80's Music Junkies: a-ha

a-ha is a Grammy Award-nominated band from Norway. They are the best selling Norwegian band around the world with a total of 79 million copies sold. They were most popular in the UK, Australia, Eastern Europe and the USA during the 1980s, but continued to be globally successful in the 1990s and 2000s. The trio, composed of lead vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1994) and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed in 1982 and left Norway for London in order to make a career in the music business. They chose the studios of musician, producer and soon-to-be-manager John Ratcliff, because it had a Space Invaders machine. The origin of the name "a-ha" comes from the lyrics of an early song ("Nothing To It"). 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.

"Take on Me" was the first song Morten Harket heard Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy play. At that time the song was called "Lesson One." After multiple re-recordings and two failed releases, "Take on Me" became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985. The first release of the song in 1984 was not a major success, but after a few songs were remixed by producer Alan Tarney a year later, it sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in one week. Mansfield's work had previously been doctored by Tarney on Naked Eyes debut effort and one wonders if the two ever exchanged fisticuffs. Eventually the single "Take on Me" is estimated to have sold 7-9 million copies worldwide; it peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the UK Singles Chart. Sales were aided in the U.S. by a music video on MTV that mimicked the truck chase from Terry Gilliam's Brazil (movie) and 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. At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards "Take on Me" won in six categories. It was also nominated for Best Video Of The Year at 1986 American Music Awards.

The follow-up single to "Take on Me" was "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". In the U.S., the song peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number seventeen on Radio & Records airplay chart. In addition, the music video for the song won in two categories at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

Album cover of Hunting High and Low (1985).a-ha's American success culminated in their 1986 Grammy nomination in a coveted Best New Artist category which was eventually won by Sade.

"The Sun Always Shines on TV" turned out to be a-ha's last Billboard Top 40 single, and to this day in the United States a-ha is mostly remembered by the general public only because of the singularly huge success of "Take on Me". As such, the band is frequently (and incorrectly) considered there as a one-hit wonder. In the UK (and much of the rest of the world), however, the story was very different: "The Sun Always Shines on TV" was an even bigger hit among British fans than "Take on Me", peaking at number one. In Australia, as in the UK, a-ha had continued success with "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and were consistently popular throughout the 1980s.

The 1985 album Hunting High and Low, containing "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV," was a worldwide bestseller. In the U.S., it sold more than a million copies and acquired platinum certification by RIAA. As of 2005, Hunting High and Low has sold 8 million copies worldwide.

Stay on These Roads is a-ha's third album, released in 1988 (see 1988 in music). World Sales: 4.2 million.

Scoundrel Days released in 1986 album (see 1986 in music) is the second album by Norwegian trio a-ha. It reached number two on the UK album charts. Three songs were released as singles from the album, of which "Cry Wolf" reached #5 on the UK singles chart. Worldwide sales of the album were 6.6 million.