A-ha

A-ha (stylized as a-ha) is a Norwegian pop rock band, formed in Oslo on September 14, 1982. The group is composed of Morten Harket as vocalist, Magne Furuholmen on keyboards and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy on guitar. The trio rose to worldwide fame thanks to their debut album, released in 1985, which was a huge sales success. Since then, they have positioned themselves as one of the most popular bands of this genre of all time. They have sold around 100 million albums and singles worldwide.

The group had great successes in the 1980s, mainly for their song "Take on Me", continuing their career during the 1990s with a somewhat more moderate impact. Following their fifth studio album, Memorial Beach, the trio split from 1994 until 2000, when they returned with Minor Earth | Major Sky. For A-ha, the first years of the new millennium passed without major developments until 2009, when they published their last studio album Foot of the Mountain, which would be their biggest success of the decade and marked a return to the roots of the group. Taking advantage of the good reviews of their last work, A-ha broke up in 2010.

On the occasion of the band's thirtieth anniversary, A-ha recorded a new studio album, Cast in Steel, which was released on September 4, 2015 along with a promotional tour. Passing on September 27 at the Rock in Rio festival with a special anniversary concert of the group. Likewise, they made new remastered and expanded editions, released of their first studio albums. They offered their last concert on December 4, year 2021 at the Oslo Spektrum.

Members

• Morten Harket: Voice (1982-Presente)

• Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: Guitar, Coros. (1982-Presente)

• Magne Furuholmen: Keyboards, Guitar and Coros. (1982-Presente)

History

First stage: 1982-1994

In 1976, Paul and Magne formed their own band, called Bridges. After the release of a poorly received LP, coupled with subsequent problems, the group broke up. Aware that they needed a vocalist, they contacted Morten Harket, who at the time was vocalist for Soldier Blue, a local Oslo band. However, Morten rejected the offer.

Paul and Magne, determined to move on, traveled to the United Kingdom in 1982, returning to Norway six months later, due to little success and lack of money. It was then that they contacted Morten again and, this time, the young man agreed to collaborate with them. In this way, A-ha was created on September 14, 1982.

"On September 14, 1982, Morten's birthday, two young people visited the Harket house to welcome him as the new singer of his band. Pål was dressed in a dark suit, while Magne had his hands with celebration poems. Since then, the newly formed trio put all his efforts in the band. "

Henning Kramer Dahl and Håkon Harket, Så Blåser Det På Jorden a-ha i Nærbilder (Aventura Forlag, 1986).

Morten was the one who suggested the name of the group when, looking at Paul's notebook, he saw the word "aha" in the lyrics of the song "Nothing to It" (song never released). They chose this name because they were looking for a name that was easy to remember and meant the same thing in English and Norwegian. Furthermore, for Paul Waaktaar, the word was positive and international in nature.

The three began writing songs in a cabin owned by Paul's parents in Nærsnes, where they recorded nine demos to take to London, including 'Living a Boy's Adventure Tale', " 34;The Sphinx" ("Train of Thought") and "Lesson One" (later converted into "Take on Me"). At that time they also recorded a song in Norwegian, 'Så Blåser Det På Jorden', which they never used and which, in fact, was the first song they wrote. After several months of work in the makeshift recording studio, they felt ready to travel to London.

On January 2, 1983, the three left Norway for London. Magne traveled a week later to stay with his girlfriend, Heidi Rydjord.

The group spent the first months looking for a company. The first one they visited was Decca, which rejected them. The first company they signed with was Lionheart, but this contract did not last long and nothing was done with the company.

The first months in London were difficult for the group. They lived in a small, inadequate apartment and sought relationships with other people in the city. Morten, for example, spent a few days living with Steve Strange. Soon, they had to take a break and return to Norway to earn some money. Morten met up with Soldier Blue frontman Arild Fetveit, whom he knew from school, and they formed a group called Sporty Morty and the Houserockers, which only played one gig.

In the spring of 1983, A-ha returned to London to try again. After looking at several newspaper advertisements, on April 1 they went to John Ratcliff's Rendezvous Studios to record. With only two songs, including "Dot the I", Ratcliff had enough and introduced them to Terry Slater, former bassist of The Everly Brothers, who liked what he heard, but was not satisfied. He gave them a week and, after meeting the deadline, the group got a manager.

