Morten Harket

Morten Harket
Background information
Birth name	Morten Harket
Born	(1959-09-14) 14 September 1959 Kongsberg, Norway
Genres	Synthpop, new wave, alternative rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, drums
Years active	1982–present
Labels	Polydor, Warner Bros., KKV/BMG Norway
Associated acts	A-ha Soldier Blue

Morten Harket (born 14 September 1959) is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985.^[1] A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released five solo albums. Before joining A-ha in 1982, Harket had appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Soldier Blue.

Music career

A-ha

The trio, composed of lead vocalist Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (Pål Waaktaar until his marriage in 1991), 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. Ratcliff dealt with all the technical and musical aspects; Slater was the international business manager and liaison to Warner Brothers' head office.^[1] The band says the name A-ha comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song; he was dithering between the title "A-ha" and "A-hem". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook, and came across the name, which he liked, and immediately decided that was the right name.^[2]

In 1984, A-ha released their first single, "Take On Me", which became a hit only on the third attempt in 1985, after it had been re-recorded and accompanied by a music video directed by Steve Barron. The single's international success helped A-ha's debut album Hunting High and Low to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. Their second studio album was Scoundrel Days, followed by Stay on These Roads and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. The band then issued the commercially disappointing Memorial Beach, after which 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, A-ha has released four studio albums and several compilations. Their eighth studio album Analogue was released in 2005, and became a big hit worldwide, achieving Platinum certification in the UK. The band's last studio album Foot of the Mountain was released in the summer of 2009.

Harket held a note in the falsetto range for 20.2 seconds in A-ha's 2000 song "Summer Moved On", believed to be the longest note in UK chart history.^[3] The note held exceeds the chest voice note in Bill Withers' famous song Lovely Day by 2.2 seconds.

In October 2009, A-ha announced that they would disband after a farewell tour in 2010. Tickets for A-ha's final concert at the Oslo Spektrum on 4 December 2010 sold out within 2 hours.

As a band member

Pål Waaktaar-Savoy describes Harket as being "totally different from me." He recalls the band's first visit to London together, during which Harket burned all his clothes and re-fashioned his wardrobe. "He has given me self-confidence, encourages me to talk to people, not to be afraid and to use the abilities I have. Morten is actually the only one in Norway who had as much ambition as I did. I guess we both have big egos. In a way, we're each sitting in our own little world, while Mags is more down to earth. Mags often has to mediate between Morten and me... It's good that we're so different and still respect each other. The tension between us is creative."^[4]

Magne Furuholmen describes Harket as "together". Furuholmen says Harket "believes strongly in everything he does. This goes for the band too, and it rubs off on us. He has the courage of his own convictions and cannot be shaken. He's an expert at always getting the last word, whether he's right or not. Morten is very loyal and he's fair when it comes to giving people a chance, letting them show who they are and what they're worth before judging them."^[4]

a-ha awarded Order of St. Olav

The three members of a-ha, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar Savoy, were appointed Knights of the 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for their contribution to Norwegian music. The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav is granted as a reward for distinguished services to their country and mankind. The official ceremony took place on 6 November 2012.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Outside of A-ha

In 1993, Harket performed a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Crewe/Gaudio on the Coneheads movie soundtrack in 1993.^[14] After A-ha went on a hiatus in 1994, Harket pursued a solo career, and has so far released five studio 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 listening songs, or more profound songs, such as "East Timor" and "Brodsky Tune" which had political messages in them.^{[citation needed]}

Harket has collaborated in live performances and in studio recordings with several artists. Among them, Pakistani rock band Junoon on the song "Piya", Hayley Westenra on "Children First". He has also worked with many other Scandinavian artists such as Bjørn Eidsvåg, Silje Nergaard, Oslo Gospel Choir, Espen Lind and Carola Häggkvist. On A-ha recordings, Morten has sung with Graham Nash and Anneli Drecker.

Harket released another solo album, Letter from Egypt, on 28 May 2008 via Universal Records Germany.^[15] In 2009 Harket created and performed the main theme of A Name is a Name, a film about Macedonia by Sigurjon Einarsson.^[16] In April 2012 Harket released his new solo album, Out of My Hands in both Norway and Germany, and on 14 May in the UK.

Other appearances

In addition to the numerous A-ha and solo concerts, Harket has also performed on various other shows & concerts as solo artist and with A-ha. Some notable ones:

• Morten Harket & Klaus Meine of the German band Scorpions (band) did a duet version of the Scorpions (band) hit song Wind of Change at a Scorpions (band) concert in Athens, Greece on 11th of September 2013. ^[17]
• Christina Aguilera and Pitbull performed the song Feel This Moment wich contains sampling of A-ha's Take On Me, live at the MGM Grand during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards with a surprise appearance from Morten Harket.^[18][19][20]
• UNICEF Benefit Concert (2005) – Sang the official UNICEF song "Children First" at the H.C. Andersen jubilee in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005.^[21] The song is a duet and was sung with Hayley Westenra.^[22]
• Eurovision Song Contest 1996 (as host of the show)
• He appeared at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 1998 and 2001 with A-ha, and at the 1996 and 2007 concerts as a solo artist

Vocal range and style

Morten Harket is known for his vocal range, which some sources have claimed spans five octaves,^[23][24] although Harket himself said in 2009, “I’ve never counted, quite honestly”.^[25] His voice is capable of "The greatest falsetto in the history of pop music EVER..." according to NME's Sylvia Patterson,^[26] to an "unyielding groan" as described in Entertainment Weekly.^[27] Sound engineer Gerry Kitchingham, who worked with A-ha on "Take On Me", described Harket as "an excellent singer" with "this incredibly strong falsetto and almost choir-boyish clarity".^[28]

Personal life

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, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Johnny Cash, Toto, Elton John, David Bowie, and Peter Gabriel. Harket's family runs a successful bakery business, the only one in Norway specialising in "Scotch Pies".

