Aha

Aha
a-ha 2010 in Moscow
General information
Genre (s)	Pop rock , synth pop , new wave
founding	1982, 2015
resolution	2010
Website	a-ha.com
Current occupation
singing	Morten Harket
guitar	Pål Waaktaar-Savoy
Keyboard	Magne Furuholmen

a-ha is a Norwegian pop group that has released ten studio albums since it was founded in 1982 and has sold more than 100 million records. The band consists of Morten Harket (vocals), Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitar) and Magne Furuholmen (keyboard).

Her biggest hits include Take On Me (1985), The Sun Always Shines on TV , The Living Daylights , Stay on these Roads , Crying in the Rain , Summer Moved On and Foot of the Mountain .

Band history

1982–1991: Founding and first successes

The band was founded in the autumn of 1982 by Pål Waaktaar-Savoy ( guitarist and songwriter ), Magne Furuholmen ( keyboardist , guitarist, songwriter; in the early years he was called Mags) and Morten Harket ( singer ). After Waaktaar and Furuholmen's previous band, Bridges, broke up, they renamed themselves The Poem. Eventually they brought Harket on board and formed a new band with him.

The name "a-ha" refers to an early song draft by the band. Morten Harket found the title in Waaktaar's notebook and suggested it as the band name. After checking some dictionaries, the band members found that "a-ha" is an international term that expresses knowledge with positive judgment. The band found the name short, easy to pronounce and unusual, so they chose it for themselves.

After recording new demos together, they went to London in January 1983. In 1983 they got a record deal with the record company WEA , from 2005 a-ha were with Universal Records Germany . In a press release from the record company WEA in April 1985, the music of a-ha is described as follows: "Highly melodic, rhythmic / danceable synthpop, decisively shaped by Morten Harket's clear, powerful voice".

A-ha made their breakthrough in the summer of 1985 with the hit Take On Me . Several attempts were necessary before it was successful, as the first version from spring 1984 was only sold around 300 times worldwide. This single and the maxi single are coveted rarities among fans. It was only at the third attempt the worldwide success of the three Norwegians, which was not least because began that now the special music video with Morten Harket and his later friend Bunty Bailey in a mixture of comicartigem appeared animated style and visual images and by the music channel MTV into the rotation added has been. The clip helped the band to number one on the American Billboard charts. In October 2003, the video was voted one of the top ten music videos of all time by viewers on the music channel MTV.

The follow-up single The Sun Always Shines on TV conquered number one in the British charts . The first album Hunting High and Low , released in May 1985, was panned by critics as "Bubblegum Pop". The song Hunting High and Low , like many other songs by other artists, was not played by the BBC during the Second Gulf War in 1990 because it was considered inappropriate ("unsuitable").

With their second album Scoundrel Days , which was released in autumn 1986, the band was able to build on its success in many countries. With Manhattan Skyline , a-ha were able to decide on a single for the first time. The album is considered a so-called "pure" studio album. The great success brought them the opportunity to contribute the theme song to the film James Bond 007 - The Living Daylights from 1987 with The Living Daylights . In May 1988, Stay on These Roads was followed by an album that largely tied in with the pop tones of their debut album Hunting High and Low . In October 1990 a-ha released East of the Sun, West of the Moon, a departure from the pop melodies of the first albums. On January 26, 1991, after the tour kicked off in Oslo, the Rock-in-Rio II concert took place in the Estádio do Maracanã , where the world record for concerts in stadiums with 195,000 fans was broken.

1991–1997: Declining success and creative break

In November 1991, a-ha launched a hot compilation of the previous singles for the first time. It was the only new title Move to Memphis, which had average success in the charts and only reached number 2 in the group's home country. The success of the album Memorial Beach , which was released in the summer of 1993, subsided , and after the Memorial Beach Club tour the three Norwegians parted ways.

Furuholmen concentrated more on his work as an artist and solo musician (especially for soundtracks ), Waaktaar-Savoy released several albums with his new band Savoy . Harket released three solo albums, two of which were sung in the Norwegian language and all of which were successful in Norway.

1998–2002: The comeback and the new millennium

After performing together at the 1998 Nobel Prize ceremony, the band decided to release a new album. In spring 2000 a-ha celebrated a successful comeback with the album Minor Earth, Major Sky , especially in Germany . With the single Summer Moved On a-ha made it to number 8 in the German charts, with the album to number 1, as well as in Norway and Estonia. In Switzerland and Russia it landed at number 3 on the charts . With the single Velvet, which had already been recorded by Pål's solo project Savoy in 1995, a-ha provided the theme song for the movie One Night at McCool’s with Liv Tyler .

Her album Lifelines , released in May 2002, was also successful in Central and Northern Europe and reached the top of the charts in Germany again. As part of the Lifelines Tour 2002, the band played for the first time in nine years in Great Britain : first in the spring in the sold-out Royal Albert Hall and then in the autumn in several other large halls such as the Wembley Arena in London . Pål and Magne also premiered as singers on the tour, giving Morten a short break during the concerts with Sycamore Leaves (Pål) and Dragonfly (Magne).