After countless recording sessions, A-ha finally signed with Warner Bros. in December 1983. At their first press conference, on December 4, they announced that they had landed a record deal. They still needed to find a suitable producer and Tony Mansfield was the first to work with them. Later, they worked with Alan Tarney, who helped them achieve more success.

Once signed with Warner, A-ha had to release their first single in 1984. For it, they worked on a song from the group's origins: "Lesson One", a modified version of the song " #34;The Juicyfruit Song" of the Bridges group. The arrangements continued until the first version of "Take on Me" was released, which was released in October 1984. However, the song failed after selling 300 copies.

In April 1985, a new version of "Take on Me" was published, remastered by John Ratcliff and produced by Alan Tarney. Again, the song flopped. Convinced of the potential of the subject, a video is recorded, directed by Steve Barron, which uses an innovative technique that mixes real scenes with animated scenes in black and white, like a comic. The video became an international phenomenon and was the winner of six MTV awards in 1986. The video pushes the song, released for the third time in September 1985, to the top spot in numerous countries and becomes a hit, reaching No. 1 in the United States and No. 2 in the United Kingdom in 1985, reaching impressive numbers. sales of 9 million copies. Thanks to the success of 'Take on Me', A-ha releases his debut album Hunting High and Low on October 28, 1985. Profiled by producer Tony Mansfield, the album sold 10 million copies and recorded three #1s, reaching the top of the popularity charts. "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." was A-ha's first UK No. 1.

In 1986, A-ha won eight of the eleven nominations for the MTV Awards, six of them for "Take on Me" and two for "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". They were also nominated for the Grammy for 'Best New Artist', which they lost to Sade. A-Ha's first tour began on June 3 of the same year, debuting on stage in Perth, Australia, close to releasing her next studio album.

The second album, Scoundrel Days, was released on October 6, 1986. Despite also achieving great sales, 6.6 million copies, it failed to match the first. However, according to the members of the trio, this is A-ha's most popular album, a rockier album that represents a new level for Morten's voice. They continued their tour while working on the album's singles and music videos.

On January 19, 1987, at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, in the United Kingdom, John Barry, main composer of the James Bond films, contacted a-ha to collaborate on the title song of the James Bond film. that year, The Living Daylights (007: High Tension; His Name is Danger), which led to a somewhat conflictive agreement: the Barry's lack of time causes Paul to work on the song alone. Therefore, Waaktaar protests that Barry never contributed to the creation of the song and that his name should not appear in the credits. However, he has come to confess that he very much appreciates the arrangements that Barry brought to the song at the end, as that was when he truly sounded like Bond. Another problem they had was a-ha's determination to use the version they recorded as a theme for the film. Barry refused as a-ha's version did not match the style of the Bond films. None of this, however, prevented the song from being a success and the two versions of it being published: the version for the film went on sale as a single by a-ha in July, selling 2.5 million units, as well as like on the movie soundtrack. a-ha's version would appear on their third studio album.

In May 1988, a-ha released their third album, Stay on These Roads. While the album also achieved considerable success, it also sold less than its predecessor, clocking in at 4.2 million copies. It was accompanied by a tour and several singles with her music videos.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a-ha's fourth album, released in October 1990. This album includes the successful "Crying in the Rain", which is a cover of the song by The Everly Brothers. a-ha followed, performing a "double tour": a European tour and a concert series titled Walk Under the Sun, Dance Under the Moon exclusively for South America. Success still accompanies a-ha, whose fourth episode sells 4.2 million copies and during the tour in South America they achieved a Guinness world record for the largest audience in a paid concert: 198,000 people saw a-ha in the Maracaná stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. However, that success did not prevent a-ha from beginning to decline ^{[citation needed]}.

In November 1991, a-ha released its first compilation, Headlines and Deadlines. The album is followed by an era full of singles and music videos. Apparently this stage did not sit very well with the group. Paul: "We didn't want to make more singles. We wanted to make a real album.

