Talk:a-ha

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Contents

[edit] Sources

Isn't the sources section a bit too short (it doesn't exactly help with just a link to the the frontpages of internet newspapers)84.202.94.138 23:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

300 copies is an unlikely number of sales for any major label album. In fact, any album by a Major would SHIP in far greater quantities than this, making sales impossible to track. SOURCE PLEASE.--Tednor 04:24, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

300 copies is the correct number. Sources: http://www.darsu.btinternet.co.uk/1984.htm . This is a well known fact in the a-ha community and not something to question. It was not unusual back then that a single were released several times with different arrangment, before it broke the ice, so to speak. The recording industry has changed alot since then and today recordlabel are not really spending time, fostering, nurturing acts. This was also just a single release and not an album release. Back in the 80's it wasthe singles that sold the albums, not the albums that sold the singles like it is today. it's natural that they gave the singles several go's. 20:31, 9 December 2006 (UTC)Mortyman
I am fully aware of those facts regarding releases, what is unlikely is that a major label would bother to produce and ship such a small quantity of any release. Promotional copies alone (for dj pools and radio) would be thousands at minimum, with a significant "bleed" between promo and legitimate single sales. I don't care if it's "well known fact in the a-ha community", it needs to be sourced in the article. thanks--Tednor 14:59, 12 December 2006 (UTC)Furthermore anything in the Wiki may be questioned at any time, and to state otherwise is to insult both the Wikipedia and the intelligence of its readers, so please phrase more carefully your statements. I admire your devotion to the comprehensiveness of this page, don't get me wrong there.--Tednor 15:07, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm sorry if you feel I was a bit heavy in my comments here. Can't source every info that is here. It would take a whole page of it's own. I don't regard this as important information. When that is said it's not me who has included the info in the infopage. We have different views of what's important and not important info I guess.... Mortyman 19:52, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

See my comments on the trivia issue ( Mortyman )Articles on the net often change url's or dissapear alltogether after a while. Besides most of the articles would be in Norwegian. No point for people who don't speak that language. That however does not mean that these facts are not true. However a-ha is a nOrwegian band, not an American or British, so a lot of info willl be in Norwegian. In general American and English language bio's are not very uppdated.

[edit] Trivia section

I agree with Mortyman about the trivia section. The section is a good addition to the main article. Btw, it's well known in Norway that the ripped jeans trend was started by Morten. Turbotape 15:25, 23 August 2006 (UTC)


I disagree on the trivia and quotes issues. Both the trivias and quotes are well known among fans and music journalists alike in Norway and Europe. There is no reason to be sceptical to this info. You can read the bio " Swing of Things " written with a-ha's concent and includes interviews with the band members, their families and industry people who has worked with a-ha during their career, if you have doubts about this. I also like to know what you regard as nonsense trivia ? The ripped jeans is a fact. I have cut away the info about Morten being offered a role in a James Bond film. As for references. I have made very clear where I have found the info and how to obtain it. Much of the trivia and quotes are taken from English and Norwegian press articles and interviews. Some info are not available on the net ( yes that actually happens ), some info does have url's that does not work anymore and in the case of the Norwegian press, well I guess I could provide url's to info but then you guys need to take a Norwegian language class............. I would also like to point out that a-ha has'nt been touring or been in the spotlight in the USA for 20 years ( except for one small concert in 2005 ). A lot of info about a-ha never reaches American shores and therefore a-ha's info in the US market is not very uppdated. I strongly beleave that the info I have provided does the band and this bio justice.( " Mortyman " ).


I agree with 'the stuart', a lot of this trivia is nonsense which has no place on wikipedia, as is the extended quote section. Some of the trivia is doubtful factually too e.g the ripped jeans fashion trend (Yorkshiresky 13:01, 6 August 2006 (UTC))

I also agree. If it does indeed stay on the page, then the trivia, as well as the quotes, should at least be backed up with references; the trivia should also be edited to remove the personal opinion e.g. the "it was chaos" line.--Tugboat 08:06, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Trivia sections on Wikipedia are considered very bad form. All imformation within this section should be dispersed to apropriate places within the article. --The_stuart 18:38, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Let me say that in my opinion Wikipedia will rise above other sources for such reasons as including Trivia and dynamic writing which other sources are too restrained to offer the public. This is a source for the people, perhaps the people desire trivial information that is indeed factual but in a spirit of fun. Who needs yet another dry as a bone read?? That's my two cents.--Tednor 04:46, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

