single (Europe 1364342) # "The Big L." – 4:29 # "One Is Such a Lonely Number" (Demo) – 3:33 # "The Big L." (The Bigger, The Better Mix) – 6:17 # "The Big L." (US Mix) – 4:35

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''

The Rox Box/Roxette 86–06 ''The Rox Box (Roxette 86–06)'' is a boxed set compilation by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 18 October 2006 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It is an expanded companion piece to the single-disc greatest hits album '' A Collection of R ...

''. Studios * Recorded in June 1990 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 vocals, background vocals *

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

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 ...

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 guitars, acoustic guitars,

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 * Staffan Öfwerman – background vocals * Alar Suurna – mixing, engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big L, The 1991 singles 1991 songs Roxette songs Songs written by Per Gessle Song recordings produced by Clarence Öfwerman EMI Records singles