In 1993, Memorial Beach was released, a work resulting from the band's efforts to move away from that stage and prepared as a result of the personal and creative conflicts that the group was suffering at that time. The result was a-ha's darkest album with a predominantly rock style they had never worked with before. The album was the least accepted, with the lowest sales of the band's career: approximately 750,000 copies, currently 1.2 million. This figure completed the gradual decline in a-ha sales. The same year as the album's release, they embarked on the Memorial Beach Tour through Europe and South Africa. In 1994 the group recorded their last single, ironically titled 'Shapes that Go Together'. The theme was the song for the Paralympic Games held that year in Lillehammer, Norway. Shortly after, they gave their last concert on June 19, 1994 at the White Nights Festival, in Saint Petersburg, Russia and after several speculations about their next album, a-ha stopped collaborating as a band and each member began a solo career.. However, the separation of a-ha was never formal, but only an inactivity of several years.

First break: 1994-1998

With the stop of a-ha, each member of the group began to develop a solo career.

Morten Harket, who had already released his first solo album in 1993, Poetenes Evangelium, released his first album in English in 1995, Wild Seed and one more year He later made a second work in Norwegian, Vogts Villa, both accompanied by a series of concerts between 1995 and 1996. In addition to his musical career, Morten is involved in environmental projects.

Magne Furuholmen, together with Kjetil Bjerkestrand as Timbersound, dedicated himself to making soundtracks for films while developing his potential as a graphic arts artist. Three albums were published at this stage: Ti Kniver I Hjertet (1994), Hotel Oslo (1996) and Hermetic (1997), both last in collaboration with the Swedish singer Freddie Wadling.

Pål Waaktaar formed the group Savoy (band) in 1994 with his wife, Lauren Savoy, and drummer Frode Unneland. In 1996 they released their debut album, Mary Is Coming, which earned them a gold record in Norway and established Pål Waaktaar as an artist far from the success of a-ha. They released two more albums in this period, Lackluster Me (1997) and Mountains of Time (1999), which received a platinum record in Norway.

Second stage: 1998-2010

In the summer of 1998, a-ha met again to talk about the future of the band after the invitation to participate in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. The group then reunites again and records 'Summer Moved On' in November.

"We were in a hurry to say no. We had actually been invited two or three times. We didn't want to appear with recycled material. We thought it would be boring to play two old songs. This inspired me, and I wrote 'Summer Moved On' as an explanation of what had happened in the band. " – Pål Waaktaar-Savoy
"I had to do it [the meeting] for the spirit of a-ha." – Morten Harket

On December 4, at a press conference at the Frognerseteren restaurant in Oslo, a-ha announces their plans for a new album and tour. Her return earned them a Goldene Europa award as 'comeback of the year' in 2000. On June 11, 1999, several representatives of record companies traveled to Oslo to listen to ten demos recorded by a-ha. On July 9 they sign a new contract with WEA Records.

Seven years after their last work in 1993, a-ha presents their comeback album, Minor Earth | Major Sky, on April 17, 2000 in Europe, which includes a cover of Savoy, "Velvet", performed by Morten and not Paul, at the company's request. a-ha begins to be played again on radio stations and the album achieves such success that it is awarded several Gold Records in Switzerland and other countries, in addition to being listed as one of the best 20 albums of the year at the international level. world. The new album contained a different sound from that cultivated by the group during the previous stage and, since their reunion, the influence of each one's solo careers has been used in most of the albums of the second stage.

"It was influenced by the solo work of recent years. We had finished recording Savoy's third album and enjoyed making music. This attitude was the one that moved the recording of the first album of a-ha in seven years, and became the core of the album.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy"

On March 24 and 25, 2001, a-ha returns to Oslo to give a concert, selling all the tickets. The concert on the 24th is included in the DVD Live at Vallhall – Homecoming. a-ha traces its sales, reaching 2.75 million copies sold.

In April 2002, in Europe, the album Lifelines was released, which, breaking the comeback album records, became Platinum in Norway just two days after its release. The album manages to sell 2.5 million copies. On June 8, the Lifelines World Tour begins at the Ullevaal Stadion (Oslo, Norway) through Europe, the Baltic States, Russia and South America, playing in front of a total of half a million people and critically acclaimed, it becomes the group's most successful tour. The last six weeks of the tour were recorded and the live album, How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head, was extracted from them.

