written by Per Gessle

produced by Clarence Öfwerman

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And away we go...

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In 1990, Roxette contributed a new, grown-up version of billion-

dollar mega-hit “It Must Have Been Love” to the film Pretty Woman

and its soundtrack, which together with Go West’s “King Of Wishful Thinking” made the soundtrack soar. In 1993, Roxette were all set to contribute a new ballad called “Almost Unreal” to the upcoming Disney motion picture Hocus Pocus, starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, and so part of the song’s chorus was written to reflect that. However... it would appear the deal was destined not to happen. Whoever made the decisions, the song and the film ultimately failed to come together.

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When they found out about the Hocus Pocus project, songwriter Per Gessle—who was somewhat known for sneaking references to other songs into his writing—indeed slipped the phrase “hocus pocus” into the chorus of “Almost Unreal.” But when the song got discarded from the Disney film—thus rendering “hocus pocus” in the chorus rather moot—it found its way over into another current film, a film that happened to be based on the most famous original video game in Nintendo’s history.

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Roxette’s Per and Marie Fredriksson were unsure how they felt about this new song of theirs being used in the Super Mario Bros. movie. They learned the film would be starring Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper, which seemed appealing. But... then they saw the movie.

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Now... let me be clear: as a 10-year-old in 1993 who was heavy into the early Super Mario Bros. games, I

personally always liked the movie... and still do, now as well for its nostalgic element. Buuuuuut, at the same time, I do see—quite literally—why it absolutely bombed. Like a lot of films that came out decades ago and were either non-hits, or positively DOA box office poison, SMB has since achieved some cinematic cult status. But at the time... OH, wow... I since learned that working on the film was basically a nightmare for everyone involved... except the directors, a(n ostensibly tyrannical) husband and wife team, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel—who have worked on a few other projects since, but are clearly no Spielbergs. Sadly, the film seemed to be a failure on just about every level. Though just to reiterate... I always liked it and still do...

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I should be glad things turned out the way they did, because although I’m sure I’d heard “The Look” and “It Must Have Been Love” on the radio before this, the SMB movie—mainly the end credits, which I’ve always regarded as just as much a part of films as any other—was my real introduction to Roxette. And so I do have it to thank for that. Even as a pre-teen, somehow, I knew there was something about this particular song that was really special to me. The last piece of score in the final scene leads nicely into the credits. And funnily enough, the FIRST thing we see before the credits even begin is...

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...Interesting... is this supposed to be telling me something, personally?...

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As to the song itself, when I read Per and Marie’s actual comments on this song in Rox compilations where it appeared, I suppose I was... a bit deflated. I guess maybe they themselves weren’t as crazy about the song as I was. In the notes of one compilation, they teasingly referred to the song as rather sounding like a parody of themselves. In another, they referred to it simply as “cute.” But they performed it live in concert for a number of years, and it remains a nice piece of their hit repertoire. And it’s still to this day and forever my all-time favorite Roxette song.

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(So that’s my favorite song by my favorite band. Does that make it the all-time unbeatable #1 for me? Well... it’s up there. It is among the few that really stand out for me today. Back in the mid-’90s and ’00s when I was still influenced by ’90s pop culture and less mature, another was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. Today they’re more along the lines of “Forever Young” by Alphaville, “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora, “St. Elmo’s Fire” by John Parr and a couple others.) “Almost Unreal”’s official music video features Per and Marie performing in an arcade-style video game—in homage to the film—being played by a teen boy, with scenes from Super Mario Bros. scattered here and there. An alternate version of the video also found its way out, but completely devoid of any scenes or references to the movie whatsoever

(pretty neat as well, but my favorite Roxette music video has always been one called “June Afternoon”). I’ll link to the video’s alternate version as well, though the quality’s a bit inferior.

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I’ve got five—count them, five—different versions of “Almost Unreal” to display here, two of which are demo versions by Per that he first made in February ’93. He wrote “Almost Unreal” as we know it first, then tried a separate version with a different lead chorus line and different title, “Sweet Emotions.” They returned to the debut version, deciding “Sweet Emotions” wasn’t what they wanted. The “Almost Unreal” single dropped first, on May 10th. It led off the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack, which came out on Capitol Records (partner of Roxette’s then-label EMI) on May 18th. Finally, the movie itself hit theaters on May 28th. So here are two versions of the demo, the produced soundtrack version, and two mixes. Hope they live up to all the hype I’ve been heaping on them.

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

demo #1 full version

demo #2 (“Sweet Emotions”) full version

full studio version

full AC Mix

full Ghost Track/Hocus Pocus Mix

music video

alternate music video

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Rox’s official website