Easily the best idea Todd had early on. This show helped him ride through the difficult pop landscape of the mid 2010s and stay relevant. It’s so easy to go back and rewatch these, too
''Take on me'' is the direct translation of ''Tag på mig'' in norwegian and danish, which is a way of saying ''Touch me'' or more literally ''Grab me'' in a sexual manner.
That whole MTV Unplugged was brilliant. The version they did of The Sun Always Shines on TV with Ingrid Helene Havik was amazing...and it was great to discover her, and her incredible band Highasakite. If you haven't listened to them, do yourself a favor and do so.
I personally love Take On Me a lot. The melody is simple but memorable as heck, the synth riff is iconic, the arrangement is rich, and it is definitely a million times better than many of the modern pop hits Todd has reviewed. Oh, and Morten Harken's falsetto - still absolute badass until this day.
They recently toured doing accoustic versions of all their old hits and on a Comic Relief one off gig featuring 80s acts blew everyone else out of the water doing an accoustic version of Take On Me. I love Duran Duran but they couldn't have done that. Also Mags as he was known in the UK still looks amazing too.
NOOO! I refuse to believe the couple didn't make it! *covers ears* blah blah I can't hear you! I totally shipped them ever since I saw the video as a kid.
I wonder how no one knows that the ending to "Take on me" was ripped from a movie named "The Experiment" back in the early 80s ....? But then, it was weird.
khymera915 () "Altered States" you say ..... (Checks it up) YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the one I was referring to! I knew it as "The Experiment", probably due to that the movies in my country used to have "translated" Titles.
RIP Benny Harvey. Used to headbang along with Manhattan Skyline with him back in the day. He was skeptical at first since we're both massive metalheads and he's like "A-ha? Really?" Still think of him whenever I hear them. Gone but not forgotten. Miss ya big man.
Fun Fact, Morten Harket once held the record for longest single note, for a male vocalist, in a song, holding a note in A-ha's song "Summer Moved On" for 20.2 seconds. That record would be overtaken by Sahaj Ticotin from the band Ra, who held a note for 24 seconds during a live performance of the song "Skorn".
FWIW, that's not too difficult a task. My Friend Anton Browne, (who you won't have heard of) is not only a good instrumentalist, but mainly a great singer, and moreover a great vocal coach (Teaches at the Brit school in London, if you're interested) can do this trick. effortlessly. He mainly does Jazz gigs around London, apart from his teaching stuf, and I've seen him live many times. And when he wants to show off (which he rarely does!) he can hold notes that make you gasp for breath just watching him. I know he could easily outdo any of the above timings! And if you're really into singing, he has a great series of vocal instruction videos on RUclips, which you can easily find. Well worth a watch if you want to know how to improve your singing voice.
+Socratic Paradox Right? It's kinda poetic, though. I like seeing all these video though. It's so cool remembering how once upon a time, music videos were a legit art form. It's how Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze both got their start as directors! Then again, so did Michael Bay...
I know this was posted a long time ago, but I right there with you. Timothy Dalton did a for the time quite gritty, and definitely nastier Bond. Half the crap Craig's been lauded for Dalton did first. He is without a doubt my favourite Bond.
Dalton is definitely in the running for best Bond, such a shame we only got two movies. If anything, The Living Daylights is one of the Bond movies you shouldn't skip, especially considering the Bonds Dalton is sandwiched between. Roger Moore was more of a campy spoof of Bond than actual Bond, and Brosnan was never more than painfully mediocre. Compared to those two, Dalton's movies are gems.
About the karaoke thing . . . yes. I chose on a whim to sing that in a Korean karaoke parlor on a date once. After I had finished butchering the song, all I had to say for myself was "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."
Take On Me is an undeniable classic, and what an incredible video! However, I personally prefer The Sun Always Shines On TV. It's slightly darker and rockier and has some really nifty synth work. A-Ha were flipping great! Fine analysis, Todd, nicely done.
Adam Power I don't know in what world A-Ha are one hit wonders. Sure, Take On Me is without a question their biggest hit, but songs like the Sun Always Shine On Tv, Cry Wolf or You Are the One are also songs most people recognize. Sure, they may not know they're the same band, but they're all famous songs.
Was wondering that myself actually. But maybe it's a USA vrs EU thing. I mean nearly every Brit over 25ish knows 'the living daylghts' from the James bond movies right? I duno if I could pick a fave of mine from there, tho at a guess, 'stay on these roads' manly because when I hear that I instantly think of my fave game at that time (illusion of time,also known as illusion of ghia in us and Japan) as I used to listen to aha and nick Kershaw while playing it ^^
Adam Power I actually use the phrase “the sun only shines on tv” all the time as a short hand for when people say that they wish life was more like stuff they’ve seen in the media.
I'm with you on Timothy Dalton. He was actually my favourite just before Daniel Craig came along. The song itself... not so much. It tried too hard to copy Duran Duran's theme from "A View to A Kill", but with worse lyrics.