On March 17, 2003, a-ha began promoting the album live. The group participates in radio and television promotions in Germany, Norway and Spain. On March 10 of the same year, the only single from the album, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V., is released. (Live)". Between October 27 and November 2 a-ha gives six concerts in Russia and Ukraine. Finally, the trio gives two more concerts on November 3 and 4 in Trondheim as part of a student festival.

On May 7, 2004, a-ha announced a new contract with Universal Music Group. On June 4, a-ha gave a concert on a floating stage in the port of Bergen before an audience of 13,000 people. They closed out that year's live performances with a final performance on June 12 in Middelfahrt, Denmark as part of the Rock Under Broen festival. On October 30, Savoy releases his fourth studio album, Savoy and on September 20, Magne releases his first solo studio album, Past Perfect Future Tense. a-ha also publishes material that year: the authorized biography The Swing of Things by Jan Omdahl is published on October 21 and the compilation The Singles 1984-2004< is released on November 29 /i> in commemoration of the release of the first version of "Take on Me" (which is not included on the album). On the same night as the biography's release, a-ha receives the Honor Award at the Nordic Music Awards at the Oslo Spektrum.

In February 2005, it was announced that a-ha had returned to the studio to begin recording her first album on the Universal label (released under Polydor Records). On July 2 they participate in the Live 8 charity concert where they play "Hunting High and Low", "Summer Moved On" and "Take on Me". Their eighth studio album, Analogue, was released on November 4, 2005.

In 2006, a-ha continued touring and promoting Analogue and in the summer they returned to the studio to record a version of the song "#9 Dream" by John Lennon, for the Amnesty International musical project, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. On February 24, 2006 they performed with great success at the Viña International Song Festival del Mar, Chile. In October this year a-ha received the prestigious Q Inspiration Award for her long-standing contribution to music.

In 2007, a commemorative year for a-ha, which was celebrating 25 years of career, the group played four concerts, three in Norway in August and September and one on September 15 in Kiel, Germany, which was broadcast live via MSN. The group claimed that they would be their last concert until the release of their next studio album, after a brief break, motivated by the enthusiasm of recording alone again.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy was the first to launch his new project with Savoy. In August 2007, they released Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 in Norway. This is the group's first compilation in which a selection of the best songs in the opinion of the band itself is collected together with three new songs and re-recordings of some old songs.

Magne Furuholmen released his second solo studio album, A Dot of Black in the Blue of Your Bliss, in January 2008. Magne has collaborated since 2008 with the supergroup Apparatjik.

After participating in the Nobel Peace Prize Concert and releasing her first single since "Heaven's Not for Saints" (1996), "Movies" In November 2007, Morten Harket released in May 2008 in Germany and Norway the successor to his album Wild Seed at the same time that the works of Savoy and Magne appeared in the United Kingdom. Letter from Egypt marks Harket's return as a soloist after 12 years of silence, and was the most anticipated solo return among the a-ha fan community.

With the release of their works, a-ha decides to give a special mini-tour, An Evening with Morten Harket, Savoy and Magne F, in which the three members perform as soloists before the Norwegian and English audiences in Oslo and London.

In January 2009, "Take on Me" was voted the biggest Norwegian hit of the last 50 years. Magne and Morten attended the 2008 Spellemann Awards Gala on January 24 at the Oslo Spektrum to collect the award.

At the end of March, a-ha traveled to South America to give three concerts in which they offered a preview of their next work. They played the two that they already knew from the concert at the Royal Albert Hall and showed the song "What There Is". Nothing was heard about the album until April, when on the 24th they released the first single 'Foot of the Mountain' on the Internet and on Norwegian radio stations. Shortly after, the song was released and it was announced that the album would be released in June of the same year.

Foot of the Mountain was released in June in Europe and in July in the United Kingdom, where it entered the charts at #5. Furthermore, the album was ranked #1 on the iTunes download charts in Germany. The album marked a-ha's return to its origins, with the style and elements that defined the band in its early years. Four days after its release in Norway, 30,000 copies were sold and the album achieved platinum status.

