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A-ha
A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band rose to fame during the mid-1980s. A-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album '' Hunting High and Low'' in 1985. The album peaked at number one in their native Norway, number two in the UK, and number 15 on the US ''Billboard'' album chart; yielded two international number-one singles: " Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V."; and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist. In the UK, ''Hunting High and Low'' continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. The band released studio albums in 1986, 1988, and 1990, with single hits including " Hunting High and Low", "The Living Daylights", "Stay on These Roads", and "Crying in the Rain". In 1994 ...
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Take On Me
"Take On Me" is a song by the Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. The original version, recorded in 1984 and released in October of that same year, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. The 1985 international hit version was produced by Alan Tarney for the group's debut studio album, ''Hunting High and Low'' (1985). The recording combines synth-pop with a varied instrumentation, including acoustic guitars, keyboards, and drums. The original 1984 version "Take On Me" failed to chart in the United Kingdom, as did the second version in the first of its two 1985 releases. The second of those 1985 releases charted in September 1985, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in October. In the United States in October 1985 the single topped Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboards Hot 100, no doubt bolstered by the wide exposure on MTV of director Steve Barron's innovative music video featuring the band in a live-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The video won six aw ...
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Morten Harket
Morten Harket () (born September 14, 1959) is a Norwegian vocalist and songwriter, who is the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha. A-ha has released 10 studio albums to date, and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough hit "Take On Me" in 1985. Harket has also released six solo albums. Before joining a-ha in 1982, Harket had appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Souldier Blue. Harket was named a Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Early life The son of Reidar, a chief physician at a hospital, and Henny, an economics teacher and brother to Gunvald, Håkon, Ingunn and Kjetil, Morten grew up in Asker in southern Norway. His early musical influences included Uriah Heep, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie, and James Brown. Morten's father had contemplated becoming a classical pianist; Morten also took piano le ...
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Minor Earth Major Sky
''Minor Earth Major Sky'' (stylised as ''minor earth | major sky'') is the sixth studio album by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 14 April 2000 by WEA. Background and release Following the release of A-ha's fifth studio album, '' Memorial Beach'' (1993), the band decided to go on a hiatus. In 1998, the band was invited to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Paul Waaktaar-Savoy had written "Summer Moved On" especially for this performance. They also performed "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". This performance was A-ha's comeback into the world of music and the band decided to return to the studio. Almost the entire album was remixed by producer Niven Garland at the record company's insistence to make it more radio-friendly for the band's German market. "Summer Moved On", " Minor Earth Major Sky" and "Velvet" were commercially released as singles. "I Wish I Cared" was an Internet download single, accompanied by an Internet-only music video—one of the first of its kind ...
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Magne Furuholmen
Magne Furuholmen (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician and visual artist. He was named Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Furuholmen, better known to music fans by his stage name Mags, is the keyboardist of the synthpop/rock band A-ha, and co-wrote hits such as "Take On Me", " Stay on These Roads", "Manhattan Skyline", " Cry Wolf", " Forever Not Yours", " Analogue (All I Want)", "Minor Earth Major Sky", " Touchy!", " You Are the One", " Move To Memphis" and "Foot of the Mountain". The band A-ha has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Furuholmen is also a visual artist with solo exhibitions held in Norway, the UK, and elsewhere in Europe. His work is represented in private and public institutions and museums worldwide, among them The Norwegian State Archives, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and others. In 2016 Magne Furuholmen undertook his biggest commission to date ...
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Hunting High And Low
''Hunting High and Low'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha, released on 1 June 1985 in the United States and 28 October 1985 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, reaching high positions on charts worldwide and peaking at number 15 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The album was recorded at Eel Pie Studios in Twickenham, London, and produced by Tony Mansfield, John Ratcliff and Alan Tarney. In all, five singles from the album were released, though not all were released internationally: "Take On Me", " Love Is Reason", " The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", " Train of Thought" and " Hunting High and Low". The group was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in 1986, making A-ha the first Norwegian band to be nominated for a Grammy. As part of a re-release of their first two albums, ''Hunting High and Low'' was expanded and remastered in 2010. Music "Take On Me" was the first single released by the ban ...
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Stay On These Roads (song)
"Stay on These Roads" is a song by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 14 March 1988 as the lead single from their third studio album of the same name (1988). It achieved success in many European countries. Release and reception "Stay on These Roads" was released in the spring of 1988 and became the most successful single from the '' Stay on These Roads'' album, along with "The Living Daylights" on the UK charts. The song did not hit the national charts in the United States, but was a significant hit across Europe. It went to number seven in Germany, number three in France and Iceland, and number two in Ireland. In Norway, the song was the band's fourth number one single. "Stay on These Roads" was A-ha's seventh and final top five showing in the United Kingdom, reaching number five on the chart edition of March 27, 1988. It would also prove their last top ten hit in the country for almost two decades, as they did not score another UK top ten hit until eighteen years later in 2006. ...
