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a-ha

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a-ha is a Norwegian pop music band. The trio, composed of lead vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed in 1983 and left Norway for London in order to make a career in the music business. The origin of the name a-ha comes from the title of an early song. Originally, Paul had used the word 'a-ha' as the title of a song. After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that 'a-ha' was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say and unusual.

File:TakeOnMe.jpg
a-ha in the "Take On Me" music video

Band members

History

Take On Me & Hunting High and Low

The song "Take on Me", was the first thing Morten Harket heard Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy play. At that time the song was called "Lesson One". "Take on Me", their debut single, was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985. Sales were aided in the US by a music video on MTV that mimicked the climactic scene from the Ken Russell film Altered States. The video used a sketchy animation / live action combination (called "Rotoscoping", in which the video is first shot on normal video, then each frame is hand-traced over to give the animated effect.) that tells a fantasy thriller story to the song.

The first release of the song in 1984 only sold 300 copies, but after a rework with producer Alan Tarney a year later, it sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in one month. Eventually the single "Take On Me" is estimated to have sold 6 - 7 million copies wordwide. a-ha was also nominated for Best Video for "Take On Me" at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1986.

In spite of the single's greater popularity in the US, the album Hunting High and Low, released in 1985, sold better in the UK. Critics at the time mostly dismissed the band as bubblegum pop. As of 2005, Hunting High and Low has sold 8 million copies worldwide.

Scoundrel Days & Afterwards

a-ha's second album was Scoundrel Days (1986) and represented a move towards alternative rock. In 1987, they provided the title song for the James Bond film The Living Daylights. Stay on These Roads (1988) received more mixed reviews than the previous albums. In spite of a drastic decline in sales in the next few years, a-ha continued to record two more albums, East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1990) and Memorial Beach (1993).

In the late 80s and early 90s, a-ha was very popular in South America, especially Brazil. They sold out some of the largest stadiums in the world. At the Rock in Rio festival in 1991, a-ha shocked the international entertainment press by gathering a paying audience of 200,000 people. George Michael, Prince and Guns N' Roses only managed to gather 60 000 each. a-ha holds the world record for the highest attendance for a paid venue.

a-ha split in 1993 and their members started focusing on solo activities, but came together in 1994 to perform for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. This performance included their song composed for the Winter Paralympics, "Shapes That Go Together".

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy has released 5 albums with his wife Lauren Savoy and their band Savoy. Morten Harket has released three solo albums, among them Wild Seed that sold 500.000 copies in Norway and is the best-selling a-ha solo project to date. Magne Furuholmen has grown a reputation as a sculpter, painter and has done music for films and television. In 2004 he released his first solo album proper, backed by members of Coldplay.

File:A-ha the band 2005.jpg
a-ha in 2005

After a very well-received performance of "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and a new song, "Summer Moved On", at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 1998, the threesome returned to the studio and recorded 2000's Minor Earth,Major Sky, which resulted in a new tour, and a videocast performance of a-ha (with Briskeby) opening the new Vallhall stadium in Oslo. Sales of this album and 2002's Lifelines showed that their fanbase was still there, and also that they were able to attract new audiences, especially in Central Europe and Scandinavia, where the albums sold extremely well. They appeared again at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 2001. a-ha's music transcends age groups, with fans ranging from ages 12 to 55. The "average fan" is a 27 yr old single female, living in Germany, but a-ha has fans all over the world, and, unlike some of their peers, make sales both in English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries.

A live album (from their 2002 tour) with the title How Can I Sleep With Your Voice in My Head was released in March of 2003, preceded by a live single of the 1986 classic "The Sun Always Shines on TV". In 2004, an in-depth book entitled The Swing Of Things was published, also featuring a CD of early demo material. In 2004, a-ha celebrated their 20th anniversary with the release of a new singles collection: The Singles: 1984-2004. This compilation brought them back into the UK Top 20 Album Charts, where they reached No. 13. Over their career, a-ha have officially released 32 singles. 13 of these became top ten singles in the UK, and 14 singles have been number one on the radio lists over the world. The new singles album includes some of the highlights from a-ha’s last 20 years. On July 2, 2005, a-ha performed at the Live 8 Berlin concert.

a-ha at Irving Plaza. Photo by Whistling in the Dark.

