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Image taken from posters from the Minor Earth | Major Tour 2000. a-ha formed in early 1982 in Norway, growing out of an earlier band named Bridges.  Two of the members of Bridges, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and songwriter Pål Waaktaar (later to be known as Paul Waaktaar-Savoy), who were friends since childhood, decided to keep making music together.  They set off to England to try to reach their dream of becoming professional musicians.  Their first trip to London to seek a recording contract ended when the money ran out.  It was at that time that they met Morten Harket, who had been a blues singer with previous bands known as Spider Empire and Souldier Blue.  Together, the three Norwegians returned to London in 1984 to face hardships while looking for the contract they'd coveted for so long.
Managed by Terry Slater, the trio shocked everyone by signing the deal with Warner Bros.  In their repertoire was one song that would eventually become a worldwide hit - called Lesson One.  OK - maybe you've never heard of it...but what about the final name of the song - Take On Me.  

This song had a very rough time reaching the top.  First, there is the obvious name change.  Then, what is little known about a-ha is that there were actually three releases of the song before it actually became a big hit.  The first version of the song, which does not appear on any a-ha album was produced by Tony Mansfield sold poorly - only 100 copies of the 12" extended version were sold in the UK.  And the rarely seen video never made it to rotation.  Realizing that the song still had potential, the song was remixed with Alan Tarney and re-released in the UK, not fairing too much better.  And then came the video.

Take On Me was put on rotation on MTV in the USA, and instantly became a hit, or more appropriately described, as a phenomenon.  Slow to catch on, the third time was the charm for a-ha in the UK, reaching #2 on the charts.  The video wasn't through there.  Its unique innovation, loosely based on an art student's school project and the movie Altered States, went on to win eight 1986 MTV awards for the videos of Take On Me and The Sun Always Shines On TV.  They were also nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best New Artist" but lost to a worthy opponent - Whitney Houston. Soon afterwards a-ha released their second album, Scoundrel Days.

In 1987 Pål Waaktaar was commissioned to compose the theme for the James Bond film The Living Daylights with the celebrated John Barry. Due to a disagreement between a-ha and Barry, two versions of The Living Daylights were recorded, one for the movie soundtrack, and another for the next album release, Stay On These Roads in 1988.  Barely noticed in the USA, this album achieved the highest number of top 20 hits in a-ha's career - five - exactly half the songs on the album.

In 1990, a-ha released their fourth album, East of the Sun, West of the Moon.  Soon afterward in 1991, the greatest hits compilation Headlines and Deadlines was released.  Following the success of these two albums, a-ha went on a world tour that lead to record-breaking attendance at the Rock in Rio Festival, Maracana Stadium, Brazil in 1992.  The record still stands today as the largest paid attendance record in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1993, a-ha released Memorial Beach world wide, with the least success of any album to date.  After only a few airings, MTV banned the lead-off video Dark Is The Night and called it 'too disturbing.'  After some success in other countries, a-ha was chosen to write a song for the 1994 Winter Paralympics held in Lillehammer, Norway.  The song, titled Shapes That Go Together was released and charted in several European countries.  For many years, fans waited anxiously as the band members became engaged in other projects.  Lead singer Morten Harket became disenchanted with the success of a-ha and more interested in pursuing a solo career.  Keyboardist Magne Furuholmen delved further into his artwork and later formed his own band called Timbersound, and a bored Paul Waaktaar-Savoy started a band with his wife, called Savoy.  The record contract that a-ha held with Warner Bros. sat idle, waiting for the band to record their next album.  The members of a-ha gave no indication that the record contract would ever be fulfilled.  Newspapers reported a large rift in the band, and a song on the debut album for Savoy seemed to be a personal attack on Morten Harket.  To many, the differences in the band seemed irreconcilable.  And the band drifted apart.

1998 brought an invitation from the Nobel Peace Prize Concert for a-ha to perform together once again.  The band members hesitantly decided that they would perform, and set out to decide on a playlist.  After deciding to perform The Sun Always Shines On TV, a new song, called Summer Moved On, was chosen to be the second performed.  The performance was a success, and the response of the crowd touched a nerve within each of the band members.  Their distances began to heal, and ultimately ended with the decision to try for a new record deal.  In 1999, the contract was secured with Warner Bros. Germany, and their old contract was broken.  Finally, after 7 years without an album, Minor Earth | Major Sky was released in Europe and Asia with a roaring success.  Sold out concerts Japan, Germany, Estonia Russia and Norway followed.  With the dreams of so many coming to light, there are currently no plans for a-ha to slow down anytime soon...