Fantastic band. It took 16 weeks to draw the 3,000 drawings used in the video. The artist is Michael Patterson. He made a film as a student called Communter. The film was later used in the music video for "Train of thought", also a-ha (pronounced ah-ha). In 2019, Take on me had been played on the radio an average of 350 times a day for 35 years in the United States. You couldn't have avoided hearing it. The song was boosted by the video, but obviously stands well on its own. The sequel, The sun always shines on TV is epic!
It's a fantastic unique instant catcher.I still recall the first time i heard this on the radio it felt so euphoric like multicoloured fireworks exploding inside my whole system.A massive standalone classic.
@@jessieball6195 Except for "The sun always shines on TV" - which was #20 on Billboard Hot 100. It was also in the top #10 in many European countries at the time.
@@jessieball6195 The ONLY thing that can be said about you is that you are in desperate need of expanding your horizon. The world is actually a heck lot more than the US. A-HA had hit after hit world wide ....except in the US ...where they ...as usual live in their own self inflicted bubble of navel gazing isolation and ignorance. That is general for whatever aspect of topics on might come up with.
Hi and thanks for reacting to A-HA and the amazing take on me video. The video was made using a technique called rotescopy which is individual hand drawings plus live action shots. I’ve been an A-HA fan for the past 37 years. In 1985 a norwegian trio of young men released a song called take on me asking the world to give them a chance luckily for them the world responded with a positive yes except the usa this is the only song A-HA are known for there. A-HA are criminally underrated they have released 11 albums of brilliant music and produced the soundtrack to most of my life. I was 16 years old in 1985 when i first discovered A-HA and take on me and i’m 54 now and still as big an A-HA fan as i was back in ‘85. One of the best things about A-HA is that their music is constantly evolving and changing. No two A-HA songs sound the same. One of my fave songs which comes later in their career is a song called Summer Moved On it’s a ballad which holds two guinness book of records. One for the longest note held during a live performance and two for the biggest crowd at a concert. The keyboard riff in take on me was written by the bands keyboard player when he was 13 years old back then it was called the juicy fruit song and the band was called Bridges A-HA’s guitarist and main songwriter was also in Bridges and that band was where Morton (A-HA’s lead singer) first met them. I hope you’ll continue to react to A-HA’s music. Thanks again and take care 😘🏴 ❤️🇳🇴❤️A-HA FOREVER❤️🇳🇴❤️
It wasn’t digital.. Completely Hand Drawn .. Stop animation.. amazing at time .. AHA .. were an iconic band of the 80’s .. all music that era had Synth … Highly recommend.. is Peter Gabriel “Sledgehammer “ .. for stop motion & creativity.. nothing like it .. ☘️💚😀👍
A-HA one of the most popular bands of the 80s (in Europe). Do yourself a favour and check out the live unplugged version (a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)) - they are great musicians (not only Synthie) and the song is pure emotion. Morten's voice is fantastic. Trust me. And, yes, the video was something special, because something like that was exceptional in the 80s 🤩
Ironically, this effect, known as rotoscope, for all it's advanced appearance, is one of the oldest 'effects' in movie making, being developed in the 1880s. Not a typo, 1880s. It is very labor intensive, tracing over each frame of the film. For this video, it took a crew of 6 16 weeks to do. It was used a lot in the in the early 1900s, but was used little as less labor intensive effects were developed in the 1930s. In the 1980s, some of us had seen this type of thing before, but for most people this was the first they had seen it.
@@williamshelton4318 but they weren't aware of it. The 1977 animated The Hobbit used it in some scenes. But it had not been done on a obvious scale for a while.
It didn't take much effort to make a google search. The answer was that rotoscope was invented in 1915 and used in movie from 1918, Hence quite a bit later than you claim.
@@Dan-fo9dk Keep reading. The technique was NAMED Rotoscoping and patented then, but had been around for a while. The famous Galloping Horse clip, considered by many to be the first animated clip, was done using the same technique on the Galloping Horse series of photographs in the 1880s. Sometimes you need a bit more education than a quick Google or Wikipedia search. Namely chronophotographic (1880s)and chromolithographs (1900s) were the brand names, but were basically tracing over film. Fleischer just patented the idea and tried to lock others out, with mixed success. The name 'Rotoscoping' has since been used for all the prior forms of tracing over film, the way 'Kleenex' is now used.