In 2005, the band recorded their next studio album, Analogue. It will be released on November 7. The first single "Celice" will be released on October 4. Tour dates are scheduled for late 2005 in Europe, with a return to the U.S. (at Irving Plaza in New York City) planned for September 12th for the band's first concert on American soil since 1986. A short impromptu performance of "Take on Me" occurred on September 11th in Times Square.

On August 27, 2005, the band played a concert for 150,000 people in Frognerparken in Oslo,the largest concert ever in Norway.

Today, a-ha is recognized by their peers as a serious band with impressive songwriting capabilities. Fans include: Coldplay, Keane, Pet Shop Boys, Sarah Brightman, Adam Clayton, Graham Nash, and Leonard Cohen.

Discography

Albums

Singles

EPs

  • "45 R.P.M. Club" (1985) (released only in Japan)
  • "Twelve Inch Club" (1985) (released only in Japan)
  • "Scoundrel Club" (1987) (released only in Japan)
  • "Road Club" (June 1988) (released only in Japan)

Compilations

  • "On Tour In Brazil" (1989) (released only in Brazil; despite its title not a live recording)
  • "Best in Brazil" (1991) (released only in Brazil)#1 BR
  • "a-ha en Argentina" (1991) (released only in Argentina)#1 ARG
  • "Headlines And Deadlines - The Hits of a-ha" (1991); #12 UK #1 NO
  • "The Selections '85-'93" (1993) (released in Japan as a promo CD)
  • "a-ha Single Remixes" (November 8 2000) (A compliation released only in Japan)
  • "The Singles 1984-2004" (November 29, 2004); #4 NO
  • "The Definitive Singles Collection 1984-2004" (April 5, 2005); UK #14

Live album

  • "How Can I Sleep With Your Voice In My Head" (2003); #8 GE #4 NO

DVD / VHS / Laser Disc

  • "Headlines And Deadlines - The Hits of a-ha" (1991) - VHS / DVD
  • "Live in South America - a-ha Live" (1993) - VHS / Laser Disc - the digital version only in Japan
  • "a-ha live at Valhall - Homecoming" (2001) - VHS / DVD
  • "a-ha - the videos" (2003) - DVD - only in Spain

a-ha covered by other artists

Many artists around the world has done covers of a-ha songs, ranging from pop, rock, reggae to dance, techno, jazz and instrumental versions. Here is just a few of the proffessional ones:

  • Madonna: " Take On Me " ( Performed on Saturday Night Live (TV). Never released )
  • Coldplay: " Hunting High and Low " ( Performed live in concert and on German radio. Never released )
  • Coldplay: " The Living Daylights " ( Performed live in concert. Never released )
  • London Symphony Orchestra: " Hunting High and Low " ( Released )
  • A1: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Kurt Nilsen: " Hunting High and Low " ( Performed in Idol contest in Norway )
  • Poor Rich Ones: " Hunting High and Low " ( Released )
  • Kings of Convenience: " Manhattan Skyline " ( Released )
  • Edyta Gorniak: " Hunting High and Low " ( Released both as studio and live version )
  • Diva: " The Sun Always Shines On TV " ( Released )
  • MxPx: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Janez Detd: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Real Big Fish: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Pearl: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Punk Covers: " Take On Me " ( Released )
  • Anelli Drecker: " Dark is the Night " ( Performed live in concert w/ a-ha. Not released )
  • Multicyde: " Sample of " Take On Me " is used in their song " The Banger - La la "
  • Milc Inc: The Sun Always Shines On TV " ( Released )
  • Sigurd Køhn: " October " ( Released )

Note: This is by no means a complete list. There are also many amature bands around the world, called tribute bands, that performs concerts of a-ha songs. You will find several in the UK, and Brazil especially.

Miscellaneous

Tours

  • Hunting High and Low World Tour 1986 / 1987 (Europe / USA / Canada / Japan / Australia)
  • Stay On These Roads Tour 1988 / 1989 (Europe / Japan / Brazil)
  • Walk Under the Sun Dance Under the Moon Tour 1991 (South America incl. Brazil, Argentina and Chile)
  • East of the Sun West of the Moon Tour 1991 (Europe)
  • Memorial Beach Tour 1993 / 1994 (Europe / Russia / South Africa / Middle East)
  • Minor Earth Major Sky Tour 2000 / 2001 (Japan / Europe / Russia)
  • Lifelines Tour 2002 (Europe / Russia / Brazil)
  • Mini Tour of Russia and Norway 2003 / 2004 (Russia / Norway)
  • Analogue Tour 2005 / 2006 (Europe / USA)

Tour 2005 / 2006 is not yet organized. More areas will proabably be included. So far it's Europe and one concert in the USA.

