Morten Harket
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| Morten Harket | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Morten Harket |
| Born | September 14, 1959 |
| Origin | Kongsberg, Norway |
| Genre(s) | Synthpop New Wave Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Piano, & Guitar |
| Associated acts | a-ha Souldier Blue |
Morten Harket (born September 14, 1959 in Kongsberg) is the lead singer of the Norwegian synthpop band a-ha, who have released eight studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985.
The son of Henny and Reidar Harket, and brother to Gunvald, Håkon, Ingunn and Kjetil, Morten grew up in Asker. Early musical influences included Uriah Heep, Queen, Johnny Cash, David Bowie, and Peter Gabriel. Before joining a-ha in 1982, Harket appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Souldier Blue.
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[edit] Music career
[edit] a-ha
The trio, composed of lead vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1994) and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed in 1982 and left Norway for London in order to make a career in the music business. They chose the studio of musician, producer and soon-to-be-manager John Ratcliff, because it had a Space Invaders machine. John Ratcliff introduced the boys to his manager, Terry Slater, and after a few meetings a-ha had two managers. Terry Slater and John Ratcliff together formed T.J. Management. To deal with all the technical and musical aspects they have Ratcliff, and Slater's position is the international business manager and liaison to Warner Brothers' head office in Los Angeles.[1] The origin of the name a-ha comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song. He could not choose between the names "a-ha" and "A-men". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook and came across the name "a-ha". He liked it, and said, "That's a great name. That's what we should call ourselves."
In 1985 a-ha released their first single "Take On Me" which didn't become a hit after they released it for the third time with a music video directed by Steve Barron. Thanks to "Take On Me" a-ha's debut album sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Their second studio album Scoundrel Days, the third was Stay on These Roads and fourth was East of the Sun, West of the Moon which was the last studio album to the commercial failure Memorial Beach. After the release of Memorial Beach the band went on hiatus.
Harket re-joined his colleagues in a-ha in 1998 to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. Since 1998, after the reunion a-ha has released three studio albums and several compilations. Their eighth studio album (Analogue) was released in 2005 and became a big hit worldwide and was certified Silver in the UK.
Harket held a note for 20.2 seconds in a-ha's 2000 song "Summer Moved On" , that is considered fairly long for a man but the record is held by Jim Gillette - lead singer of 80's glam metal band Nitro who has held a note for 32 seconds in the Nitro song Machine Gun Eddie.
[edit] Solo
After a-ha went on a hiatus in 1994, Harket pursued a solo career, and has so far released four albums. Two of those albums were sung in Norwegian, but his 1995 album, Wild Seed, became more of an international success because of its English lyrics. Harket worked with Håvard Rem, a Norwegian poet, to write most of the songs. "A Kind of Christmas Card" and "Spanish Steps" were the most successful numbers. The rest were either easy, simple songs, or more profound ones, such as "East Timor" and "Brodsky Tune", which had political messages in them.
Harket will release a new international solo album called Letter from Egypt, in the beginning of 2008 via Universal Records Germany.[2] The new single "Movies", is a cover of a song called My Woman by Norwegian band Locomotives. The single was released in Norway on 19 November 2007.
Harket also appeared for solo singing a song at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway on 11 December 2007.[3]
Harket appeared on British Television show Loose Women on 27th May 2008.
[edit] Personal life
Harket has three children with his ex-wife Camilla Malmquist Harket (married 11 February 1989 - 1998); Jakob Oscar Martinus Malmquist Harket (b. May 14, 1989), Jonathan Henning Adler Malmquist Harket (b. December 30, 1990) and Anna Katharina Tomine Malmquist Harket (b. April 14, 1993, uses Tomine as her first name). Harket's ex-girlfriend Anne Mette Undlien gave birth to their first child, a daughter, named Henny in 2003. Harket is currently dating his personal assistant, Inez Andersson.
[edit] Discography
- See also: a-ha discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Poetenes Evangelium | KKV |
| 1995 | Wild Seed | Warner Bros. Records |
| 1996 | Vogts Villa | Warner Music Group |
| 2008 | Letter from Egypt | Polydor |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1995 | "A Kind of Christmas Card" |
| 1996 | "Spanish Steps" |
| "Los Angeles" | |
| "Heaven's Not For Saints" | |
| "Tilbake Til Livet" | |
| "Herre I Drømmen" | |
| 1999 | "Jungle of Beliefs" |
| "A Jester In Our Town" | |
| 2007 | "Movies" |
| 2008 | "Darkspace" |
[edit] Morten Harket solo awards
[edit] Spellemannsprisen
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Best album: Wild Seed | Won |
| Song of the Year: A Kind of Christmas card | Won | |
| Spellemann of the Year | Won | |
| 1995 | Best Male Performer | Won |
[edit] Giffoni Film Festival
| Year | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | François Truffaut film award | Won |
- See also: a-ha awards
[edit] References
- ^ The Story So Far... Chapter 10. Official Community of A-ha. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Solo album for Morten Harket
- ^ Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2007. nobelpeaceprize.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
- ^ Spellemannprisen. Spellemann. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
- ^ Template:Cite web http://www.darsu.btinternet.co.uk/ahadiary.htm
[edit] External links
- Morten's official site
- Morten's official MySpace
- a-ha's official site
- a-ha fan café
- English/French site dedicated to Morten Harket
| Preceded by Mary Kennedy |
Eurovision Song Contest presenter (with Ingvild Bryn) 1996 |
Succeeded by Ronan Keating & Carrie Crowley |
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