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The Living Daylights (song)
"The Living Daylights" is the theme song from the 1987 James Bond film of the same name, performed by Norwegian band A-ha. It was written by guitarist Pål Waaktaar. A revised version of the song was included on the band's third studio album, ''Stay on These Roads'' (1988). Origin and recording John Barry is credited as co-writer and producer, and the initial release of the song was his version. A second version of the song, re-worked by A-ha in 1988, later appeared on their third studio album, ''Stay on These Roads''. When interviewed on a late-night show in 1987, Barry said that he found working with the band exhausting secondary to the band's insistence on using their own version of the song for release. In an interview with ''Hot Rod'' magazine, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen said that "he band'sfight with Barry left a rather unpleasant aftertaste. Apparently, he compared us to Hitlerjugend in a newspaper interview." Harket stated in an interview with Paul Lester of the Gua ...
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Crying In The Rain
"Crying in the Rain" is a song composed by Carole King with lyrics by Howard Greenfield, originally recorded by American duo the Everly Brothers. The single peaked at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1962. The song was the only collaboration between songwriters Greenfield and King, both of whom worked for Aldon Music at the time of the song's composition. On a whim, two Aldon songwriting partnerships decided to switch partners for a day – Gerry Goffin (who normally worked with King) partnered with Greenfield's frequent writing partner, Jack Keller, leaving King and Greenfield to pair up for the day. Despite the commercial success of their collaboration, King and Greenfield never wrote another song together. Track listing Charts Tammy Wynette version In 1981, "Crying in the Rain" was notably covered by American country artist Tammy Wynette. It became a major hit after being released as a single that year. Wynette's version was produced by Chips Moman at t ...
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Lifelines (A-ha Album)
''Lifelines'' is the seventh studio album by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 24 April 2002 by WEA Records. The album topped the charts in Norway and Germany, while reaching the top 10 in Austria, Denmark, Poland and Switzerland. In 2019, ''Lifelines'' and ''Minor Earth Major Sky'', both of A-ha's albums recorded for Warner Music Germany, were remastered and re-released with an extra disc, which contained demos, early versions and alternate mixes. They also received first official vinyl releases. Singles and videos The video for the single "Forever Not Yours" was shot in Havana, Cuba. It was directed by Harald Zwart (who also directed the "Velvet" video) and the storyline is based on the story of Noah's Ark and today's celebrities. Look-alikes of Desmond Tutu, Madonna (entertainer), Madonna, and Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II are included, among others. The video for the single "Lifelines (song), Lifelines" features segments from the 1991 short film ''Året ...
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Analogue (album)
''Analogue'' is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released in 2005. It is a-ha's first album on Polydor Records (Universal), having previously been signed to Warner Music. Four singles were also released from this record. The album's second single, " Analogue (All I Want)" became the group's first top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart since " Stay on These Roads" (1988). The album reached No. 24 in the UK and got silver certification there. Background and recording The song "Analogue (All I Want)" was originally a song called "Minor Key Sonata (Analogue)", which (like the rest of the album) was produced by Martin Terefe and mixed by Flood. Max Martin was then brought in to turn "Minor Key Sonata (Analogue)" into a more radio-friendly song, with a less surreal lyric and catchier chorus. The song was then re-written as "Analogue (All I Want)" and re-recorded, and is the only track on the album not produced by Terefe. Upon its release as a single, it became the band's ...
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Memorial Beach
''Memorial Beach'' is the fifth studio album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released on 14 June 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. Background The album was recorded primarily at Prince's Paisley Park studios outside Minneapolis in the United States. ''Memorial Beach'' featured three UK Top 50 singles for the band, " Move to Memphis" (released as a single in 1991, almost two years before the album), "Dark is the Night" and "Angel in the Snow". While the album did not chart on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and would be the band's last to be released there, the single "Dark Is the Night" peaked at #11 on the '' Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles/ref> their last U.S. charting to date. Q magazine listed the album as one of the 50 best albums of 1993: "If ever a band deserved reappraisal on the back of an album then it was a-ha!" "Angel in the Snow" was written by Pål Waaktaar for his bride, Lauren, as a wedding gift. Recording the album was, accord ...
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Hunting High And Low (A-ha Song)
"Hunting High and Low" is a song by Norwegian band A-ha, released in 1986 as the fifth and final single from the band's debut studio album of the same name (1985). Release and reception "Hunting High and Low" was released in the summer of 1986 and became the third most successful single from ''Hunting High and Low'' on the charts and one of the band's most recognizable and popular songs. The song did not chart in the United States, but reached the top five in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The original album version was produced by Tony Mansfield and is played with synthesizers. For its single release, the track was remixed, containing additional production by Alan Tarney and features an orchestra. Music video This was the last video from the band's debut album which was directed by Steve Barron. The UK TV show ''Blue Peter'' featured a making-of-the-video special on "Hunting High and Low" to demonstrate the morphing effects of Morten into animals. The video starts with ...
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