Same. Their first three albums were really good. Once they get into the 90's and beyond their music is more hit and miss for me, but I really enjoy "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Minor Earth, Major Sky."
A-ha, the greatest Norwegian band of all time. "Take One Me" is a classic among classics, it's in tons of movies and tv shows, from old to recent (Stranger Things comes to mind). They have thousands of AMAZING songs, even today (they still play, last album was in 2022).
@@Elena-in6uw You mean the album or the song? The album is great, as for the song (which is also great), i'm partial to "Between The Halo and the Horn".
I was in high school when it came out in the 80's and everyone went crazy for the video. It was the early days of MTV and Much Music here in Canada and that video was so in demand. Add to that the amazing vocals and it was a receipe for success. They are one of Norway's biggest band having sold close to a 100 million albums and singles
Back in the 80's, when mtv started up this video was played over and over. Back then this video was pretty high tech for the times. The 70's and 80's were so much fun. It is so much different now days. It's kind of sad!
Just as a side note, every time I see this vid I think of one of my favorite movies of the era, Altered States. It's toward the end where the hero is throwing himself against the panel borders trying to break out--pretty much like where the protagonist in the movie is doing the same in a hallway or tunnel in order to try to beat himself into returning to a modern human. Just checked wikipedia and it confirms that the scene was lifted from the movie. Anyway, always loved this song--always appreciate great vocals.
Thank you for this wonderful reaction❤ A-ha is one of the best bands ever, with a frontman who has a vocal range of 5 octaves, holds a world record for the longest held note in a pop song and has one of the best voices in the music business. A-ha has released 11 studio albums so far (the last in 2022). A-ha is incredibly versatile, they have combined everything from rock, jazz, blues to pop in their works. There are countless a-ha songs that are called masterpieces and perfect pop songs. Unfortunately they are so underrated in the USA, but the band is considered big stars all over the world with millions of records sold and countless sold-out world tours. Take On Me is their best-known song but by no means the best a-ha song. I would highly recommend a few songs from each album released. 1. 1985 (Hunting High And Low album ): * The Sun Always Shines On TV * Hunting High And Low * Living A Boys Adventure Tale 2. 1986 (Scoundrel Days album): * Scoundrel Days * I've Been Losing You * Manhattan Skyline 3. 1988 ( Stay On These Roads album): * Stay On These Roads * This Alone Is Love * The Living Daylights(this was the James Bond Theme song) * Out Of Blue Comes Green 4. 1990 ( East Of The Sun West Of The Moon album): From the 'a-ha live in NRK 1991' performances the following songs * Crying In The Rain * East Of The Sun West Of The Moon * Early Morning * Slender Frame * Sycamore Leaves and the Album version of *Rolling Thunder 5. 1993 (Memorial Beach album): * Dark Is The Night For All * Move to Memphis * Cold As Stone * Angel In The Snow * Lamb To The Slaughter * Memorial Beach 6. 2000 (Minor Earth Major Sky album): * Summer Moved On (Morten has the Guinness World Record for this song for the longest held note) * Little Black Heart * Velvet" (soundtrack from the Hollywood film One Night At McCool's) 7. 2002 (Lifelines album): * Lifelines * Forever Not Yours * Cannot Hide 8. 2005 (Analogue album): * Celice * Cosy Prison * Analogue * Make It Soon 9. 2009 (Foot Of the Mountain album): * The Bandstand * Foot Of The Mountain * Shadowside * Nothing Is Keeping You Here 10. 2015 (Cast In Steel album): *Cast In Steel * Under The Makeup * Mythomania * Giving Up The Ghost 11. 2022 (The Live Theme Album 'True North'): * I'm In * True North * You Have What It Takes * Forest For The Trees * Make Me Understand * Summer Rain
The video for this song was ground breaking and mind blowing when it first came out, it was phenomenal, the song itself is brilliant as well, all round a wonderful creation
What I wish for you Phil & Sam - be sitting in front of the TV at 10 years old (that was my age) on August 2, 1981 at midnight watching MTV come on the air for the first time like the rest of us. The moon man landed, planted the MTV flag, "Ladies & gemtleman this is Rock & Roll" & "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles was the first video to come on. It didn't matter if the video cost 10 dollars to make & was cheesy as hell (yet the perfect synthetic song) like Flock Of Seagulls "I Ran" or a full length masterpiece like MJ "Thriller" - we were in for them all!