Maybe the actor was underrated in the role but I really didn't like his movies. I mean, most other actors gave their own spin and flavor in portraying the character, but I honestly don't remember anything at all from the movies Dalton played Bond. The only thing stuck with me is him getting married and his wife getting killed almost instantly after.
Uh that was George Lazenby and On Her Majesty's Secret Service! Licence to Kill had CIA Agent Felix Leiter getting married with Timothy Dalton's Bond as his Best Man. Oh and Todd is very very wrong - The Living Daylights is outright the best Bond Movie not to star Roger Moore and the third best Bond Movie of all time behind The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die. P.S. A-Ha's The Living Daylights is superior to Duran Duran's A View to a Kill too {Not to mention that prior to Quantum of Solace only Octopussy was a worse Bond Movie than A View to a Kill! - Prior to Daniel Craig Roger Moore had the worst two Bond Movies as well as the best two!}.
They are still making music. I discovered they are even putting out a new album this year (2022), according to something RUclips suggested for me. And their music continues to be good. And they are all just as handsome as they were when I was a kid. Thank you for telling everyone about “Crying in the Rain” though.
Morten is such a beautiful specimen. He's still gorgeous at 62. I'd be his DDS. Also take on me 1984, at the end, you can hear him belt. He's not drowned out by the synthesizers
"I want to know more about these bands." Yeah, me too, right on. "Gotta find something good to kick this series off with." Awesome - wait - Kick off? Series? Checks posted date: 2015 Hell yessss.....
Ahh, here it is. The first One Hit Wonderland. I've been binge watching my way through this series after discovering Todd In the Shadows a few days ago. And I have to say that this is now one of my favorite music analysis series ever. And Todd has quickly become one of my favorite music critics in any medium. His Pop Song Analysis and Trainwrecords series are both also excellent. Deep analysis, quick wit, and dry humor all add up to a channel that I am loving exploring, and now look forward to every upload. Thank you, Todd.
3 года назад+27
"Take On Me" was a perfect audio-visual storm of awesomeness, but these guys kept the quality going for years to come. "Minor Earth, Major Sky"... Simply briliant.
Their second album “Scoundrel Days” is an 80’s synth-pop, anxt master-class. The exceptional production on “Scoundrel Days” makes it even better than the first album “hunting high and low” in my opinion.
Agreed, it's a mature, solid pop album with very few, if any, weak songs. Their best, IMO. Hardly any hits though, but who really cares about hits when there are so many good albums to listen to?
in Europe A-Ha weren't a one hit wonder, absolutely not. they were big enough to record a bond theme in "living daylights" and before they broke up, they performed for the King of Norway. not to mention that all of them were given titles by the king. they must have had at least five major hits. and I shouldn't comment before watching a full video either.
Thats kinda how it is. Either they had only one good song and therefore are unheard of outside their home country, or they had to have enough domestic success to get one decent hit outside their home country.
@@Dr.Quarexi guarentee 90% of americans, 99.9% of americans under the age of 45, have never heard a song from them other than take on me. Definitely dont remember any.
one of my favorite bits of trivia about a-ha is that the sun always shines on tv inspired the title of the show it's always sunny in philadelphia! the show was originally going to be called it's always sunny on tv (cause it was gonna be about a group of struggling actors in la, but when that changed they changed the title of the show too). Me and all my friends are huge fans of the show and the song! i'm always a little suprised that more people aren't fans of that song, it's so underrated!
The acoustic cover of this song in Deadpool 2 was truly moving and had me near tears. Didn't realize that they were kinda replicating the video in the scene where they used it too!
Fun (?) fact, I went through a phase years ago where I went around drawing rock/pop people, because I had this #1 Hits book with all these cool pictures in that made good reference material. So when I was drawing Morten Harkett (because why not) and somebody walked by and saw it, they immediately asked if that was my boyfriend. XD ...I didn't know whether to be more annoyed or flattered. :P
Ah the very first one hit wonderland. I really love this segment of your show Todd. To this day Take On Me remains my favorite one hit wonder. It's just a fantastic catchy song.
While living in Germany as an exchange student in 1986, I Purchased the “Scoundrel days“ album and my brother and I still listen to that album today… It’s delicious to the ears!
To everyone who loves this song: listen to a-ha's MTV Unplugged version. It's the slowed down acoustic version (no it does not sound like a white guy with a guitar song) and it is heartbreakingly, hauntingly, unbearable beautiful and poignant. I fell in love with the song all over again. The singer's voice is still amazing and you might just find out that there are a few lyrics to this song that you never knew existed.
Incredibly for an effects-heavy music video pushing 40 years old, it still holds up today! What a great song to start a series with, which I'm belatedly getting into just now.
I really like "The Living Daylights." It's one of my favorite Bond themes. I'd also say that the a-ha studio version is much better than the movie version. I like John Berry's orchestrations, but the rest of it is so low energy.
wow - Harket and A-HA are some of the best musicians Europop has ever brought to chart success... all their albums are genius and well worth listening to. Sometimes great music doesn't make it to chart success always, but A-HA went on to have countless hits in Europe. Their last big one was "live by the foot of the mountain" and "forever not yours". Give them a listen - they're fantastic!
