{"id":5201,"date":"2025-10-15T07:03:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T14:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/?p=5201"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:45:22","slug":"a-ha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/a-ha","title":{"rendered":"Episode 301: A-ha"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"subhead\">&#8220;Take On Me&#8221;<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SongExploder301-A-ha-600x338.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-5203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SongExploder301-A-ha-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SongExploder301-A-ha-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SongExploder301-A-ha-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SongExploder301-A-ha.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!-- PRX PLAYER EMBED CODE --><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"monetization\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" width=\"100%\" style=\"min-width: 300px\" src=\"https:\/\/play.prx.org\/e?ge=prx_93_81fa749e-9f25-4249-b45b-80ca9fec5ae7&#038;uf=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed.songexploder.net%2FSongExploder\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><!-- PRX PLAYER EMBED CODE ENDS --><\/p>\n<p><!-- LISTEN LINKS --><\/p>\n<div class=\"download-links\">LISTEN: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-ha-take-on-me\/id788236947?i=1000731987827\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APPLE<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/2CLZo1l2BOXE6N2dYod13Z?si=eFGHCm0rTwS2C0q-B9M-9g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SPOTIFY<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/58a85de5-7ebb-464c-a13e-9d3008deb3bb\/episodes\/ee2cefd8-6bd4-4bc8-bb1a-6d9aec7a2145\/song-exploder-a-ha---take-on-me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">AMAZON<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/pod.link\/songexploder\/episode\/cHJ4XzkzXzgxZmE3NDllLTlmMjUtNDI0OS1iNDViLTgwY2E5ZmVjNWFlNw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OTHER APPS<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/song.link\/s\/2WfaOiMkCvy7F5fcp2zZ8L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Take On Me&#8221;<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/A-ha\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A-ha<\/a> is an iconic hit of the 1980s. It came out in October 1985 with an <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/djV11Xbc914?si=7SqqFrK-q-NyIKa6\">equally iconic music video that helped define the age of MTV.<\/a> It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/a-ha-take-on-me-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hit #1 in the US<\/a> and in countries all over the world. And it&#8217;s still massively popular today. It currently has over two and a half billion streams on Spotify. So, with all of that, it&#8217;s easy to imagine that this was all inevitable. But actually, the song took so many steps and missteps before it became the hit that everybody knows. I talked to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Waaktaar-Savoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Waaktaar-Savoy<\/a> from A-ha, who wrote the original bones of the song back when he was a teenager in Norway, years before it came out. The song actually came out and flopped TWICE in the UK, before it found a foothold in the US. So for this episode, Paul took me through the whole history of the song, and all the different versions that existed. And he told me how he and his bandmates, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Magne_Furuholmen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magne Furuholmen<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Morten_Harket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Morten Harket<\/a>, pushed and pushed and persevered. &#8220;Take On Me&#8221; was their first single as a band, and it made them the most successful Norwegian pop group of all time.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/djV11Xbc914?si=RKsLXgNUFUmspiRk\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"jetpack-slideshow-noscript robots-nocontent\">This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p><div id=\"gallery-5201-1-slideshow\" class=\"jetpack-slideshow-window jetpack-slideshow jetpack-slideshow-black\" data-trans=\"fade\" data-autostart=\"1\" data-gallery=\"[{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/songexploder.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Miranda-Alston-IMG_0201-scaled.jpeg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;5205&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Miranda Alston \\u0026#8211; 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IMG_7190&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/songexploder.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Miranda-Alston-IMG_7191-rotated.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;5217&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Miranda Alston \\u0026#8211; IMG_7191&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/songexploder.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Miranda-Alston-IMG_7192-rotated.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;5218&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Miranda Alston \\u0026#8211; IMG_7192&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/songexploder.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Miranda-Alston-IMG_7193-rotated.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;5219&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Miranda Alston \\u0026#8211; IMG_7193&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/songexploder.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Miranda-Alston-IMG_7194-rotated.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;5220&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Miranda Alston \\u0026#8211; IMG_7194&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}]\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><\/div>\n<p>You can buy or stream &#8220;Take On Me&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/song.link\/s\/2WfaOiMkCvy7F5fcp2zZ8L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Illustration by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lerms.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Lerma.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>For a transcript of this episode, <a href=\"https:\/\/songexploder.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Song-Exploder-A-ha-Transcript.pdf\">click here.<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span class=\"header\">footnotes:<\/span><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/15cKLrGYcR1qXZPNRkmuyY?si=ec8e1a95fffe4838\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Lesson One&#8221;<\/a> &#8211; first demo version of &#8220;Take On Me&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alan_Tarney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alan Tarney<\/a> &#8211; producer &#038; backing vocals<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/artist\/114935-Gerry-Kitchingham?srsltid=AfmBOop4AxiWuuPT347cLvNKo6vNIe0rQms6SKBosaCLgWmX_QYz_Je7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gerry Kitchingham<\/a> &#8211; mixer<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Steve_Barron\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Barron<\/a> &#8211; music video director<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bridges_(band)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bridges<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/song.link\/s\/0iKRf868w4SYEBDILQu8ob\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Aladdin Sane&#8221;<\/a> by David Bowie<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cocker.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Cocker<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldradiohistory.com\/Melody_Maker.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Melody Maker<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Music_Express_(magazine)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Music Express<\/a> magazines<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnratcliff.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Ratcliff<\/a>, Terry Slater, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Andy_Wickham\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Wickham<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tony_Mansfield\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Mansfield<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jeff_Ayeroff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Ayeroff<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fairlight_CMI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fairlight CMI<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/PPG_Wave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PPG Wave synthesizer<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Yamaha_DX7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yamaha DX7 synthesizer<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TgZkfe_BWUY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Commuter&#8221;<\/a> &#8211; film<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Take On Me&#8221; LISTEN: APPLE \u00b7 SPOTIFY \u00b7 AMAZON \u00b7 OTHER APPS &#8220;Take On Me&#8221; by A-ha is an iconic hit of the 1980s. It came out in October 1985 with an equally iconic music video that helped define the age of MTV. It hit #1 in the US and in countries all over the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-episode"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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