There was no reason to remove this section from the bio. All info in the trivia section is accurate. I have added most of it myself. I am adding it back on. ( Mortyman )


  • The very first version of "Take On Me" was called "The Juicyfruit Song", and was recorded during a rehearsal in 1981 by Bridges, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen's former band.
  • In 1985 pop star Madonna, performed a Latin cover version of "Take On Me" on Saturday Night Live.
  • In the same year in Mexico the opening notes of "Take On Me" was used like a jingle for a TV campaign announcing stockings "Frescannon"
  • During the promotion of a-ha in the USA in the '80s, the American media often compared Morten Harket's looks to the looks of a young Elvis Presley and James Dean.
  • Bunty Bailey was the name of the actress who played the girl reading the comic book in the video "Take on Me". She also dated Morten Harket for a brief period of time.
  • a-ha won 8 MTV awards during one MTV award show in 1986.
  • a-ha is responsible for the "Ripped jeans" fashion trend of 1985. Lead singer Morten Harket was the originator of this trend due to a slight mishap, he mistakenly tore the front of his jeans on a Marshall amplifier while rushing to the stage during a performance. Afterwards, he remarked "Ouch! I just didn't see those." In future performances he used razor blades to achieve the same effect.
  • Michael Jackson and Sophia Loren were at a-ha's 1986 concert in Los Angeles.
  • Debbie Gibson, US singer attended an a-ha concert in 1986, when she was 16. She later met a-ha again in 1991.
  • Morten Harket was offered a role as a villain's henchman in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights. However he declined, due to lack of time and because the producers only wanted him in the movie because of his popularity and not his acting skills. a-ha wrote and performed the title song for the movie. However, he did take up an acting role, as the character of Christoffer in the two Norwegian Kamilla and Tyven movies made in the late 80s.
  • In 1989 a-ha played in Rio de Janeiro at the Praça da Apoteose (the place where the Rio carnaval takes place annually). The organizers expected an audience of 40,000; however 100,000 showed up — it was chaos.
  • On the tour of South America in 1991, a-ha played for over 3 million people in under a month and 25 shows, in addition to their world record performance at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • In 1991 a-ha set a Guinness Book World Record by playing for the largest paying audience in the world: 198,000 people.
  • East of the Sun and West of the Moon is the name of a Norwegian folk tale.
  • The song "Angel In The Snow" was actually written by Paul for his wife Lauren, in 1991, when they got married.
  • An a-ha poster can be seen on the wall during the Seinfeld episode "The Pez Dispenser", which was aired in 1992.
  • Songs by a-ha have been included as background music in episodes of popular TV series, such as Baywatch, Melrose Place, South Park, Smallville and The Simpsons, as well as movies such as One Night at McCool's, Grosse Pointe Blank and Corky Romano and Beavis and Butthead.
  • Reel Big Fish remade the song "Take On Me" in 1998 for the BASEketball soundtrack.
  • In 1999 Paul Waaktaar-Savoy received an award: a-ha have been played 2,000,000 times on US radio-stations.
  • J-Pop singer Utada Hikaru performed "Take on Me" in Bohemian Summer 2000.
  • a-ha tours with a backing band. The current band includes the drummer Per Lindvall, who used to play drums in ABBA's backing band, and has toured with a-ha since 2000.
  • In 2005, the video for "Take On Me" was parodied in "Breaking Out Is Hard to Do," an episode of the Family Guy cartoon sitcom. The sequence begins when Chris is pulled into the pencil-sketched world of the video by a man resembling Morten Harket. The animation in the scene is extensively patterned after that of the "Take On Me" video, but with Chris instead of "The Girl".
  • In June 1991, The last episode of "Twin Peaks" (directed by David Lynch) is aired for the first time. As a big Lynch fan, Pål sent him a tape containing 3-5 songs, amongst them "Sycamore Leaves", in the hope that he might sometime direct an a-ha video. Lynch was too busy with "Twin Peaks" to work with a-ha. Never-the-less Lynch rips off the song "Sycamore Leaves" in this last episode (slightly changed, but with the same structure and called "Sycamore Trees") but doesn't credit Pål.
  • In December 2005, the flash cartoon series Weebl and Bob featured a reference to the "Take on Me" video clip.
  • According to Pål in the book, The Swing of Things, the official a-ha biography, whilst recording in Prince's Paisley Park studios, Mags scrawled the word 'Prince' in felt pen on the childs urinal in the men's loo, referring to Prince's incredibly small frame. Apparently it was removed "impressively fast"!!
  • a-ha has performed at two Nobel Peace Prize concerts, the most prestigious awardshow in the world. a-ha performed in 1998 and 2001. (Morten Harket has also performed solo once.) The 1998 performance was a-ha's comeback into the world of music.

