a-ha - Take On Me

Take On Me is one of the most important songs by the Norwegian group A-ha, because it gave them the opportunity to make the leap to the global market. This success led to many other hits, such as The Sun Always Shines on TV and The Hunt Up and Down. In this article, we will look at Take On Me and how it was created. The story of the creation of this song is deeper than the formation of the group. Pal Vaaktaar and Magne Furuholmen wrote The Juicy Fruit Song when they were 15 and 16, when they were both members of an A-ha group called Bridges. This song would be the beginning of his hugely successful singles. After Bridges broke up, Pal and Magne reunited with their classmate Morten Harket. Morten Harket heard the song and thought the keyboard riff guaranteed universal success. The three got together and began recording demos, including a new version of "Juicy Fruit Song", which they called "Lesson One". A lump began to form.

A-ha was inspired by The Doors for this song. In Furuholmen's words: “Ray Manzarek was very influential. He combined pop music with classical music. Manzarek's almost mathematical but very melodic and structured way of playing had a great influence on my approach to the instrument. “I think Aha’s strong point is taking these things and adding our own Scandinavian flavor to them.”

They have been to London several times to play and the songs change one by one. They finally decided to work together at John Ratcliffe's studio and attempted to record five songs. Ratcliffe introduced him to director Terry Slater. They recorded several songs together, including the famous Take on Me, and Slater managed to sign the band to Warner Bros Records UK.

Andrew Wickham, managing director of Warner Bros UK, said in 2020: “When I heard Morten Harket perform, I couldn't believe it. How can someone like a movie star look like Roy Olvinson? "I thought he was great."

Aha Fairlight sat down with Tony Mansfield, a manufacturer expert in the use of CMI. Mansfield remixed some of the band's demos, giving them a more electronic sound and altering the original premise. However, the result was not what Aha expected and they remixed the song. They rushed to release Take on Me as a single in the UK that year, but it only reached number 137 in the charts.
The release is accompanied by a rather vulgar music video in which the band performs the song against a blue background. Nothing seemed to help them gain the favor of the general public.