A tribute thread to sustained musical greatness...A Ha

[Crankie Avalon]

The seminal band we are privileged to have known as...A Ha. From
left to right: Douchebag #1, Douchebag #2, Douchebag #3, and,
of course, their hair.


BIOGRAPHY

A-Ha will always hold a special place in the pantheon of international flash-in-the-pan stardom. Their slick brand of synth-pop was certainly in vogue when their hit "Take On Me" became the tune du jour in mid-1985, but it was a unique combination of Nordic cheekbones and cutting-edge technology that was most responsible for thrusting this Oslo-based trio into the spotlight over a decade ago.

Guitarist Paal Waaktaar and keyboardist Magne "Mags" Furuholmen had been playing together in bands with ominous monikers like Black Day and Spider Empire since they were pre-teens. The pair financed and recorded an album (Fakkeltog) with bassist Viggo Bondi and drummer Oeystein Jevanord as Bridges before dissolving the group and recruiting Morten Harket as the third member of what would eventually become A-Ha. The trio temporarily relocated to London, where they recorded a series of demos that led to a deal with Warner Bros. in late 1983. "Take On Me," the lead single from their debut LP Hunting High And Low , was a lofty pop cut with a unique, state-of-the art video that combined live action footage with black-and-white rotoscope animation. The song immediately became a staple on MTV and brought A-Ha worldwide recognition. On four additional albums (1986's Scoundrel Days, 1988's Stay On These Roads, 1990's East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon and 1992's Memorial Beach), A-Ha veered away from their synth-heavy roots with more material favoring guitar and piano, but were unable to maintain much interest outside of their native Norway and parts of Europe.

Harket and Waaktaar went on to pursue their own musical careers (Harket as a solo artist and Waaktaar with the band Savoy), while Mags has turned to a career as an artist. But in 2000, the trio reunited to record their sixth studio album (their first in eight years), Minor Earth Major Sky.

This Biography was written by Stephen Peters

http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/artistFocus.asp?artistID=1000252



Take On Me by A Ha

We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, OK?
CHORUS:
Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two
So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry
CHORUS
Oh the things that you say
Is it live or
Just to play my worries away
You're all the things I've got to remember
You're shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway
CHORUS

http://www.lyricalcontent.com/htmlit.php?q=1603&artist=A+Ha&title=Take+On+Me

Like...wow. Just wow. Awesome. :wow:

[Lavender Brown]

1. That's going to be stuck in my head all day

:argh:

[Big Kahuna]

2. A musical career that lasted a lunchtime.

[McKenzie]

3. wow those lyrics...I need a dictionary...

the full Monty OED and even then I'll be struggling.

They have contributed so much to our understanding of allegorical lyrics in popular music. Certainly stand comparison with Dylan at his very best. Link to the Dylan I mean here>>>

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/ctippsuk/characters.html

[no name no slogan]

4. They're not douchebags, they're Norwegian (n/t)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. They're not pretentious, they're just

Norwegians trying to write in a language other than their own. You should see what the Japanese come up with.