2003–2004: First live album and end of contract with WEA

In April 2003 the band released their first live album, How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head , which includes live versions of their biggest hits from the Lifelines tour. The unusual title is a line of text from their song The Swing of Things , which appeared in 1986 on the critically acclaimed Scoundrel Days album . The live album reached the top 10 in Germany and Norway, but only sold moderately overall. At the beginning of 2004, the band announced on their website that they would not renew their contract with their record company WEA and thus part with Warner Music after 20 years. At the same time, the collaboration with Universal Music was announced.

In mid-2004 an authorized biography in Norwegian was published in Norway with the title “The Swing of Things” - 20 år med a-ha . The book is a CD with previous demos and previously unreleased songs at (z. B. Monday Mourning) . The author is Jan Omdahl , who has accompanied a-ha in a journalistic and friendly manner for many years. The biography was published by Morten's brother Håkon Harket. In November 2004 the English language version appeared, which could only be obtained from the official website. In late 2004, the former record company WEA released a second collection of hits by the band called The Singles: 1984-2004 , which contains most of the band's singles but no new songs.

2005–2009: New albums with a new record company

a-ha at the Live 8 concert (2005)

On July 2nd, 2005 a-ha played at Bob Geldofs Live 8 in Berlin. The tour started on August 27, 2005 in Oslo, where a-ha gave a free concert in cooperation with the Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro . Almost 120,000 fans in Frognerpark got to hear older pieces such as Move to Memphis, The Weight of the Wind or Dark is the Night as well as new songs from the album Analogue, which followed in autumn, such as Holy Ground, Analogue or Celice . The Norwegian press was enthusiastic, and the NRK TV station showed a one-hour summary of the concert. A concert took place in Cologne on October 29, 2005, also in cooperation with Norsk Hydro . This was followed by hall concerts in Switzerland , Belgium , Austria , Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands . On September 12th, the band gave their first concert in the United States in almost 20 years at Irving Plaza in New York City .

The single Celice was released in Western Europe (except Ireland and Great Britain) on October 7, 2005, the album Analogue followed on November 4, but sold slowly outside Norway (one week at number 1 and platinum) and climbed in hardly any country Charts. In Germany it reached number 6. On January 23, 2006, Analogue (All I Want) was released in Great Britain and landed there on January 29 at number 10 on the official sales charts. In the summer of 2006 a-ha played several open-air concerts in Germany, England and Norway, and in 2007 the only free open-air concert in Germany took place in Kiel as part of the christening of the Color Magic cruise ship on a floating stage in the port of Kiel. In the same year they publish # 9 Dream by John Lennon during the compilation Make Some Noise: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur .

On May 22, 2009, the single Foot of the Mountain was released in Germany. The album of the same name followed on June 12, 2009 and climbed to number 1 in the official German album charts on June 26, 2009, but was ousted from this position a week later. This new success was made possible by a large-scale advertising campaign on various television channels. For example, the song was the ARD's signature melody for a trailer for the 2009 World Athletics Championships . The song was also used as a signature melody in the ZDF series Die Bergwacht ( The Mountain Rescue Service ).

2010: 25 and dissolution

A-ha in Spain (2010)

On October 15, 2009, a-ha announced the end of the band. They will split up in December 2010 after the farewell tour and thus 25 years after their first big hit Take On Me . The last concert for the time being took place in Oslo on December 4th 2010 in the Spektrum-Arena. The concert was sold out at the end of October 2009. On August 6, 2010, a third hit compilation was released as a double album under the title 25 . From it the single Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurray) had been released shortly before . On April 1, 2011, the last live album Ending on a High Note was released, which reached number 3 in the charts in Germany. Despite the official separation, a-ha appeared on August 21, 2011 at the memorial service on the occasion of the attacks in Norway .

2015: Reunification for the 30th anniversary

On March 24, 2015, a-ha announced at a press conference in the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin that they would be releasing a new album on September 4, 2015 entitled Cast in Steel . The first single was called Under the Makeup . In spring 2016, the band went on tour with 13 concert dates in Germany and one concert each in Austria and Switzerland.

For the 30th anniversary of the debut album Hunting High and Low and the music festival Rock in Rio , a-ha performed in September 2015 at an anniversary concert in Rio de Janeiro in the Maracanã Stadium. On September 3, 2015, a-ha were awarded the Advisory Board's special prize for their work at the award ceremony for the 6th German Radio Prize.

2017–2018: The MTV Unplugged era

In June 2017 a-ha played two acoustic sets in front of 250 spectators on the Norwegian island of Giske . An MTV unplugged album and a DVD were produced from these live recordings. In January and February 2018 they were on MTV Unplugged Tour in Europe. From June to August 2018, the group went on an Electric Summer tour through Europe, including a detour to Israel .