Michael Morse (the only MLB player to hit a grand slam without using a bat) of the Washington Nationals used Take On Me as his walk up song. As a Nats fan, glad to hear this song any time.
There is an unplugged version done just a few years ago for an MTV session - plus on the Masked Singer, Viking sang this. It was the lead singer for Aha who sang it. I believe it was the first time the original singer sang their own song on the show.
Man, listening to you guys at the beginning of this.... you've got a fantastically DEEP rabbit hole to go down. In a way, the two of you are going to be like Alice in Wonderland with what you will find. Music evolved drastically from the mid-1960s onward, when the "Counter Culture" started to emerge in the US and UK. Canada also entered the scene, but it really started with the introduction of the "Hippy" movement (Baby Boomers, who, for all the crap they get (much of it well deserved, mind you) made some incredible music. Blues, bluegrass, soul, rock, folk songs, lyrics that spoke to the human condition, and started to include more electronic elements.... evolved and became what we had in the 1970s and 80s. The evolution continued into the early 2000s, but seemed to stagnate with the advent of Autotune. A lot of the creativity and talent seems to have been stifled. But that's my personal opinion. Maybe I'm just an "old head" (I was born in 1967) that's lost touch. But you guys have a well deeper than you know, to head down, and I'm here for it.
Also... here's a little history lesson: Music videos DID exist before MTV debuted, however, they became much more "cinematic" once we had a 24-hour music channel. In the 70s (and even into the 80s), there were dedicated shows (usually on Friday and Saturday nights) that would show music videos for 1 hour, of the most popular songs of the week. Many were just "concert footage" with the studio version dubbed over it. Some were "pantomimed" performances from a variety show (very popular in the 60s and 70s). When MTV went on the air (I stumbled across it channel surfing during the very video shown, and stopped to watch), they only had about 160 music videos in their library. Once they got to more "modern" music of the 90s, VH-1 was created to run the earlier videos from the 80s. Damned shame that channel will only play music for "special events" anymore. I miss my MTV.
The technique used is called rotoscoping which had been around for decades, including integration with normal live action, with music, the best example being Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry, a cartoon mouse in Anchors Aweigh (1945). Even the "cartoonization" of people in live action had been done before. But it was groundbreaking putting it all together, its creative use and storytelling in a music video.
It was one of a handful of videos which literally enabled MTV and VH-1 to even exist. It was so advanced and innovative for the day, that it’s still impresses me now…just as it did when it came out.
Well, that couldn't be FURTHER from the truth. MTV & VH1 was WELL established for YEARS at this point. And both channels COULD NOT exist without EVERYONE doing videos, not just a few. Where did you come up with this?
@@nielgregory108 - congratulations for the stupidest effort to challenge or correct me. VH-1 wasn’t even created until months after “Take On Me” was first released…and MTV which hadn’t even really gone “nationwide” until 1983 - and then to a broad TOP 40 and multi-genre format until 1984 not long before AHA released their song and then very soon released their insanely popular video. Most top artists and songs only began to actively produce and release music videos to broaden the reach of their new songs in 1984-85…and it was the massive success of a handful of smash hits/videos that enabled MTV to survive, build an audience - and for VH-1 to even be launched. Word of advice…if you want to challenge what others write - you should make some minimal effort to actually know or find out the facts…you’ll embarrass yourself less 😉🤣🤪
@@drakulkacz6489 - newsflash for you…I was alive in the 60s and the 80s…there was no real outlet or broadcast market for music videos until the mid-80s when MTV and then also shortly after VH-1 became established and successful.
On Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, MTV was launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll". It was played over footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia and the launch of Apollo 11.
The mtv acoustic version of take on me from the summer solstice album is mind blowing it makes it sound like an entirely different song plus the band members are a lot older then but still sound amazing. A-HA are the best band ever. The follow up to take on me is another you should definitely check out is The sun always shines on tv it’s much rockier but follows off from where the take on me finishes and i definitely recommend Summer Moved On with the two guinness books of records awards for the longest note held best watched live at the Oslo Spektram, Norway in 2010. Take care and i hope you’ll continue to react to more A-HA. 😘🏴 ❤️🇳🇴❤️A-HA FOREVER❤️🇳🇴❤️
La canzone più bella del mondo ! Anche se hanno fatto canzoni anche più belle di take on me , ma da lì e cominciata in altra era di fare musica ! Grandi a - ha ! Bisogna solo valorizzarli di più. Meritano!