A-Ha had sooo many other good songs. I was a massive fan back in the day when I was a kid, and I loved the first 3 albums. (After that, they kinda dropped off the map for a while, as they - their music - kinda seemed to mature faster than I did, but I've since re-visited some of their music.) But some favorites of mine include: Hunting High and Low, Hurry Home, Living a Boy's Adventure Tale, October, Out of Blue Comes Green, Soundrel Days, The Swing of Things, The Weight of the Wind, This Alone is Love, Touchy. And more recently, Forever not Yours was a bit of a comeback hit for them (ok, that's a while back now, but still.) So in my world, they we're never anything that remotely resembled a onee hit wonder.
This is deja vu for me back to when I lived in Atascadero with my baby and abusive husband, who died of AIDS in 1986, and left his daughter and I with nothing. But I/we SURVIVED him, thank God!!!!
As a European kid of the 90s, it's so strange to me when someone refers to A-Ha, Scatman, Vidas, Modern Talking or Dr Alban as one-hit wonders, they pretty much defined my childhood
The Sun Always Shines On TV got lots of play on MTV. I actually liked the song. When my wife and I were living in South Korea a few years ago, I saw a ladies t-shirt with "The Sun Always Shines On TV" on it, and bought it for my wife.
Would never have thought of A-ha as a one hit wonder. They had quite a few memorable songs. I remember many of them playing on the radio when I was in school. Can remember at least five from the top of my head still. Todd overshot with this one..
Yes, I know that. Todd seems to pick these one-hit wonders from America's perspective, though. Same reason he did a video on Midnight Oil - they only had one big US hit but remained popular in Australia.
Not really. He literally opens asking "are these songs really one hit wonders" as one of his questions the whole one hit wonderland series is meant to answer
This is one of my favourite songs of all time. It wasn't until several years ago that I found out about their second single 'The sun always shines on TV'. That was a really good one. I'm thinking about listening to more of their stuff. Shame that they weren't big here in North America because they deserved better. Though I hate that Pitbull and Christina Aguilera ruined one of the greatest songs of all time with that piece of garbage 'Rule this moment'. Stupid song. What a POS.
DragonSlayer Shinigami Check out "Scoundrel Days" - great album. Lots of good songs scattered through the years, like "Lifelines" and "Minor Earth Major Sky." Good band.
You know what's awful Todd? I attached a big pile of 80s songs to a relationship that failed. Attached in that we listened to this stuff together, rediscovering it for me and the first time for her. The songs shown here hit me right where I live man.
I love the synthesizers on this song and it is so 1985! The video and song were both cool back in the day. Had to have been there to experience it when it was new. Take On Me is still a favorite of mine. Love The Sun Always Shines on TV too. 80's kids got all this. 👍 Both are great songs.
My issue with this is that you got the instruments wrong. Pal Waaktaar is the guitarist and Magne Furuholmen handles the keyboards (sometimes guitar). Apart from that, it's alright.
This song is 1 of 2 that completely captures the 80s in my head - innovative video that got big play on MTV, lots of synthesizer, was big right in the middle of the decade. The other is "It's My Life" by Talk Talk.
Always loved 'The Sun Always Shines On TV'. Take on me was always a guilty pleasure, but the sun always shines on tv was this band's zenith. And I'm a tragic 1960's rock and folk tragic. I still listen to Donovan and Peter, Paul and Mary.
the NOT one hit wonder, Take On Me... because a-ha has had several hits... just not in The United States. They got back together in 2015, and to this day are still making music and touring. Though have sadly had to cancel several concerts because of the corona virus. Thank you for pointing out how freaking great this band is! (edit: by the way, I once told Magne Furuholmen that "take on me" didn't make sense. He said, "that's why it worked". He's so funny.)
I love this song and I *LOVE* this series. I listened to 8-10 and then I found a big ole playlist and started at the top. Intended to skip the ones I’d already seen but I didn’t because they are ALL DELIGHTFUL. You, Todd, are delightful. Now: i’m posting this on the first video of the series. In subsequent episodes and me correct your pronunciation or take issue with some of your analysis. But never ever forget that most of all, beyond the reach of any minor criticism, I LOOOVE the series. And I lub you for creating it.
Easily the best idea Todd had early on. This show helped him ride through the difficult pop landscape of the mid 2010s and stay relevant. It’s so easy to go back and rewatch these, too
I go back and binge watch some of these sometimes and they feel basically timeless
Same here, way more interested in the history of a song/artist then hearing thoughts of new stuff
This comment is what made realize this was the first of the series, can’t believe there was a time when he didn’t do this or train wrecks
what a complete and utter twat. Aha had many many many hits.
I quite like how one hit wonderland also shows snippets of parts of their other songs so you can get an idea of their other music.
''Take on me'' is the direct translation of ''Tag på mig'' in norwegian and danish, which is a way of saying ''Touch me'' or more literally ''Grab me'' in a sexual manner.
Undefined Genderguy so those high notes are us hearing him orgasm?