Cover versions

There are numerous cover versions of various a-ha songs, including The Sun Always Shines on TV, Hunting High and Low or Scoundrel Days, but most of them are from Take On Me . In 2009 Deutsche Grammophon published a compilation of 15 pop songs, played by the Fauré Quartet and produced by Sven Helbig . A-has And You Tell Me is covered on the album .

Discography

→ Main article : a-ha / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	NO
1985	Hunting high and low	DE10 × 3 Triple gold (67 weeks)DE	AT18 (5 months) AT	CH10 (19 weeks) CH	UK2 × 3 Triple platinum (81 weeks)UK	US15th platinum (47 weeks)US	NO1 × 2 Double platinum (45 weeks)NO	First published: May 31, 1985 Sales: + 12,000,000
1986	Scoundrel Days	DE4th platinum (31 weeks)DE	AT9 (3 months) AT	CH6th platinum (15 weeks)CH	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (29 weeks)UK	US74 (10 weeks) US	NO1 × 2 Double platinum (30 weeks)NO	First published: Oct 6, 1986 Sales: + 5,000,000
1988	Stay on These Roads	DE4th gold (25 weeks)DE	AT9 (2½ months) AT	CH6th gold (11 weeks)CH	UK2 gold (19 weeks)UK	US148 (6 weeks) US	NO1 (11 weeks) NO	First published: May 3, 1988 Sales: + 4,000,000
1990	East of the Sun, West of the Moon	DE6th gold (29 weeks)DE	AT23 (3 weeks) AT	CH16 gold (10 weeks)CH	UK12 silver (4 weeks)UK	-	NO1 (18 weeks) NO	First published: October 22, 1990 Sales: + 944,000
1993	Memorial Beach	DE17 (11 weeks) DE	-	CH39 (1 week) CH	UK17 (3 weeks) UK	-	NO1 (10 weeks) NO	First published: June 14, 1993 Sales: +66,000
2000	Minor Earth, Major Sky	DE1 platinum (44 weeks)DE	AT4 (11 weeks) AT	CH3 gold (18 weeks)CH	UK27 (3 weeks) UK	-	NO1 (23 weeks) NO	First published: April 17, 2000 Sales: + 385,000
2002	Lifelines	DE1 gold (26 weeks)DE	AT2 (7 weeks) AT	CH6 (14 weeks) CH	UK67 (1 week) UK	-	NO1 (25 weeks) NO	First published: April 29, 2002 Sales: +176,300
2005	Analogue	DE6 (15 weeks) DE	AT18 (2 weeks) AT	CH21 (4 weeks) CH	UK24 silver (5 weeks)UK	-	NO1 (23 weeks) NO	First published: November 4th, 2005 Sales: + 80,000
2009	Foot of the Mountain	DE1 platinum (39 weeks)DE	AT11 (11 weeks) AT	CH12 (26 weeks) CH	UK5 (6 weeks) UK	-	NO2 (17 weeks) NO	First published: June 12, 2009 Sales: + 220,000
2015	Cast in steel	DE4 (12 weeks) DE	AT13 (3 weeks) AT	CH9 (6 weeks) CH	UK8 (4 weeks) UK	-	NO2 (7 weeks) NO	First published: September 4th, 2015

literature

• Jan Omdahl: a-ha - The whole story (The authorized biography) , Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2010, ISBN 978-3-85445-331-4 (Original edition: A-ha - The Farewell Book ).

Web links

Commons : a-ha  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• official website (English)
• complete and detailed discography (English)
• All a-ha songs up to October 2015 in the ranking at laut.de.
• a-ha at laut.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ a-ha - The Whole Story , page 23
2. ↑ a-ha - The Whole Story , page 23
3. ↑ a-ha - The Whole Story , page 42
4. ↑ SWR3 Daily Pop: October 19, 1985 - A-ha with "Take On Me" on the cutting edge of trick technology ( Memento from December 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Rock Links - Banned List
6. ↑ Tickets for a-ha's final concert on sale tomorrow! (No longer available online.) A-ha.com, October 15, 2009, archived from the original on February 23, 2014 ; accessed on February 19, 2014 (English). 
7. ↑ Charts week 15 - Guano Apes celebrate perfect comeback ( Memento from April 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ a-ha participates in a national memorial service ( Memento from August 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ “Cast In Steel” Album and Tour ( Memento from April 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ http://a-ha.com/ ( Memento from December 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ www.deutscher-radiopreis.de
12. ↑ [1]
13. ↑ [2]
14. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US NO
15. ↑ A-ha will continue their Hunting-High-and-Low-Tour in 2020 ( Memento from April 19, 2020 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ Scoundrel Days ( Memento from April 19, 2020 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ A-ha - “Stay on These Roads” ( Memento from April 19, 2020 in the Internet Archive )