one of the songs and videos that defined the '80s. unfortunately, it was so popular they kind of became a 1-hit wonder in the USA. they had a minor hit with The Sun Always Shines On TV, and then again with the James Bond theme, The Living Daylights, but their careers continued on for multiple decades with hit after hit, album after album all around the world... just not here. If you want to keep digging into this fantasic band, there's lots here for you to discover. One of my personal favs is The Swing Of Things, off their second album, Scoundrel Days. The guitarist, Paul, wrote it with his wife in mind, and it articulates the moment he realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. "Oh when she glows in the dark and I'm weak by the sight, of this breaktaking beauty in which I can hide. Oh, there's a world out there of people I fear, but given time... I'll get into the swing of things. Yes, when she glows in the dark and I'm struck by the sight... I know that I'll need this for the rest of my life...". Morten sings this up into a crescendo for that last line and it puts a lump in my throat everytime I hear it. Any man that's ever had this epiphany knows exactly how this feels...
I believe the method used to make this video is called "rotoscoping". With that method you film a scene and then artists take the film and draw over it. It's a painstaking process usually requiring several artists. There is a movie titled "Fire and Ice" (1983) that also used the method. Imagine doing it for a whole movie. The great artist Frank Frazetta led a team of artists to do it. o
A fantastic song and a revolutionary, innovative music video from a band from Norway! I live in Sweden, the neighboring country in Scandinavia here in Europe. So great that you chose this to react to….I am 60 years old and experienced the groundbreaking era of MTV in the 80s.
Great reaction!! Yes, this was a game changer as far as videos went (much like Michael Jackson's Thriller). It came at a time when MTV(US)/MuchMusic (Canada) were exploding, so popularity was definitely bolstered by video play! (and IMHO, it still stands as a fantastic video achievement!) The song itself is incredible (as is most of a-ha's catalogue). Others have mentioned - you should check the 2016 Live Unplugged version of this song - it's amazing how the same words feel completely different when given the acoustic treatment! HIGHLY recommend: The Sun Always Shines On TV (a continuation of this song kinda), Manhattan Skyline, Lifelines, Hunting High And Low, Stay On These Roads, Summer Moved On, Scoundrel Days...that's for starters!! You won't regret it! Cheers.
Great reaction !! The video brought back many memories. I watched this video daily in the mid 80's on MTV. I believe it was released in 1984. Cheers !!
Gotta love that Yamaha DX7 keyboard. It's also used on "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins and "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin for the 1986 Top Gun movie soundtrack. So iconic.
Yes, this video changed the industry, literally overnight, by raising the bar so high that no one has equalled it since. For American audiences, A-ha came from literally nowhere with this amazing video, and superstardom hti them within hours of its premiere on MTV. It was that much of a smash, that fast. Everyone into music was talking about it as soon as it dropped.
Do love you folks, great couple wonderful chemistry, wish long healthy happy lives togrther!! I was exposed to all music growing up so watching you learning about my childhood sound tracks is quite emotional...
I don't know if you know MUSE? Best live band working today!! Check em out, you have never seen anyone who plays the guitar like this dude!!! ruclips.net/video/XCUZSS54drI/видео.html&ab_channel=Muse@@barsandbarbells2022
Now that you've watched this, you should watch the live unplugged version they did just a few years ago, called "a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)". It's beautiful. It was featured in the theatrical release of Deadpool 2.
You nailed it re the video. This was too mainstream pop for me at the time, but I love dthis song because if it came on on after school musci video shows (which all raced home to watch), it was a treat! Now as an adult I can really appreciate his vocals. In teh last decade or so he recorded a slowed-down acoustic version of this song and it's quite beautiful.
If I remember correctly, they had released the song in 1984 and it had flopped. In 1985 they re-released it with this music video and it blew up. Great song and great reaction! 😄
The 1984 version was butchered by the producer, Tony Mansfield. Alan Tarney was asked to do the job over again. He went back to the demo, and in collaboration with the band he did a great job bringing the demo version into life.
Absolutely greatest video ever made. I'll fight anybody who says differently!! 😏 I remember when this came out on MTV. We had never seen anything like it before. The 80s... What a great time that decade was... 💯
I agree, this was completely new for music videos. And as fun as the song is, it's really important that you see the video. Yup, NO digital, they did it the hard way. Always great to see and listen to.