Funny thing I noticed is that he sort of corrects his grammar in "The sun always shines on TV" by using the grammatically correct "Touch me"
Undefined Genderguy and Swedish
Hey, Norwegian here! I can confirm this, as it directly translates "Ta på meg" (2 letter difference 1 year late, but who cares?)
Tag må pig means Grab me? Weird.
Their acoustic rendition of this is honestly one of the most beautifully sad things I have ever heard in my entire life. It’s utterly incredible
Agreed
That whole MTV Unplugged was brilliant. The version they did of The Sun Always Shines on TV with Ingrid Helene Havik was amazing...and it was great to discover her, and her incredible band Highasakite. If you haven't listened to them, do yourself a favor and do so.
I honestly tear up every time I hear it. It’s a completely different song than the original
Yeah the unplugged version is so heartbreaking and filled with greaf. It's the main way I think of the song now
Thanks for turning me onto the acoustic version. I'll be listening to this on and off for the rest of my life.
I personally love Take On Me a lot. The melody is simple but memorable as heck, the synth riff is iconic, the arrangement is rich, and it is definitely a million times better than many of the modern pop hits Todd has reviewed.
Oh, and Morten Harken's falsetto - still absolute badass until this day.
They recently toured doing accoustic versions of all their old hits and on a Comic Relief one off gig featuring 80s acts blew everyone else out of the water doing an accoustic version of Take On Me. I love Duran Duran but they couldn't have done that. Also Mags as he was known in the UK still looks amazing too.
Even more impressive when you realise he can also hit really _low_ notes. Dude has RANGE.
Ah-ha, so that's the fisrt song that started the OHW series. Awesome!
Still a better love story than 'Twilight'.
+Alan O. D. *a-ha
+Kanjoos “ProJared 2” Lahookvinhaakvinhookvin That's what we in the industry call a "pun"
NOOO! I refuse to believe the couple didn't make it! *covers ears* blah blah I can't hear you! I totally shipped them ever since I saw the video as a kid.
+No One
That video James Pattersoned me. I refuse to acknowledge it as canon!
I refuse to acknowledge James Patterson as canon in reality.
I wonder how no one knows that the ending to "Take on me" was ripped from a movie named "The Experiment" back in the early 80s ....? But then, it was weird.
khymera915 () "Altered States" you say ..... (Checks it up) YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the one I was referring to! I knew it as "The Experiment", probably due to that the movies in my country used to have "translated" Titles.
nope holy crap I love JP I read some books that he has written and I love
Damn he is a dreamboat! Look at that jawline, you could cut diamonds with it!
You sound like Frieza from TFS talking about Goku's abs
Just wait till you see my buddy BJ Blazkowicz
Friedrich Sarah E. Thompson no you could mine diamonds with it
European guys with toothpick arms, should not go sleeveless.
Eh. He ain’t my type. I like women.
RIP Benny Harvey.
Used to headbang along with Manhattan Skyline with him back in the day. He was skeptical at first since we're both massive metalheads and he's like "A-ha? Really?"
Still think of him whenever I hear them. Gone but not forgotten. Miss ya big man.
Very niche.
'sthat A-ha?
You got a reaction out of me, I've got to give you that.
Fun Fact, Morten Harket once held the record for longest single note, for a male vocalist, in a song, holding a note in A-ha's song "Summer Moved On" for 20.2 seconds. That record would be overtaken by Sahaj Ticotin from the band Ra, who held a note for 24 seconds during a live performance of the song "Skorn".
Summer Moved On is such a great song. I am surprised it didn't get a mention in the video
The record applies to songs from the UK hit 40, so it still stands.
FWIW, that's not too difficult a task. My Friend Anton Browne, (who you won't have heard of) is not only a good instrumentalist, but mainly a great singer, and moreover a great vocal coach (Teaches at the Brit school in London, if you're interested) can do this trick. effortlessly. He mainly does Jazz gigs around London, apart from his teaching stuf, and I've seen him live many times. And when he wants to show off (which he rarely does!) he can hold notes that make you gasp for breath just watching him. I know he could easily outdo any of the above timings!
And if you're really into singing, he has a great series of vocal instruction videos on RUclips, which you can easily find. Well worth a watch if you want to know how to improve your singing voice.
Morten held the note much longer in many live performances.
I'm just amazed to see a reference to the band Ra in the wild. He's a good vocalist as far as what I've heard
Todd........ do you and A-Ha need to get a room?
zero hit wonders!!
Comment Freely
Is that a bad joke, or am i just wooooshing?..
😁😁😁😁😁😁
1000th like
Hell nah, he wants it to be public and nasty.
Felt more for this couple than those in "The English Patient".
Solid gold humor.
In January in 2020 I went to see A-ha live on their big tour. They were absolutely fantastic. Morten Harket still somehow has those killer cheekbones.
I thought they broke up
R.I.P. Benny Harvey. Miss ya big man. Gone but not forgotten.
just watching snippets of their music videos made me want to cry. THEY. TURNED INTO BUTTERFLIES:"(
+Socratic Paradox Right? It's kinda poetic, though. I like seeing all these video though. It's so cool remembering how once upon a time, music videos were a legit art form. It's how Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze both got their start as directors! Then again, so did Michael Bay...
