Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)

"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" is a song by Swedish musician Per Gessle, released on 1 February 2006 as the second single from his 2005 album Son of a Plumber. A duet with Swedish musician Helena Josefsson, who contributed vocals to several tracks on the album, numerous publications praised her vocals and described it as the best track on the record. The song written by Gessle and produced by him alongside Clarence Öfwerman and Christoffer Lundquist. The single was a hit in Sweden, peaking at number 23 and spending over three months on the Swedish Singles Chart. It also entered the Dutch Single Top 100.

A music video featuring Roxette vocalist Marie Fredriksson's children was created for "Hey Mr. DJ". The single contained the B-side "Plumber in Progress #1", a compilation of song fragments recorded by Gessle in his home studio. Several remixes of the A-side were created, and were issued on a remix single on 1 March. A separate EP titled Dancing Plumber, Vol. 1, also containing two remixes of album track "I Never Quite Got over the Fact That the Beatles Broke Up", followed on 6 April.

Composition and style

"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" was written by Per Gessle, recorded at Aerosol Grey Machine in Vallarum, Scania, and produced by Gessle alongside Christoffer Lundquist and Clarence Öfwerman. The song is a duet with Swedish vocalist Helena Josefsson, who provided vocals to several tracks on the Son of a Plumber album. Gessle compared it to the work of American rock band Chicago, saying: "It's very easy for songs like this to become pure parodies and we were in a bad mood for a while, but in the end we got it right, I think. It's very neat." The song contains strings and brass instrumentation.

Critical reception

Swedish publications compared "Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" to the work of Burt Bacharach, with Aftonbladet also comparing it to the work of The Carpenters. Multiple publications described it as the best song on Son of a Plumber. Josefsson received praise for her vocals. A writer for Svenska Dagbladet said her performance "must be highlighted", saying her voice "leaves me wanting more". They claimed the track would have been better had Josefsson sung it entirely, saying her voice was preferable to Gessle's. Despite giving the album a negative review and calling the song "sugary", Dagensskiva praised Josefsson's vocal performance. Expressen called the song "a lovely duet", while Göteborgs-Posten said the song was "amazing" and "completely irresistible".

Release and promotion

The first CD single for the song was issued in Sweden on 1 February 2006. This release contained "Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" as the A-side alongside an exclusive B-side: "Plumber in Progress #1". "Plumber in Progress #1" is a compilation of song fragments recorded by Gessle in his home studio, one of which features Gessle's son. Another single containing two remixes of the A-side was issued on 1 March. An EP titled Dancing Plumber, Vol. 1 followed on 6 April. This release was only issued digitally, and contained two remixes of the A-side and two remixes of Son of a Plumber album track "I Never Quite Got over the Fact That the Beatles Broke Up".

Music video

Roxette vocalist Marie Fredriksson's children appear as members of an orchestra in the song's music video. The filming of the video was one of only a few occasions Gessle and Fredriksson spent time together following her 2002 brain tumour diagnosis. Gessle commented: "She is doing well. I invited her to the recording of the video 'Hey Mr. DJ'. Her children are part of the orchestra in the video, so I was able to spend some time with her. She's fine and having a great time."

Commercial performance

The single entered the Swedish Singles Chart at number 27 on the chart dated 9 February 2006, peaking at number 23 two weeks later. It spent a total of fourteen weeks on the chart. The single also entered the Dutch Singles Chart.

Formats and track listings

CD single (0946 354274 2–4)

"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Original Version featuring Helena Josefsson) – 3:36
"Plumber in Progress #1" – 8:20

Remix CD single (0946 359143 2–0)

"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Original Version feat. Helena Josefsson) – 3:36
"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Love-For-Sale Remix feat. Helena Josefsson) – 3:50
"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Jimmy Monell Treatment) – 3:43

Dancing Plumber, Vol. 1 (0946 359872 5–6)

"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Love-For-Sale Remix feat. Helena Josefsson) – 3:50
"Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (Jimmy Monell Treatment) – 3:43
"I Never Quite Got over the Fact That the Beatles Broke Up" (Jimmy Monell Short Treatment) – 2:27
"I Never Quite Got over the Fact That the Beatles Broke Up" (Jimmy Monell Long Treatment) – 5:39

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the CD single liner notes.