Fantastic band. It took 16 weeks to draw the 3,000 drawings used in the video. The artist is Michael Patterson. He made a film as a student called Communter. The film was later used in the music video for "Train of thought", also a-ha (pronounced ah-ha). In 2019, Take on me had been played on the radio an average of 350 times a day for 35 years in the United States. You couldn't have avoided hearing it. The song was boosted by the video, but obviously stands well on its own. The sequel, The sun always shines on TV is epic!
Thank you for the info! 😀👍 'Train Of Thought' is a good song, too 😊
@@mightyV444 It is, for sure! They have a whole lot of great songs.
It's a fantastic unique instant catcher.I still recall the first time i heard this on the radio it felt so euphoric like multicoloured fireworks exploding inside my whole system.A massive standalone classic.
I think it was cool they borrowed the ending from "Altered States", William Hurt's first movie.
Wow! Thx for the cool insights!
It was revolutionary back then. They also did a Bond song: The living daylights.
Oh, the living daylights
Oh, the living daylights
My favorite Bond theme
Which is way better than this.
epic in the 80's
I was 10 then. It's still a favourite!😍
This song and it's video are timeless, it holds its own against anything out there. 1.8 billion views can't be wrong.
The 2018 unplugged version of this song --same group--is stunning.
As is the KYGO collaboration
Has a wonderful Caribbean feel and he can certainly still hit the highs.
For Joel...
The hilarity was when Morten Harket sang the unplugged version on the Masked Singer UK, and they still didn't realise it was him.
This video was ground breaking for it's time. The most well known song from A-Ha
The ONLY big tune from them. None of their other songs ever broached the top 20 of the BIllboard Hot 100.
@@jessieball6195 Except for "The sun always shines on TV" - which was #20 on Billboard Hot 100.
It was also in the top #10 in many European countries at the time.
@@jessieball6195In the US, yes. In Europe and elsewhere, plenty of hits. 9 top 10 hits in the UK alone
@@jessieball6195 The ONLY thing that can be said about you is that you are in desperate need of expanding your horizon. The world is actually a heck lot more than the US. A-HA had hit after hit world wide ....except in the US ...where they ...as usual live in their own self inflicted bubble of navel gazing isolation and ignorance. That is general for whatever aspect of topics on might come up with.
Hi and thanks for reacting to A-HA and the amazing take on me video. The video was made using a technique called rotescopy which is individual hand drawings plus live action shots. I’ve been an A-HA fan for the past 37 years. In 1985 a norwegian trio of young men released a song called take on me asking the world to give them a chance luckily for them the world responded with a positive yes except the usa this is the only song A-HA are known for there. A-HA are criminally underrated they have released 11 albums of brilliant music and produced the soundtrack to most of my life. I was 16 years old in 1985 when i first discovered A-HA and take on me and i’m 54 now and still as big an A-HA fan as i was back in ‘85. One of the best things about A-HA is that their music is constantly evolving and changing. No two A-HA songs sound the same. One of my fave songs which comes later in their career is a song called Summer Moved On it’s a ballad which holds two guinness book of records. One for the longest note held during a live performance and two for the biggest crowd at a concert. The keyboard riff in take on me was written by the bands keyboard player when he was 13 years old back then it was called the juicy fruit song and the band was called Bridges A-HA’s guitarist and main songwriter was also in Bridges and that band was where Morton (A-HA’s lead singer) first met them. I hope you’ll continue to react to A-HA’s music. Thanks again and take care 😘🏴 ❤️🇳🇴❤️A-HA FOREVER❤️🇳🇴❤️
It wasn’t digital.. Completely Hand Drawn .. Stop animation.. amazing at time .. AHA .. were an iconic band of the 80’s .. all music that era had Synth …
Highly recommend.. is Peter Gabriel “Sledgehammer “ .. for stop motion & creativity.. nothing like it .. ☘️💚😀👍
Rotoscope
yes@@markwebster7435
Peter Gabriel still sings Sledge Hammer,wearing an electric jacket.
A-ha - Mortens voice is really great. Very good compositions. I`m a big fan.
The lead singer's now grown daughter is also a singer. This video was huge in the 80s. It reminds me of junior high.
