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A-ha: Norwegian Trio on the Upswing

© Michele Morabito

A-ha has not been continually in the spotlight in the United States but certainly have been doing some major career moves for the last ten years. Mostly known for their stylistic video "Take On Me" in the '80s, this Norwegian trio has been going through a roller coaster career that is recently on the upswing as indicated in the recent TV Guide in December 1999.

A-ha includes main lyricist and guitarist Paul (Pal) Waaktaar-Savoy (Savoy is his wife's maiden name), lead singer Morten Harket and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen.

After their initial success with 1985's Hunting High & Low album, A-ha went on to sing the title track to the next James Bond film, The Living Daylights in 1987. They continued with five more albums until 1993 and almost not heard from again.

According to the TV Guide article, the band just stopped being active but never split up in the mid-90s. However, the band was asked and did an appearance in Oslo, Norway for the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Gala, which resulted in a new album for the Spring 2000. They played old standard "The Sun Always Shines On TV" and new potential single "Summer Moved On". The Gala aired December 20, 1998 in North America as a two-hour special titled "Fox Family Channel Presents the Nobel Peace Concert."

All the band members then took on (no pun indented) solo careers, although not as successful as A-ha. Pal, in 1995, formed his own band Savoy with wife Lauren and has three albums so far. Morten, in 1993, released his solo effort and in 1995 released Wild Seed internationally. Magne, also in 1993, released a soundtrack and later two more soundtracks as Timbersound.

The band was in a position for a potential album after the Nobel festivities, details were underway then with confirmed meetings almost immediately. The album was originally supposed to be out in 1999; the hold up was that there were several record companies interested in Europe, and the band was trying to get the best deal. Also there is another label in the U.S. that had expressed deep interest in signing the band, so it was likely that A-ha will have "split labels", where one will handle Europe/Asia, and another one will handle US/Canada.

It was in accordance with the Nobel Gala in December last year that A-ha decided to perform together again. The plan is that they will also tour in the first part of 2000. There also been more American publicity via Billboard Online in July 1999. 1999 turned out to be a good year, A-ha signed a new two-record deal with Warner Brothers, and hence the release date shifted late 1999 to early 2000.

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