Can anyone put more information on the musicians themselves, like who played which instruments?

Surely by the Wikipedia definition of New Wave (music), a-ha's genre is not best defined as a New Wave? swalk 12:55, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

I think one of U2's recent songs sounds a lot a lot like "The Sun Always Shine on TV". I don't remember which. The background sounds just like it, but the lyrics are different.

The song is Beautiful Day. ( Mortyman )


The "ripped jeans" trivia should probably be modified, to make it clear that Morten only claims to have started the trend, not that he actually did. Punk Rock bands had been wearing ripped jeans nearly a decade (ref: Ramones 1976 album cover) before Morten claims to have discovered them (1985).

My suggested change: "a-ha lead singer Morten Harket claims to be responsible for the '80s "ripped jeans" fashion trend. He states that he was rushing to the stage in a 1985 performance where he ran past an amplifier and accidentally tore his jeans on the edge. However, it should be noted that Ripped Jeans were being worn onstage by Punk Rock bands nearly a decade earlier, and the fashion trend may have actually begun there." ( Cobalt )


[edit] Corrected entries

Release dates for "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Memorial Beach", under the First Phase and Discography sections were exchanged. I have corrected this issue. Novaisel 14:09, 7 February 2007 (UTC)NovaiselNovaisel 14:09, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not One Hit Wonders!

Even though Take On Me was rated #8 on VH1's One Hit Wonder Chart. I have removed a-ha from being a One Hit Wonder down to the fact that a one hit wonder is actually when an artist is only known for one hit. Considering that a-ha had 8 top ten hits in the UK alone between 1985 & 1988 one of them being the #1 single The Sun Always Shines On T.V. their first three albums also holds the record for being the only artist to have three consecutive #2 albums...etc...etc...all chart hits can be seen on the a-ha discography section as well as the fact that in 2006 a-ha still continue to make records. anyone that knows anything about a-ha knows that this statement is incorrect and therefore should not be included.

NendoShisu 09:21, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image replacement

The current image is of low quality - a far-away stage shot with lots of fans' arms in the way. -- Beland 05:29, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

CONSIDER IT...................REPLACED!!!!

Old Photo
Aha foto8 .jpg

New Photo

NendoShisu 13:35, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clean Up

a-ha and it's related articles sucks. Someone needs to fix them. I've fixed their discography. And they haven't sold 3 million in the UK. --Alive Would? Sun (talk) 19:11, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi! Please check your talk page. For anyone else stumbling across this and doubting my edits, check the BPI page and search for title ("Hunting High and Low"), not artist. That album went triple platinum in the UK. However, triple platinum in the UK is only 900,000. Triple platinum in the U.S. is three million. Put another way, SINGLE platinum in the U.S. is actually one hundred thousand more than TRIPLE platinum in the UK. I wasn't the person who claimed 3 million in the UK, but I am the person who edited the pages today. If you combine all their album sales, however, they're probably near or at 3 million. That's speculation on my part based on the certifications I can cite (which total about 2 million UK units sold) and the chartings of their other albums there; we can't put speculation in the article, but perhaps the citation is out there...have faith, and you'll find it! In the meantime, please put my edits back once you've confirmed them for yourself. Thanks, and welcome to Wikipedia! Abrazame (talk) 12:45, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Edit Pictures

Can someone edit the pictures. The current ones is'nt really good. The top one basically shows the crowd at a concert, not a-ha themselves. The second one shows a-ha and their entire backingband. It should be just a-ha.Mortyman (talk) 13:15, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Gilbert Murga?

I have reason to doubt that there really is a band member named Gilbert Murga. I'm putting a [citation needed] on it. Someone who knows about a-ha may want to look into this. CosineKitty (talk) 18:50, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

It's 100% false. - Aphasia83 (talk) 19:47, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No mention of Lifelines

There is no mention of the Lifelines album in the After hiatus (1998-present) section of the bio. The bio goes from Minor Earth Major Sky album and right to the live album. Lifelines is missing. Can someone write a little about that album too ? Mortyman (talk) 19:02, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

  • I've added some info about it. - Aphasia83 (talk) 19:35, 8 June 2008 (UTC)