Harket has three children with his ex-wife Camilla Malmquist Harket, to whom he was married between 11 February 1989 and 1998: Jakob Oscar Martinus Malmquist Harket (b. 14 May 1989), Jonathan Henning Adler Malmquist Harket (b. 30 December 1990), and Anna Katharina Tomine Malmquist Harket (b. 14 April 1993, uses Tomine as her first name). Harket also has a daughter, Henny, (born 7 February 2003), with then-girlfriend Anne Mette Undlien. Harket had another daughter, Karmen Poppy, (born 7 September 2008), with Inez Andersson.^[25]

Along with fellow band member Magne Furuholmen, Harket supports English Premier League football club Stoke City.

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions						Certifications
		NOR [29]	AUT [30]	GER [31]	NLD [32]	SWI [33]	UK [34]
Poetenes Evangelium	Released: 9 November 1993 Label: Kirkelig Kulturverksted	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wild Seed	Released: 4 September 1995 Label: Warner Bros.	1	—	—	—	—	89
Vogts Villa	Released: 25 November 1996 Label: Norsk Plateproduksjon	21	—	—	—	—	—
Letter from Egypt	Released: 19 May 2008 Label: Polydor	1	—	33	—	—
Out of My Hands	Released: 14 May 2012 Label: Island	1	30	3	77	23	37

Singles

List of singles with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		NOR [29]	GER [35]	UK [34]
"A Kind of Christmas Card"	1995	1	—	53	Wild Seed
"Spanish Steps"	1996	14	—	—
"Los Angeles"		—	—	—
"Heaven's Not For Saints (Let It Go)"		9	—	114	non-album single
"Tilbake Til Livet"		—	—	—	Vogts Villa
"Herre I Drømmen"		—	—	—
"Jungle of Beliefs"	1999	—	—	—	Cultures Spans the World (soundtrack)
"A Jester in Our Town"		—	—	—	Songs from Sophie's World - The Musical (soundtrack)
"Kamilla og Sebastian"	2002	—	—	—	Kamilla og Tyven (soundtrack)
"Gildas Prayer" (Earth Affair featuring Morten Harket)	2004	—	—	—	non-album single
"Kamilla og Tyven" (Remix)	2005	—	—	—	Kamilla og Tyven (soundtrack)
"Movies"	2007	3	—	—	Letter from Egypt
"Darkspace (You're With Me)"	2008	5	73	—
"We'll Never Speak Again"		—	—	—
"Lightning"	2012	—	—	—	Out of My Hands
"Scared of Heights"		—	48	140
"I'm the One"		—	—	—
"Burn Money Burn"		—	—	—
"There Is a Place"	2013	—	—	—	Brother
"Brother"	2014	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Filmography

• 1988 Kamilla og tyven (en. Kamilla and the Thief) as Christoffer
• 2009 Yohan: The Child Wanderer^[36] as Yussuf
• 2010 The Armstrong and Miller Show – cameo as himself.^[37]

Awards

See also

• List of Eurovision Song Contest presenters

References

External links

• Fan site
• Morten's official MySpace
• Site from Universal Germany
• A-ha's official site
• A-ha fan café
• English/French site dedicated to Morten Harket
• Media related to Morten Harket at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Mary Kennedy	Eurovision Song Contest presenter (with Ingvild Bryn) 1996	Succeeded by Ronan Keating & Carrie Crowley

v t e A-ha Magne Furuholmen Morten Harket Paul Waaktaar-Savoy Studio albums Hunting High and Low Scoundrel Days Stay on These Roads East of the Sun, West of the Moon Memorial Beach Minor Earth Major Sky Lifelines Analogue Foot of the Mountain Compilation albums Headlines and Deadlines – The Hits of A-ha The Definitive Singles Collection 1984–2004 25 Live albums A-ha Live at Vallhall – Homecoming How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head Ending on a High Note: The Final Concert EPs 45 R.P.M. Club Twelve Inch Club Scoundrel Club Road Club Box sets Minor Earth Major Box Tours List of A-ha tours Ending on a High Note Tour Related articles Discography Awards Tours Savoy Apparatjik We Are Here Square Peg In A Round Hole Book Category

v t e Morten Harket Studio albums Poetenes Evangelium Wild Seed Vogts Villa Letter from Egypt Out of My Hands Singles "A Kind of Christmas Card" "Spanish Steps" "Los Angeles" "Heaven's Not For Saints" "Tilbake Til Livet" "Herre I Drømmen" "Jungle of Beliefs" "A Jester In Our Town" "Movies" "Darkspace" "Scared of Heights" Related articles A-ha discography a-ha List of Morten Harket awards

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 61740573 LCCN: no2007115492 ISNI: 0000 0000 7824 9202 GND: 134959620 MusicBrainz: 2093207d-cb69-4789-866b-5ac772c9ebd3

Persondata
Name	Harket, Morten
Alternative names
Short description	Norwegian musician
Date of birth	14 September 1959
Place of birth	Kongsberg, Norway
Date of death
Place of death