Recorded and mixed by Christoffer Lundquist, Clarence Öfwerman and Per Gessle at Aerosol Grey Machine, Vallarum, Scania.

Kjell Andersson – cover design
Anton Corbijn – cover photography
Per Gessle – composition, vocals, instrumentation and production
Lennart Haglund – assistant engineer
Jens Jansson – drums
Helena Josefsson – vocals
Christoffer Lundquist – vocals, instrumentation, engineer, production, string and horn arrangement; remixing ("Love-For-Sale" Remix)
Jimmy Monell – remixing ("Love-For-Sale" Remix; Jimmy Monell Treatments)
Clarence Öfwerman – vocals, instrumentation, production, string and horn arrangement; remixing ("Love-For-Sale" Remix)
Pär Wickholm – cover design
The Funky Färs Härads Chamber Orchestra – strings and horns

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	98
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	23

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)
Sweden	1 February 2006	CD	Elevator Entertainment Capitol Records
	1 March 2006	Remix CD
	6 April 2006	Dancing Plumber, Vol. 1

References

^ Gessle, Per (2006). "Booklet". Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song) (CD liner notes). Son of a Plumber. Elevator Entertainment · Capitol Records. 0946 354274 2–4.
^ "Värd att ta på allvar" ["Worth taking seriously"]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 22 November 2005. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Bjurman, Per (10 November 2023). "Så tycker Gessle om låtarna på nya skivan" ["How Gessle thinks about the songs on the new album"]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ Balogh, Tony (23 November 2005). "Raka rör in i popnostalgin" ["Straight into pop nostalgia"]. Hallandsposten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 5 September 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ Larsson, Markus (23 November 2005). "Testamente utan röd tråd" ["Testament without a common thread"]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Nunstedt, Anders (30 November 2005). "Veckans 4 skiv-val" ["This Week's 4 Disc Selections"]. Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Nilsén, Rolf (6 December 2006). "Per Gessle - Son of a plumber". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Welander, Fredrik (16 December 2005). "Son Of A Plumber "Son Of A Plumber"". dagensskiva.com (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Nunstedt, Anders (23 November 2005). "Son of a Plumber: 'Son of a Plumber'". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Lindqvist, Johan (23 November 2005). "Mjuk och full av referenser" ["Soft and full of references"]. Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "Gessle.com | Discography". Gessle.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "Interview mit Per Gessle" ["Interview with Per Gessle"]. Swiss Hitparade (in German). Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "Son of a Plumber – Hey Mr DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
"Son of a Plumber - Hey Mr DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)". dutchcharts.nl. Archived from the original on 15 July 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
Gessle, Per (2006). "Booklet". Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song) (CD liner notes). Son of a Plumber. Elevator Entertainment · Capitol Records. 0946 359143 2–0.
"Son of a Plumber – Hey Mr DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

v t e Per Gessle
Studio albums	Per Gessle Scener The World According to Gessle Mazarin Son of a Plumber En händig man Party Crasher En vacker dag
Compilation and Live albums	På väg, 1982–86 Hjärtats trakt Hjärtats trakt – en samling Kung av sand – en liten samling 1983–2007
Singles	"Do You Wanna Be My Baby?" "Kix" "I Want You to Know" "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" "Här kommer alla känslorna (På en och samma gång)" "På promenad genom stan" "Tycker om när du tar på mej" "C'mon"/"Jo-Anna Says" "Hey Mr. DJ (Won't You Play Another Love Song)" "I Like it Like That" "En händig man" "Jag skulle vilja tänka en underbar tanke" "Pratar med min müsli (hur det än verkar)" "Silly Really" "Sing Along"
Tours	Party Crasher Tour 2009
Related articles	Per Gessle discography Roxette Gyllene Tider Marie Fredriksson Clarence Öfwerman Christoffer Lundquist The Lonely Boys Helena Josefsson Pop-Up Dynamo!

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