Any idea where I can find that music video?
+Potatrobot search "a-ha Butterfly Butterfly"
Was that Forever Not Yours?
@@MaricaAmbrosius The video is "Butterfly Butterfly", which was ment to be their farewell song/video. Later on they came back.
I love Timothy Dalton as Bond, and will defend him forever.
I know this was posted a long time ago, but I right there with you. Timothy Dalton did a for the time quite gritty, and definitely nastier Bond. Half the crap Craig's been lauded for Dalton did first. He is without a doubt my favourite Bond.
The problem wasn't Dalton, the problem was the shitty budgets
Dalton is definitely in the running for best Bond, such a shame we only got two movies.
If anything, The Living Daylights is one of the Bond movies you shouldn't skip, especially considering the Bonds Dalton is sandwiched between.
Roger Moore was more of a campy spoof of Bond than actual Bond, and Brosnan was never more than painfully mediocre. Compared to those two, Dalton's movies are gems.
@@boesvig2258 If Dalton had made Goldeneye when it was offered, he'd be fondly remembered.
He also reminds me the Bond from the books more than any other actors. I do love Bonds with Dalton.
"Im gonna need a really good one to kick this project off with.. a-ha!"
me: ...
About the karaoke thing . . . yes. I chose on a whim to sing that in a Korean karaoke parlor on a date once. After I had finished butchering the song, all I had to say for myself was "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."
The trick is to git gud
Maaaann I can't even act like I didn't sing this hammered with my buddy drunk one night
I hope your date said the same 🤣
Two songs to never sing at Karaoke: Take On Me, and Twist And Shout. Throat wreckers.
Take On Me is an undeniable classic, and what an incredible video! However, I personally prefer The Sun Always Shines On TV. It's slightly darker and rockier and has some really nifty synth work. A-Ha were flipping great! Fine analysis, Todd, nicely done.
Adam Power I don't know in what world A-Ha are one hit wonders. Sure, Take On Me is without a question their biggest hit, but songs like the Sun Always Shine On Tv, Cry Wolf or You Are the One are also songs most people recognize. Sure, they may not know they're the same band, but they're all famous songs.
Was wondering that myself actually. But maybe it's a USA vrs EU thing. I mean nearly every Brit over 25ish knows 'the living daylghts' from the James bond movies right? I duno if I could pick a fave of mine from there, tho at a guess, 'stay on these roads' manly because when I hear that I instantly think of my fave game at that time (illusion of time,also known as illusion of ghia in us and Japan) as I used to listen to aha and nick Kershaw while playing it ^^
Adam Power I actually use the phrase “the sun only shines on tv” all the time as a short hand for when people say that they wish life was more like stuff they’ve seen in the media.
They're Norwegian. They couldn't permit a happy ending.
Oh hey, I've seen you before!
Here in Germany A-Ha had a respectable comeback in the '00s with "Summer Moved On" and "Minor Earth Major Sky"
RoonMian I love the latter.
RoonMian minor earth major sky is so god. They were always big in Norway btw
I love Summer Moved On.
Enthused Norseman So do I.
I love Minor Earth Major Sky! ruclips.net/video/BJxII1C0QjM/видео.html
Timothy Dalton was criminally underrated as Bond. And the theme was awesome.
I'm with you on Timothy Dalton. He was actually my favourite just before Daniel Craig came along.
The song itself... not so much. It tried too hard to copy Duran Duran's theme from "A View to A Kill", but with worse lyrics.
Maybe the actor was underrated in the role but I really didn't like his movies. I mean, most other actors gave their own spin and flavor in portraying the character, but I honestly don't remember anything at all from the movies Dalton played Bond.
The only thing stuck with me is him getting married and his wife getting killed almost instantly after.
Really? I found him to be somewhat psychopathic compared to the others.
SyxxPunk Read the original Ian Fleming novels and stories. He's basically a cold blooded killer.
Uh that was George Lazenby and On Her Majesty's Secret Service!
Licence to Kill had CIA Agent Felix Leiter getting married with Timothy Dalton's Bond as his Best Man.
Oh and Todd is very very wrong - The Living Daylights is outright the best Bond Movie not to star Roger Moore and the third best Bond Movie of all time behind The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die.
P.S. A-Ha's The Living Daylights is superior to Duran Duran's A View to a Kill too {Not to mention that prior to Quantum of Solace only Octopussy was a worse Bond Movie than A View to a Kill! - Prior to Daniel Craig Roger Moore had the worst two Bond Movies as well as the best two!}.
They are still making music. I discovered they are even putting out a new album this year (2022), according to something RUclips suggested for me. And their music continues to be good. And they are all just as handsome as they were when I was a kid. Thank you for telling everyone about “Crying in the Rain” though.
That "Aha!" pun is the stupidest fucking pun and I love it.
"Hunting High and Low" is also pretty awesome.
What about Manhattan Skyline. Holy crap, that rocks!
