History

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 studios of musician, producer and soon-to-be-manager John Ratcliff, because it had a Space Invaders machine. The origin of the name "a-ha" comes from the lyrics of an early song ("Nothing To It"). After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that "a-ha" was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say and unusual.

"Take on Me" and "Hunting High and Low"

"Take on Me" was the first song Morten Harket heard Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar play. At that time the song was called "Lesson One". After multiple re-recordings and two failed releases, "Take on Me" became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985 and was the second best-selling single in 1985.
The first release of the song in 1984 was not a major success, but after a few songs were remixed by producer Alan Tarney a year later, it sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in one week. Eventually the single "Take on Me" was estimated to have sold 7-9 million copies worldwide; it peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the UK Singles Chart.
Sales were aided in the U.S. by a music video on MTV that may have been inspired by the truck chase scene from Terry Gilliam's movie Brazil, and the climactic scene from the Ken Russell film Altered States.
The video used a pencil-sketch animation / live action combination called Rotoscoping (where individual frames of video are drawn over or colored).
At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards "Take on Me" won in six categories. It was also nominated for Best Video Of The Year at the 1986 American Music Awards.

The a-ha's second single was "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". In the U.S., the song peaked at number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number seventeen on Radio & Records airplay chart. In addition, the music video for the song won in two categories at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

a-ha's American success culminated in their 1986 Grammy nomination in a coveted Best New Artist category which was eventually won by Sade.

"The Sun Always Shines on TV" turned out to be a-ha's last Billboard Top 40 single, and to this day in the United States a-ha is remembered by the general public almost entirely because of the singularly huge success of "Take on Me". As such, the band is frequently considered there as a one-hit wonder. In the UK (and much of the rest of the world), however, the story was very different: "The Sun Always Shines on TV" was an even bigger hit among British fans than "Take on Me", peaking at number one. In Australia, as in the UK, a-ha had continued success with "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and were consistently popular throughout the 1980s.

The 1985 album Hunting High and Low, containing "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV," was a worldwide bestseller. In the U.S. it sold more than a million copies and acquired platinum certification by RIAA.
As of 2005, Hunting High and Low has sold 10 million copies.

As of 1999, a-ha has reformed and are still performing worldwide. In May of 2008, they will be performing in London presenting a solo project concert.

a-ha's new studio album is in the works and will be released sometime during 2008.

a-ha continues to amaze and delight crowds the world over.

To be Continued....