On August 6, a-ha gave a concert in Neuwied, Germany, sponsored by radio station SWR3. Later on September 19, a-ha performed at the SWR3 New Pop Festival in Baden-Baden where they received the Pioneer of Pop award.

On October 15, 2009, through their official website, the group announced their decision to end a-ha permanently and celebrate the trio's 25-year career with a farewell tour in 2010.

"We have lived literally the great adventure of a children's story, thanks to a longer and rewarded career of what no one could imagine. This gives us the opportunity to engage in other significant aspects of life, such as humanitarian, political, or whatever causes - of course through the field of art and music. We retire as a band, not as soloists. Change is always difficult and it is easy to get stuck in something determined. The time has come to move."

a-ha

On October 27, a-ha began the Foot of the Mountain Tour which concluded on November 25, becoming the group's smallest tour. This served to lay the foundations for the group's next tour, Ending on a High Note.

After the announcement of their retirement, and after finishing the Foot of the Mountain tour, the group began their farewell tour, Ending on a High Note on March 4, 2010 in Buenos Aires.

On June 14, VG's official website had the world premiere of the group's farewell song, "Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)", which went on sale in several countries. The song was also included as the last of the definitive a-ha compilation, 25, a double album (some editions with a DVD) that celebrates the band's 25 years of success performing a tour of their hit singles as well as including other songs and some hard-to-find remixes. The video for the song was filmed in Brighton, United Kingdom, with Steve Barron in the lead.

"It was very nice to work with a-ha again, especially because he had not made a music video for a long time. When Magne contacted me he said it was about closing the circle, as 'Take on Me' [directed by Barron] was the beginning of everything.
I wanted to create a really emotional film that would accompany the feelings of the song, to, hopefully, get the tears off, especially the fans. [...] I asked Morten, Mags and Pål to approach, hug and quietly say goodbye.[...] It seemed to summarize everything so the three have passed and still remain as one. "

Steve Barron

These farewell releases were accompanied by a deluxe reissue of their albums Hunting High and Low and Scoundrel Days, the former marking the 25th anniversary of their release. launch. In the non-recording framework, a tour book Ending on a High Note and an update of the 2004 biography, The Swing of Things 1985-2010, released to the public, were published. day by the author of the original work himself (which this time, however, does not include a CD), in addition to a large amount of merchandising with reasons for the tour and the group.

On December 3, an official fan party was held in Oslo as a commemorative event. Exhibitions of photos and the history of the group also took place. On December 4, a-ha gave his last concert at the Oslo Spektrum, which was recorded, surprising the audience with a performance of the song "Bowling Green" by The Everly Brothers in tribute to Terry Slater. With this special concert a-ha definitively broke ties.

"Where to start... I guess 'thank you all' sums it up perfectly.
'Thank you' is the only thing that makes sense at this point. Thank you fans and friends, for giving us your mind, your time, passion, in some cases bits of your life, and, without a doubt, considerable amounts of your money. You've made it pissable for us to dedicate to what we liked in the way we hope.
This is the end for us, and we will not know what could have brought a future together. But we do know what has been in the past; and it was impressive to be part of it.
From the beginning as childhood friends, to the peak of our career, and all the intermedia, a-ha has colored our lives in ways that we can't even understand.
This all the further that the road has taken us - but, hey, it's been a long way! One thing is clear: we did it together. Now a-ha will be the memory of a life we share.
So, thank you all. We will not forget you and hope that you will not do it either;-).
And colorful...

magne f (on behalf of a-ha)

Second break: 2011-2014

In the Spellamann Awards saga, which opened with a version of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." performed by several artists, a-ha was awarded the Honor Award.

On March 25, 2011, the first single from the latest live album, "Summer Moved On (Live)", was released. In April, the album, Ending on a High Note – The Final Concert, was released in various formats, including, and for the first time in an a-ha release, on high-end Blu-ray disc. definition.

Pål Waaktaar-Savoy and Jimmy Gnecco formed the group Weathervane. Their song of the same name is part of the film Headhunters based on the novel by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø. On August 20, 2011, they performed the song live at the 27th Amanda Awards, part of the Norwegian International Film Festival.