And "Cry wolf"
The Sun Always Shines On TV was a UK #1 … They are hardly One Hit Wonders ...
@@MatthewJohnCrittenden also still touring, with UK dates later in Nov 2020. Definitely not a one hit wonder, nor are they forgotten.
@@georgeprout42My Aussie wife (I'm English) says they are a one hit wonder and not heard the other tracks, must be a regional thing!
Apparently the "The Sun Always Shines On TV" music video was filmed in the Temple of the Many Faced God in Braavos. #ValarMorghulis
Great song.
Morten is such a beautiful specimen.
He's still gorgeous at 62.
I'd be his DDS.
Also take on me 1984, at the end, you can hear him belt. He's not drowned out by the synthesizers
Doctor of dental surgery? Diaminodiphenyl sulfone? What is DDS?
@@ninaj6051 actually it's "designated dick sucker."
A-ha's version of Crying in the rain is still one of my favourite songs from 80's
My mom LOVED A-Ha when she was a teen in Europe - she mentioned that she would blast their music REALLY loud when her family wasn't at home!
"The Sun Always Shines On TV" was a bigger hit than "Take On Me" here in the UK.
He did mention that
"I want to know more about these bands."
Yeah, me too, right on.
"Gotta find something good to kick this series off with."
Awesome - wait - Kick off? Series?
Checks posted date: 2015
Hell yessss.....
Oh dude, One Hit Wonderland is the great oasis of RUclips.
And if anyone's asking, the cover at the end of the video is by Reel Big Fish.
+Potatrobot thank you
+Potatrobot That reminds me, I need to see BASEketball again.
Lil Davie H. Them or Rancid's "Time Bomb"
IndyX I don't think they'd count since they also had Ruby Soho .
Potatrobot I think that's my favorite cover song besides Cake's version of I Will Survive. It's so good.
Ahh, here it is. The first One Hit Wonderland. I've been binge watching my way through this series after discovering Todd In the Shadows a few days ago. And I have to say that this is now one of my favorite music analysis series ever. And Todd has quickly become one of my favorite music critics in any medium. His Pop Song Analysis and Trainwrecords series are both also excellent. Deep analysis, quick wit, and dry humor all add up to a channel that I am loving exploring, and now look forward to every upload. Thank you, Todd.
"Take On Me" was a perfect audio-visual storm of awesomeness, but these guys kept the quality going for years to come. "Minor Earth, Major Sky"... Simply briliant.
Lifelines is also a great one
Their second album “Scoundrel Days” is an 80’s synth-pop, anxt master-class.
The exceptional production on “Scoundrel Days” makes it even better than the first album “hunting high and low” in my opinion.
Agreed, it's a mature, solid pop album with very few, if any, weak songs. Their best, IMO. Hardly any hits though, but who really cares about hits when there are so many good albums to listen to?
in Europe A-Ha weren't a one hit wonder, absolutely not.
they were big enough to record a bond theme in "living daylights" and before they broke up, they performed for the King of Norway. not to mention that all of them were given titles by the king. they must have had at least five major hits.
and I shouldn't comment before watching a full video either.
Yesssss
The living daylights is an amazing song
And forgetting to mention their best track of all: Hunting High And Low.
@@dorientjewoller113 Stay on these roads, The sun always shines on TV
I was so confused?
Aha a one hit wonder? Hell, I am going on an Aha concert in November.
also, these guys just had a performance at the nobel peace prize concert. AND IT KICKED ASS!!!
+rct3isepic Oooo I'll have to look that up, I wanna see!
yeah. they played a tropical house remix of take on me with kygo as well
+rct3isepic that's dope
Weird part for me growing up in England is many of the one hit wonders are either people that had shit ton of hits in europe or we never heard of :p
I mean they had more hits in the U.S. too, but somehow it does not count because they never hit the top 10 again
Thats kinda how it is. Either they had only one good song and therefore are unheard of outside their home country, or they had to have enough domestic success to get one decent hit outside their home country.
@@Dr.Quarexi guarentee 90% of americans, 99.9% of americans under the age of 45, have never heard a song from them other than take on me. Definitely dont remember any.
one of my favorite bits of trivia about a-ha is that the sun always shines on tv inspired the title of the show it's always sunny in philadelphia! the show was originally going to be called it's always sunny on tv (cause it was gonna be about a group of struggling actors in la, but when that changed they changed the title of the show too). Me and all my friends are huge fans of the show and the song! i'm always a little suprised that more people aren't fans of that song, it's so underrated!
Shoutout for a-ha's cover of "Crying In the Rain"! Even the video for it is awesome… great show-don't-tell storytelling…
A-Ha are honestly such a good band, they deserve more credit then just a one hit wonder.
damn, his voice is incredible
I never get sick of this song. Sun always shines makes me bleed with nostalgia
Okay, I haven't heard The Sun Always Shines on TV since the 80's and I can still sing the chorus. And he still has dreamy eyes.
Oh god, their cover of "Crying in The Rain." Because that song wasn't already miserable.
I like that song..
