As soon as OKEJ’s press team choose to meet up with EUROPE in Paris, the French of course decide to go on a flight leader strike. The result? Nothing but waiting and waiting. First in Stockholm, where we are informed that we can forget all about a direct flight to Paris. It is SAS to Copenhagen and then a switch to Air France at 11:15 pm instead. A small delay of six hours already here. But no one should think that it ends here. No!
The small, yet annoying, strike of the French made sure that no plane, including ours, was allowed to leave the Charles De Gaulle airport. The result? Yet another three hours delay. Then, at last, about 5 o’clock in the morning, we arrived in Paris, sleepy. A rainy Paris, of course. Because if things are going to be bad, they might as well be really bad. We learnt that much.
On the way to the hotel, in a taxi which won’t allow passengers in the front seat, we jammed together in the back seat, watching the fascinating illegal parking pass by. There is no other country in the world which can show off a bigger number of crazy parking. One rule is obeyed in Paris: If you have arrived, then stop and get out! The car is parked in a cross in the middle of a crosswalk, and is blocking four other cars. Well, who cares? If you need to get out again, you simply hit the other cars which are in the way. All the cars have bumps and bruises. That’s just something you have to bear with, the French say.
We stop at 239 Rue St. Honoré, one of Paris’ most luxurious fashion streets, and check in at the hotel. It’s Wednesday morning, way too early, and any activities besides sleep are not to be considered.
Endless interviews
The tour leader Bosse Norling laughs a little, grasps his forehead and describes this week’s program. It almost sounds like a data list from the exchange reports in USA. Everybody wants to talk to EUROPE. From the smallest regional newspapers via pop magazines to the big TV shows. It’s necessary to split up the band. Of course they all want to sit with Joey for a half hour, but that won't work. The rest of the band take their share of the interviews. Also, a part of them are for special magazines about drums or keyboards, and then of course the interview victims have to be Ian or Mic.
But a black cloud is hanging just above it all, but no one talks about it: John Norum has done his part in EUROPE and has decided to quit. This will be his last trip with the gang he has spent the last six hard working years with.
Seem to enjoy themselves
John doesn’t like to do playback performances on TV. It feels fake, he thinks, but he doesn’t at all seem to not enjoy himself when the cameras are rolling. On the contrary: The band seem to really enjoy themselves when they jump around to the tones of "The Final Countdown". Joey and John work together in the picture. Everything seems to be peace and joy, but when the stage lights are turned off, John goes away. He wants to be alone. He doesn’t give any interviews, but is there for the pictures, for the sake of the newspapers and the band.
As opposed to John, the rest of the band really seem to enjoy themselves doing the playback performances. Ian even laughs a little when he fails to follow the drum intro to the song. The keyboard intro has been cut out, and following the beat isn't easy when the French technicians just scream: "Attention, trios, deux, un…" (three, two, one...) Rolling!
The first TV show in France is "Show Bises" for TFL. The stage is so small that it's crowded even before the whole band is there. "It has been small everywhere we have been," Joey says and refers to the shows they have done in Germany and Belgium. "But it works. You just have to bear with it. The main concern is to make it look good in pictures. And it does. We can follow the shoot on the TV monitors."
The French trade union for TV technicians forbids the use of microphones for playback artists. If it’s fake, it is fake, they think, so Joey has to lip-sync without a microphone. It looks different, but he can do it without looking unprofessional. After two takes, the rehearsals are over, and there is an hour’s break before the live transmission. Food. EUROPE have got two Mercedes cars to use all the time, and they quickly bring us to Restaurant Francis, where they serve French goodies.
Models for security
"Cool guys," Joey says, and praises the brothers to the sky.
Alex giggles, and gives a high five with a singing "Sådääääär!"
That’s a classic EUROPE saying. "Sådääääär" is used all the time by everyone in the gang, and now even the French are starting to use it – with the following and very important high five.
We go back to the studio, and EUROPE perform their number without any trouble. More TV shows follow during the Thursday. For the new station "Channel +" and their show "Zenith", and the extremely important and well-known "Champs-Élysées", with viewer numbers on about 23 millions. 23 million viewers! Think about that number.
During our week in Paris, EUROPE sold just about 25 000 singles a day. "I can’t believe this," says Thomas Eriksson when we sit in the hotel bar. "They have printed over a million copies of the "Final Countdown" single. A million! It’s unbelievable. And everybody says that it hasn't even started yet. What else can I do but trust those who know about this business in England, for example, when they claim that EUROPE is the hottest thing that has happened in years? We have struck gold here!"
But in spite of the recent successes, the foreign audiences still haven’t realized that it's all about a Swedish band. "Oh well," Ian says. "Most people think that we are from Holland or Germany. Switzerland is another guess. And if you say that you are from EUROPE when someone asks what band you are from, they just don’t get it. But if you say "The Final Countdown", they know what you are talking about."
True! When John Norum had to step out for a second during a photo shoot in the streets of Paris to find a toilet, the doorman at the restaurant greeted him with a few lines from "The Final Countdown" and a show of air guitar playing. Naturally he gives us his card and wishes us welcome to a great meal.
Sightseeing in Paris
The Concorde place looks proud with its obelisk, and the life outside the famous opera is unique in itself. We stop in the middle of the street for a picture in front of the Triumphal Arch, under which the Unknown Soldier’s grave is constantly lit up by a forever burning flame. We finish off the evening by inviting John and his girl Beatrice, to a nice dinner at one of Paris’ most charming inns: Victoria Station at the food street Montmartre.
Saturday will be a party day. It’s EUROPE’s last working day in Paris before a day off on Sunday, and it is also John Levén's 23rd birthday, and of course the band has a surprise lined up for him. After several interviews in the morning, we take off to go to a big mall five miles outside Paris, where the only album signing of the week is going to take place.
Photographer Johansson, who succeeded in avoiding the traffic jam that EUROPE ended up in, arrived earlier at the spot and got the welcome of his life. Unknowingly, he walked onto the podium to check out the surroundings and plan his pictures, when suddenly, he was in the middle of drum rolls, hysterical screaming in French and the intro to "The Final Countdown".
"And here they are, the ones we have all been waiting for," the compère screamed and on booming French presented... "EUROPE!!" But there was no EUROPE. Just a really astonished Michael Johansson, who looked confusedly at the blushing French guys who started to realize their mistake. But EUROPE did arrive in the end, and hundreds of French fans jammed up to get a look and hopefully an autograph from the idols.
With this, EUROPE could finally relax and look forward to the awaiting birthday party for Jompa (John Levén). In Thomas’ suite, the tables were covered with the delicacies from the French kitchen. The champagne was bubbling, and Jompa received a beautiful Cacharel watch from the management. "Make sure you wear it," Bosse Norling commanded. "We don’t want to see you be late again."
Maybe the gift from OKEJ wasn’t in the same class, but it turned out to be an appreciated memory from France.
Finale in Amsterdam
We finish off with Thomas’ discrete whispering to Joey: "What did I say! It’s rolling now!!!"