A-ha reunited for a single performance at the memorial ceremony for the victims of the July 22 attacks in Oslo and Utøya that was held on August 21, 2011 at the Oslo Spektrum, where they performed their song & #34;Stay on These Roads" together with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

A-ha became one of the first five artists to be inducted into the Rockheim Hall of Fame, located in Trondheim, Norway, in a ceremony held on November 6, 2011.

Third stage: 2015-present

On December 4, 2014, exactly four years after their formal separation, the official website published a statement announcing several events to celebrate the band's thirtieth anniversary. Among them, a special concert at the Rock in Río festival, which also celebrates thirty years, and deluxe reissues of their first albums, Hunting High and Low, Stay on These Roads, Memorial Beach and East of the Sun, West of the Moon which will include, for the first time on DVD, the concert Live in South America.

Later, on March 25, 2015, at a press conference in Berlin, a-ha announced a reunion for 2015 and 2016 in which they will release their tenth studio album, Cast in Steel (September 4) and the Cast in Steel Tour that will begin at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 24. The concert at Rock in Rio will take place on September 27. Morten Harket clarified, however, that it was a temporary meeting, "[...] One album, one tour. It is a great opportunity for him to allow us to write another chapter.'

On July 3, the first song from the album, "Under the Makeup", was released. Since August 18, samples of the different songs have been published periodically and on August 19 the song "The Wake" was inaugurated on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 program.

Discography

• Hunting High and Low (1985).
• Scoundrel Days (1986).
• Stay on These Roads (1988).
• East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1990).
• Headlines and Deadlines – The Hits of a-ha (1991).
• Memorial Beach (1993).
• Minor Earth Major Sky (2000).
• Lifelines (2002).
• How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head (2003).
• The Demo Tapes (2004).
• The Singles 1984-2004 (2004).
• Analogue (2005).
• Foot of the Mountain (2009).
• 25 (2010).
• Cast in Steel (2015).
• Time and Again – The Ultimate a-ha (2016).
• a-ha MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice (6 October 2017).
• True North (2022).

Tours

Hunting High and Low Live Tour (2019-ongoing; interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic).

Additionally, in 2008 the band performed 5 presentations under the name "An Evening with Morten Harket, Savoy and Magne F" as promotion of his solo albums, therefore they are not a tour.

Prizes

In 1986 they were nominated for the Grammy Awards in the category of best new artist. That same year they won 8 of the 11 nominations at the MTV Video Music Awards for "Take on Me" (6) and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." (2). In addition, throughout their career they have received 9 Spellemannprisen (the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy) and in 2009 they received recognition for the best Norwegian hit of the last 50 years for "Take on Me".

In addition, in 1991, a-ha set a Guinness record for the largest audience achieved at a paying concert, with 198,000 spectators at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as part of the Rock in Rio festival.

A-ha also received an honorable mention for "Take on Me" since she has been played more than 3 million times on American radio.

Publications

• a-ha Special by John Kercher (Grandreams LTD, 1986).
• Så Blåser Det På Jorden a-ha i Nærbilder Henning Kramer Dahl and Håkon Harket (Aventura Forlag, 1986).
• The Story So Far by Tom Marcussen (Red Herring Publishing, 1986).
• Trois Vikings de Charme by Charlotte Wolf (Editions Corlet, 1986).
• In Their Own Words (ómnibus Press, 1986).
• The Official Photo Book of Hanne Möller-Hansen and prologue of Magne Furuholmen (CBS/Sony, 1988).
• The Swing of Things by Jan Omdahl (Press, 2004; reissued in 2010).
• An Evening with Morten Harket, Savoy and Magne F (Swinglong, 2008).
• Foot of the Mountain Tour Book (2009).
• Ending on a High Note Tour Book (2010).
• A-ha: Down to the Tracks (2020).

In 2002 the author Pål H. Christiansen wrote the novel Drømmer om storhem inspired by a-ha, especially by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy. The novel was adapted into German and in 2008 into English, titled The Scoundrel Days of Hobo Highbrow.