A-Ha Band Profile
Norwegian synth-popsters a-ha sold millions of records primarily because of the
success of one extremely creative video. The video for "Take On Me" blended live
action and animation to tell the sweet tale of a lonely young woman whose fantasies
become reality as a hand reaches out from a comic book and beckons her into a two
dimensional world.
Her guide through this fantasy land is the animated but still very cute a-ha vocalist
Morten Harket, who passionately seranades her and later sacrifices himself to save the
fair maiden from a band of evil, wrench-wielding auto mechanics (honest!).
Of course, in the end we find that our hero has defeated the evil auto mechanics and
even somehow manages to break free of his comic book existence to join the woman he
loves. As corny as the whole thing sounds, both the song and the video are really very
good, and the impressive visual effects are surprisingly charming.
On the off chance that anyone cares about anything other than this song, I can tell you
that the band was formed when long-time friends and band-mates Päl Waaktaar and Magne
Furholmen of Oslo suddenly found themselves without a band and approached singer Morten
Harket promising pop stardom.
In 1983 the three left Oslo to pursue fame and fortune in London, and after several
months of putting together crude demos they caught the attention of Warner Brothers.
The result was their debut album "Hunting High and Low" which contained both "Take on
Me" and the less successful hit "The Sun Always Shines on TV".
The story from a number of sources is that Warner Brothers signed a-ha in a move to add
some mainstream, cute heterosexual men to their roster, and that the initial plan for
the "Take On Me" video was to film the three in a studio surrounded by adoring young
women. While there may be little truth to this account, we can still be thankful that
such a creative path was taken on the video.
a-ha song lyrics...
Take On Me
The Sun Always Sines On TV
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