A-AH - TAKE ON ME

TAKE ON ME

A-AH

SONGWRITERS: Morten Harket; Magne Furuholmen & Paul Waaktaar-Savoy

COUNTRY: NORWAY

Álbum: HUNTING HIGH AND LOW

LABEL: UNIVERSAL

GENRE: Pop Rock

YEAR:2011

 

     A-hA (usually stylised as a-ha; Norwegian pronunciation: [ɑˈhɑː]) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars), and Morten Harket (vocals), the band rose to fame during the mid-1980s.

          A-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut álbum Hunting High and Low in 1985. That album peaked at number one in their native country Norway, number 2 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 as 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, after their fifth studio album, Memorial Beach (1993), failed to achieve the commercial success of their previous albums, the band went on hiatus.

      Following a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, A-ha recorded their sixth album, 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, which was another number-one album in Norway and Germany. This album was followed by Lifelines (2002); Analogue (2005), which was certified Silver in the UK; and Foot of the Mountain (2009), which was certified Silver in the UK and reached the Top Five 5 in many European countries.

       On 15 October 2009, the band announced they would split after the 2010 worldwide Ending on a High Note Tour. Thousands of fans from at least 40 countries on six continents congregated to see A-ha for the last leg of the tour.

          On 4 December 2014, A-ha officially announced its participation at Rock in Rio 2015, which celebrated 30 years for both the band and the event. In 2015, it was announced that A-ha would re-unite and their tenth studio album, Cast in Steel, was released on 4 September 2015, and the band toured in support of the album.

       The band has released ten studio albums, several compilations and four live albums. In less than a year, during 2010, the band earned an estimated 500 million Norwegian kroner from concert tickets, merchandise and the release of a greatest hits album, making them one of the 40–50 highest-grossing bands in the world. The band were listed in the Guinness World Records book for having the biggest-paying rock concert attendance; they drew an audience of 198,000 at Maracanã Stadium during Rock in Rio festival. Their exact sale figures are somewhat controversial; according to their label, Rhino Entertainment, they have sold 55 million records, but other sources assert that they have sold more than 100 million units, albums and singles combined.

            Hunting High and Low is the debut studio album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha. It was released on 28 October 1985 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, eventually selling more than 11 million units worldwide. 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.

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?

 

Take on me (take on me)

Take me on (take on me)

I'll be gone

In a day or two

 

So needless to say

I'm odds and ends

But I'll be stumbling away

Slowly learning that life is ok

Say after me

It's no better to be safe than sorry

 

Take on me (take on me)

Take me on (take on me)

I'll be gone

In a day or two

 

Oh, things that you say

Is it a life 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

 

Take on me (take on me)

Take me on (take on me)

I'll be gone

In a two

Take on me (take on me)

Take me on (take on me)

I'll be gone

In a two.