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| Somewhere during the early success of a-ha,
an unwilling Morten Harket picked up the title of teen
heart-throb. At first, he dealt with it the best that he
could, but cracks started to emerge in his 'chiseled' features - and
we're not talking about wrinkles. In 1992, as his band a-ha
was performing to the largest paying crowd ever with hundreds of
thousands of adoring fans, Morten felt detached and alienated.
He had achieved success at every level, but something still seemed
to be missing. In an attempt to both redefine himself and
rediscover his passion, Morten Harket decided to pick up his guitar
and start writing songs. It was a big move, because until this
point he had mainly performed what others had written for him.
His amazing voice sailed over and under the normal octaves, and his
gift was so strong that no one thought that he may have other
talents, but he set out to surprise us. |
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Morten started some work out of a-ha
early on. By 1989, he lent his voice to the albums of fellow
Norwegians Bjorn Eidsvag and
Jan Bang, and acted in the Norwegian
film Kamilla Og Tyven. By 1993 he realized that he
could contribute his voice for an album on his own. That year
he released Poetenes Evangelium, an
album of Norwegian religious poetry set to music. He was also
asked to contribute to the soundtrack of the film Coneheads
with a remake of Can't Take My Eyes Off You.
At the same time, Morten struggled with his disillusionment with
fame. To prove something to himself, and maybe the world, he
decided that he would compose his own album with the help of some
poets he met working on Poetenes Evangilium.
After writing an entire album and then completely scrapping it,
Morten finally completed his first real musical composition to the
world in September, 1995 - Wild Seed -
much to the surprise of his a-ha
band mates who at the time were unaware of Morten's solo
efforts. The album showed a different side of Morten, with
topics ranging from international injustices to a marriage gone
wrong; from longing for a lover's touch to unbridled lust. The
album enjoyed international success, and spawned three singles and
has been the best-selling album thusfar from any of a-ha's
solo projects.
Morten once again came into the international spotlight as host
of the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest, which he hosted, despite
having criticized the event strongly in the past.
Additionally, Morten released his second true solo CD entitled
Vogts
Villa, which is completely in the Norwegian language.
Morten began work on his next project intended for international
release when he was interrupted by the Nobel Peace Prize
Concert. His own project put on hold,
Morten wrote two songs
for the new a-ha album
released in 2000, Minor Earth | Major Sky.
Morten claims that he has not given up on his solo projects, but he
is once again enjoying the success of a-ha,
and will work on his own projects in due time. |
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