I wanted the couple to make it too, Todd. Now I'm all depressed 3:
The acoustic cover of this song in Deadpool 2 was truly moving and had me near tears. Didn't realize that they were kinda replicating the video in the scene where they used it too!
My god your right. I’m not even that emotional dammit and it had me choking up wishing there was a happy ending to this song
Morten Harket - Prettiest white boy on the planet!
Sebastian Bach back in the day I think has him beat.
ruclips.net/video/dHW8YmJXsRI/видео.html
Nope George Michael
You clearly haven’t seen me
Fun (?) fact, I went through a phase years ago where I went around drawing rock/pop people, because I had this #1 Hits book with all these cool pictures in that made good reference material.
So when I was drawing Morten Harkett (because why not) and somebody walked by and saw it, they immediately asked if that was my boyfriend. XD
...I didn't know whether to be more annoyed or flattered. :P
I loved Sun Always Shines On TV. I remember always lifting the needle on the record to repeat that song.
Ah the very first one hit wonderland. I really love this segment of your show Todd. To this day Take On Me remains my favorite one hit wonder. It's just a fantastic catchy song.
The Sun Always Shines On TV is one of my favourite songs. It's such a strange beautiful song
While living in Germany as an exchange student in 1986, I Purchased the “Scoundrel days“ album and my brother and I still listen to that album today… It’s delicious to the ears!
To everyone who loves this song: listen to a-ha's MTV Unplugged version. It's the slowed down acoustic version (no it does not sound like a white guy with a guitar song) and it is heartbreakingly, hauntingly, unbearable beautiful and poignant. I fell in love with the song all over again. The singer's voice is still amazing and you might just find out that there are a few lyrics to this song that you never knew existed.
I remember listening to "Crying in the rain" a lot on the radio. I never knew it was A-ha.
I really hope U2 gave A-ha royalties for Beautiful Day sounding so much like The Sun Always Shines On TV
Incredibly for an effects-heavy music video pushing 40 years old, it still holds up today!
What a great song to start a series with, which I'm belatedly getting into just now.
I really like "The Living Daylights." It's one of my favorite Bond themes. I'd also say that the a-ha studio version is much better than the movie version. I like John Berry's orchestrations, but the rest of it is so low energy.
Okay, the fact that Todds door is ajar creeps me out.
Isn't it weird that one of A-ha's new songs is called "Door Ajar"
Eric Darden I love you
wow - Harket and A-HA are some of the best musicians Europop has ever brought to chart success... all their albums are genius and well worth listening to. Sometimes great music doesn't make it to chart success always, but A-HA went on to have countless hits in Europe. Their last big one was "live by the foot of the mountain" and "forever not yours". Give them a listen - they're fantastic!
- Take on Me
- Stay on These Roads
- Forever Not Yours
- Touchy!
- The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
- The Living Daylights
Hunting high and low
A-Ha had sooo many other good songs. I was a massive fan back in the day when I was a kid, and I loved the first 3 albums. (After that, they kinda dropped off the map for a while, as they - their music - kinda seemed to mature faster than I did, but I've since re-visited some of their music.)
But some favorites of mine include: Hunting High and Low, Hurry Home, Living a Boy's Adventure Tale, October, Out of Blue Comes Green, Soundrel Days, The Swing of Things, The Weight of the Wind, This Alone is Love, Touchy. And more recently, Forever not Yours was a bit of a comeback hit for them (ok, that's a while back now, but still.)
So in my world, they we're never anything that remotely resembled a onee hit wonder.
One of my all-time favorite songs.
Same here.
"Hunting high and low" was a big hit in the UK in 1986.
I've gotta listen to more of A-ha's music, every snippet of song you played from them sounded really great
This is deja vu for me back to when I lived in Atascadero with my baby and abusive husband, who died of AIDS in 1986, and left his daughter and I with nothing. But I/we SURVIVED him, thank God!!!!
Benny Harvey, RIP
I think "take on me" is a bad translation of "ta på meg", which means "touch me".
grab me. actually (lenny face but i dont feel like finding and copying and pasting it.)
@@ireallylikeclouds989 Å ta can mean to grab, but å ta på means to touch.
And "take me on"? Ta meg på = wear me?
The line is fucking iconic tho
As a European kid of the 90s, it's so strange to me when someone refers to A-Ha, Scatman, Vidas, Modern Talking or Dr Alban as one-hit wonders, they pretty much defined my childhood
A freind of my used to be a really huge fan of a-ha, manhattan skyline was his favorite song of theirs. RIP Benny Harvey miss you big man.
I have all of their albums, including the ones not released in the USA!
They’re so much more than Take On Me.
I agree!
Strangeland yeah! I can’t wait to see them in LA this fall! I’ll be traveling down there from Seattle!
Hopefully this virus is done by then.
Blade O’Brian awesome! I wish they were coming to the east coast!
I would say they are still big not only in Norway but a lot of parts of Europe. The are one of best live performers and they re so good.
Laura Bjork I've seen them twice In the last decade here in Argentina
Pick any of their songs on RUclips and observe that most comments are in Portuguese. They're big in Brazil.
