How many times should a song be released as a single before it becomes a hit? In a-ha’s case, the answer is twice. a-ha released “Take on Me” twice before it became a big hit in 1985.
The first release was in 1984 and it was a decent hit in Norway from where the band was born, but it failed miserably in the UK and no one in the States had heard of it. However, the record company still had faith in the song and the band. They brought in another producer, Alan Tarney, and he spiced things up a bit taking the song all the way to #1 in the US and #2 in the UK.
He took the song and turned it in to a New Wave, synthpop masterpiece. His version was re-released in 1985 and is the version on the 45 Single that I am writing about. The song is upbeat, synth music with some acoustic guitars, some drums and drum machines and is such a frantic pace that it gets you moving. The tempo is like 100mph and a blast.
There are two other things that are special about the song other than that catchy synthpop sound. One is the voice of lead singer Morten Harket. As the song progresses, Morten’s voice gets higher and higher until the climatic part of the song he hits this killer falsetto that just makes the song. It is so high that only the dogs can hear it and wine glasses shatter. He captures the emotion of the song and its plea for love.
Continue reading “a-ha – “Take On Me” – (The 45 Single)”
2 Loud 2 Old Music 