The best thing in the entire history of the world

[Brandenburger Toro]

The video to "Take On Me" with the lyrics changed to describe what's happening in the video.

[Reed John]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

That rules. I'm going to post it on my facebook page like a loser.

[Mumpo]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Excellent. Must do one for Love's Great Adventure.

[Jon]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I've got tears rolling down my cheeks.

[Greenlander]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I was out with a friend on Sunday night and we got talking about bands and gigs. A-ha were the first band she ever saw live. She also had a major crush on the the lead singer. Having seen this clip I can see why. I bet he one of those fuckers that still looks just as swoonsome 20 years on.

But I digress. That is laugh out loud funny. I'm in the mood for a pipe wrench fight with a couple of goons.

[Mumpo]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

M'lovely wife hankered after the weedy-looking blonde one. Pip, or whatever his name was.

[Spearmint Rhino]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Pal.

And yeah, Morten Harket is still one handsome swine.

I used to be the singer in a covers band at uni, and our drummer was a Finnish guy who was the spit of Morten Harket (and he knew it, cos he copied his look).

He got all the girls, which really pissed the rest of us off. Bit of a Pete Best situation.

[Gerontophile]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

SR: I really, really have to know this: how did you hit THAT note?

[Reed John]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

That was A-ha's only hit in the USA, and it was almost entirely because of the video, which was massively innovative and mind-blowing at the time (and now too, I think). But they also had a minor hit, or at least a single-released, with "The Sun Always Shines On TV," which I think is at least as good if not better than "Take On Me."

I love their sound. Very futurey. Very clean. Very Scandinavian. Like a Volvo in the snow.

[diggedy derek]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I could only get half way through that joke version. The original in comparison still looks great, and although the gags in the literal version are quite well observed, the things it picks up on and comments upon – the editing, the way the video shows off its trickery, the fetishism of the band - are simply all the things which make pop videos, and by extension a lot of hollywood films, so fantastic. Watching a video like this, you want to be seduced by it. Nothing silly in that, either.

I think it cost about a million quid, as I remember, which for a first record still sounds pretty impressive.

[Taylor]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I did laugh, but there's something frustrating about that clip - it's not quite as funny as it might have been. "Is this your house?" is the best bit.

I used to hate A-ha, because I'd only heard the hits and only remembered the bad ones (I'm still not fond of "Take On Me"). And because they all dressed like the appalling German twat I had at my house for a while on an exchange visit (though better looking than that chocolate-guzzling wanker). Anyway, when you dig a little, it turns out they did some really fantastic stuff here and there, if you can stomach the forced grandeur of Morten Harket's voice. "Hunting High And Low", in particular, is a pumped-up masterpiece of Nordic angst, and the middle minute or so is staggering: the implied camera pan up into the freezing sky, the sound of seabirds, a beautiful quasi-Japanese keyboard melody from nowhere, then Morten clenches a hand in front of his chest (doubtless) and screams "I'M HUNTING HIGH AND LOW! And now she's telling me... she's got to GO!! AWAY!!!!!" - and the song takes a left turn through some kind of mini-movie theme on its way back to the chorus.

I mean, it's a little over the top, but I don't want to make this sound like some kind of novelty record - it's genuinely great, an authentic end-of-relationship = end-of-world pop ballad, seemingly arranged by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Rick Wright circa "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". I love the (certainly accidental) run-on in the lyrics, too, which seems to add a layer of intrigue to the narcissism of Harket's singing: "I sense the pounding of her heart / Next to mine, she's the sweetest love I could find." It's one of my favourite singles of the late 80s, for sure.

Uploaded here:

A-ha - Hunting High And Low

[Reed John]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

What a great post.

No honest review of pop from one's childhood or adolescence is complete without a reference to a memory we associate with it - the German twat in your house, a girl at school, a party where something memorable happened, a particular road trip where that was the only tape in the car, etc.

[Otto Katz]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Greenlander wrote:

I was out with a friend on Sunday night and we got talking about bands and gigs. A-ha were the first band she ever saw live. She also had a major crush on the the lead singer. Having seen this clip I can see why. I bet he one of those fuckers that still looks just as swoonsome 20 years on.

Don't know who the guy in the hat is. Maybe it's their new drummer.

[Spearmint Rhino]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

gerontophile wrote:

SR: I really, really have to know this: how did you hit THAT note?

We weren't an A-ha covers band.

I wish we had been, actually.

[Mumpo]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Taylor (and anyone, in fact), have you heard Manhattan Skyline? Even better than Hunting High And Low, for my money.

[Spearmint Rhino]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

That was A-ha's only hit in the USA, and it was almost entirely because of the video, which was massively innovative and mind-blowing at the time (and now too, I think). But they also had a minor hit, or at least a single-released, with "The Sun Always Shines On TV," which I think is at least as good if not better than "Take On Me."

I love their sound. Very futurey. Very clean. Very Scandinavian. Like a Volvo in the snow.

"The Sun Always Shines On TV" was actually a slightly bigger hit than "Take On Me" in the UK (it went to No.1), but it's been kind of written out of history now. Never makes the 80s compilations or nostalgia shows. But yeah, I agree, it's the superior song.

Even better, of course, is the extraordinary "Manhattan Skyline".

Oh, and "I've Been Losing You" is pretty great too.

[hobbes]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

So is this one of those critical reappraisals people were banging on about on the Oasis thread?

[Spearmint Rhino]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

Not really. There's been OTF love for A-ha way back since the board began.

[hobbes]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

That's good news. Because I thought I might be alone in thinking that The Living Daylights was one of the best Bond themes.

[diggedy derek]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I knew A-Ha's stuff very well when I was young, but because it's not the main area of what I'm into these days, and because what I write about is waaaaay removed from A-Ha, I've never revisited them at all. It's a real shame, as all the songs singled out here were indeed great, and their first two albums were actual Proper Albums with surprisingly little filler.

I remember "Living A Boy's Adventure Tale" being good, too.

At least when I set around surrounded by abstract electronica CDs, musing on A-Ha, I can console myself by offering up Fennesz's cover version of "Hunting High And Low", which is unexpectedly great. It's from a box set of loads of electronica people covering classic pop/rock (versions of "Back in Black", "Running Up That Hill" etc).

Fennesz – Hunting High And Low

[E10 Rifle]

The best thing in the entire history of the world

I've Been Losing You is their one real moment of greatness. It's a measure of how stifling the indie-climate felt at the time that to admit as much in 1986 was to expose oneself to considerable mockery.