Trivia

  • During the promotion of a-ha in the USA in the 80's, the American media often compared Morten Harket's looks to the looks of a young Elvis Presley and James Dean.
  • Bunty Bailey was the name of the actress who played the woman reading the comic book in the video "Take on Me".
  • a-ha won 8 MTV awards during one MTV award show in 1986.
  • Debbie Gibson, US singer attended an a-ha concert in 1986, when she was 16. She later met a-ha again in 1991.
  • The vocalist Morten Harket was offered a role as a villain's henchman in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights. However he declined, due to lack of time and because the producers only wanted him in the movie because of his popularity and not his acting skills. a-ha wrote and performed the title song for the movie.
  • In 1989 a-ha played in Rio de Janeiro at Praca de Apoteose (the place where the Rio carneval takes place annually) The organizers expected an audience of 40,000. However 100,000 showed up. It was chaos.
  • East of the Sun and West of the Moon is the name of a Norwegian folk tale.
  • The song "Angel In The Snow" was actually written by Paul for his wife Lauren, in 1991, when they got married.
  • An a-ha poster can be seen on the wall during the Seinfeld episode "The Pez Dispenser", which was aired in 1992.
  • In 1999 Paul Waaktaar-Savoy received an award: a-ha have been played 2.000.000 times on US radio-stations.
  • a-ha tours with a backing band. The current band includes the drummer Per Lindvall, who used to play drums in ABBA's backing band, and has toured with a-ha since 2000.
  • In 2005, the video for "Take On Me" was parodied in an episode of a Family Guy cartoon where Chris is pulled into the pencil sketched world of the video with a-ha singer, Morten Harket. The scene contains re-drawn footage copied from the "Take On Me" video, but with Chris instead of "The Girl".

Commentary on a-ha

  • " Morten looked like Elvis Presley and had the operatic voice of Roy Orbison (Jeff Ayeroff, Warner's marketing genius in 1985. Comment from 2005)"
  • "One of the greatest unacknowledged geniouses of pop's past two decades." (The Guardian reviews a-ha's Royal Albert Hall concert in London 2002)
  • "As a 12 year old, Hunting High and Low was always in my head, and a-ha still continues to be an important band to me." (Chris Martin, Coldplay)
  • "Everyone asks us who has inspired Coldplay, who we have stolen from, who we listened to when we grew up. Such questions remind you of what has formed you and had an impact on you. The first bands I loved were a-ha and James." (James = British band that started in 82)
  • "I was in Amsterdam the other day and I put on the album Hunting High and Low. I remembered right there and then how much I loved that album. It's just unbelievable songwriting." (Chris Martin, Coldplay, 2005)
  • "Morten Harket has a fantastic voice and a-ha has been one of our favorite bands for many years. a-ha has a sort of nordic sound." (Neil Tennant, The Pet Shop Boys)
  • "They are definitely my favourites this summer. Their last CD (Minor Earth, Major Sky) is just fantastic, and how the vocalist sings!" (Sarah Brightman)
  • "a-ha was always kind of a misunderstood band in my ears. They were perceived as a teenage group for girls, but in reality a very creative band." (Adam Clayton, U2)
  • "When we heard U2's "Beatiful Day" for the first time, the part where Bono sings "Touch Me", we thought right away that that sounds like a-ha!" (Keane)
  • "I have always liked the band" (Leonard Cohen)
  • "That man got pipes." (Carl Perkins commenting on Morten Harket's voice)
  • "I met a-ha for the first time on Barbados, and got a very positive impression of them. Different personalities that strives together and creates something creative. I stands respect of what they do, and we got a good contact. When I and David Crosby played in Oslo earlier this winter, Morten appeard backstage after the concert. There we began to talk about the possibility of contributing with a little vocal, and now it's done. a-ha is a good band, and the song I did backing on is very good." (Graham Nash of The Hollies / Crosby Stills & Nash, from a 2005 interview. Nash will do some backing vocals on one of a-ha's new songs)
  • "It was so cool that they were there! a-ha was one of the bands that were really in the spotlight on MTV in the 80's. That's why it was really fun that they participated at Live 8." (Audioslave, 2005)

(Comments taken from The Swing of Things, the official a-ha biography - on Press Forlag, available from the official site www.a-ha.com and newspaper interviews in Norway and the UK )

See also

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