The Sun Always Shines On TV got lots of play on MTV. I actually liked the song. When my wife and I were living in South Korea a few years ago, I saw a ladies t-shirt with "The Sun Always Shines On TV" on it, and bought it for my wife.
Would never have thought of A-ha as a one hit wonder. They had quite a few memorable songs. I remember many of them playing on the radio when I was in school. Can remember at least five from the top of my head still. Todd overshot with this one..
I wouldn't say that. They're still considered a one-hit wonder by most Americans, and most can't name a song other than Take on Me.
Yes, I know that. Todd seems to pick these one-hit wonders from America's perspective, though. Same reason he did a video on Midnight Oil - they only had one big US hit but remained popular in Australia.
Not really. He literally opens asking "are these songs really one hit wonders" as one of his questions the whole one hit wonderland series is meant to answer
The entire East of the West of the Moon album is pure amazing.
This is one of my favourite songs of all time. It wasn't until several years ago that I found out about their second single 'The sun always shines on TV'. That was a really good one. I'm thinking about listening to more of their stuff. Shame that they weren't big here in North America because they deserved better.
Though I hate that Pitbull and Christina Aguilera ruined one of the greatest songs of all time with that piece of garbage 'Rule this moment'. Stupid song. What a POS.
DragonSlayer Shinigami Check out "Scoundrel Days" - great album. Lots of good songs scattered through the years, like "Lifelines" and "Minor Earth Major Sky." Good band.
The album “Scoundrel Days” is also well worth a listen.
You know what's awful Todd? I attached a big pile of 80s songs to a relationship that failed. Attached in that we listened to this stuff together, rediscovering it for me and the first time for her. The songs shown here hit me right where I live man.
The sun always shines on TV and Manhattan Skyline are fantastic songs
I'm one of those weird people who would hear a song on the radio and go buy the entire album. I always loved Living a Boys' Adventure Tale.
Blue Sky and Train of Thought
"Please don't ask me to defend the shameful lowlands of the way im drifting gloomily through time" is one of my favorite song lyrics of all time.
Can't believe you've been around for 6 years and just found you a week or so ago. Love, love, love your channel. Thank you.
way longer than 6 years bud
I always end up comfort rewatching one hit wonderland every so often.
Touch meeeeee the sun always shines on the TV
Hunting high and low, so not just a one hit wonder
Stay on these roads is a beautiful song by them.
I love the synthesizers on this song and it is so 1985! The video and song were both cool back in the day. Had to have been there to experience it when it was new. Take On Me is still a favorite of mine. Love The Sun Always Shines on TV too. 80's kids got all this. 👍 Both are great songs.
I was going to say "The Sun Always Shines On TV" is their other hit and was my favorite song for a loooong time. It's such a good song.
My issue with this is that you got the instruments wrong. Pal Waaktaar is the guitarist and Magne Furuholmen handles the keyboards (sometimes guitar). Apart from that, it's alright.
A-Ha is still going strong honestly, releasing new albums still, still releasing bangers, Take On Me is a very good song
This song is 1 of 2 that completely captures the 80s in my head - innovative video that got big play on MTV, lots of synthesizer, was big right in the middle of the decade. The other is "It's My Life" by Talk Talk.
Nobody cares what you think
Unquestionably the greatest music video ever. It's perfect. Flawless.
Hunting High and Low is seriously the single best pop album of all time. Every song from that record deserved to be as big as Take On Me.
TAAAAAAKE MEEEEEE OOOOOOON!
TAKE ON ME!
TAKE OOOOOOON MEEEEEEEE!
TAKE ON ME!
I love this song.
The slow, acoustic version of this song is beautiful.
I will always love this song. thanks for doing this one Todd.
And they are back touring, I watched this cause they are doing a show in South Africa in 2020 and I wanted to get hyped for it.
honestly, i like the sun always shines on tv *WAY MORE* than take on me
this video introduced me to the sun always shines on tv and for that i will always be grateful
Always loved 'The Sun Always Shines On TV'. Take on me was always a guilty pleasure, but the sun always shines on tv was this band's zenith. And I'm a tragic 1960's rock and folk tragic. I still listen to Donovan and Peter, Paul and Mary.
the NOT one hit wonder, Take On Me... because a-ha has had several hits... just not in The United States. They got back together in 2015, and to this day are still making music and touring. Though have sadly had to cancel several concerts because of the corona virus. Thank you for pointing out how freaking great this band is! (edit: by the way, I once told Magne Furuholmen that "take on me" didn't make sense. He said, "that's why it worked". He's so funny.)
I love this song and I *LOVE* this series. I listened to 8-10 and then I found a big ole playlist and started at the top. Intended to skip the ones I’d already seen but I didn’t because they are ALL DELIGHTFUL. You, Todd, are delightful.
Now: i’m posting this on the first video of the series. In subsequent episodes and me correct your pronunciation or take issue with some of your analysis. But never ever forget that most of all, beyond the reach of any minor criticism, I LOOOVE the series. And I lub you for creating it.
I love this song.
Soooo late to this one hit wonder party. I love this band so much I went to Oslo in December to see them. In 2004.