A-HA one of the most popular bands of the 80s (in Europe). Do yourself a favour and check out the live unplugged version (a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)) - they are great musicians (not only Synthie) and the song is pure emotion. Morten's voice is fantastic. Trust me. And, yes, the video was something special, because something like that was exceptional in the 80s 🤩
Ironically, this effect, known as rotoscope, for all it's advanced appearance, is one of the oldest 'effects' in movie making, being developed in the 1880s. Not a typo, 1880s. It is very labor intensive, tracing over each frame of the film. For this video, it took a crew of 6 16 weeks to do. It was used a lot in the in the early 1900s, but was used little as less labor intensive effects were developed in the 1930s. In the 1980s, some of us had seen this type of thing before, but for most people this was the first they had seen it.
@@williamshelton4318 but they weren't aware of it. The 1977 animated The Hobbit used it in some scenes. But it had not been done on a obvious scale for a while.
@@doomhunter697Most of the big Disney films used it. Snow white, Cinderella etc.
When I first saw it in the 80s I thought it was part of a movie I did not know about. Very impressive back then.
It didn't take much effort to make a google search. The answer was that rotoscope was invented in 1915 and used in movie from 1918, Hence quite a bit later than you claim.
@@Dan-fo9dk Keep reading. The technique was NAMED Rotoscoping and patented then, but had been around for a while. The famous Galloping Horse clip, considered by many to be the first animated clip, was done using the same technique on the Galloping Horse series of photographs in the 1880s. Sometimes you need a bit more education than a quick Google or Wikipedia search. Namely chronophotographic (1880s)and chromolithographs (1900s) were the brand names, but were basically tracing over film. Fleischer just patented the idea and tried to lock others out, with mixed success. The name 'Rotoscoping' has since been used for all the prior forms of tracing over film, the way 'Kleenex' is now used.
There's another version of them doing this live unplugged on MTV when they were older. It's fantastic.
Morten harket the lead singer is when of the best vocalists of all time, you guys are in for a treat if you listen to more a-ha
One
The best from Norway, ever - period! ;-) No, honestly - a fantastic band!! 🤩Greetings from Sweden.
Then & now after this videoclip. History of music. I LOVE IT! GREAT REACTION, GUYS! GRETTINGS FROM SPAIN!
They've been consistently great over the years, and recently released a (very good) new album.
A-Ha is still one of my favorite groups from the 80s
Same. Their first three albums were really good. Once they get into the 90's and beyond their music is more hit and miss for me, but I really enjoy "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "Minor Earth, Major Sky."
Great song, absolutely brilliant video. Game changer.
This also took off on radio but really blew up on MTV because of the video. This was considered cutting edge for the time.
According to the bands manager, Take on me had in 2019 been played on the radio an average of 350 times a day for 35 years in the United States.
There even was different video for the first time. This one is in fact second one. There is on RUclips whole docummentary about that.
this video was epic!
A Ha are from Norway and Morton Harget the lead singer was every teen girls dream. Great fun band.
They're actually a musically prolific band.... definitely worth checking out more!
This is the tip of the iceberg. They are an amazing band!
A-ha, the greatest Norwegian band of all time.
"Take One Me" is a classic among classics, it's in tons of movies and tv shows, from old to recent (Stranger Things comes to mind).
They have thousands of AMAZING songs, even today (they still play, last album was in 2022).
Yes! True North is their new gem💎🎶
Also, you need to react to "Take One Me" acoustic from MTV Unplugged.
Simply beautiful.
@@Elena-in6uw You mean the album or the song? The album is great, as for the song (which is also great), i'm partial to "Between The Halo and the Horn".
@@JustaGuy2.0 I mean both..album and song💎,I love I'm in and Bumblebee, Make me understand and Summer rain..I love all songs🤩
biggest sure. greatest nah^^
There is a live unplugged version which gives the song an all new meaning
Same meaning. Just tone of of the unplugged matches the words better.
I was in high school when it came out in the 80's and everyone went crazy for the video. It was the early days of MTV and Much Music here in Canada and that video was so in demand. Add to that the amazing vocals and it was a receipe for success. They are one of Norway's biggest band having sold close to a 100 million albums and singles
I keep getting amazed how people have missed out on hearing many of the greatest hits that have ever been. Happy these songs are kept alive
Lead singer, Morten Harkett. This video is absolutely legendary and groundbreaking for its time.
Back in the 80's, when mtv started up this video was played over and over. Back then this video was pretty high tech for the times. The 70's and 80's were so much fun. It is so much different now days. It's kind of sad!
10 year old me loved this back in 1985 when this song first came out the video was ahead of it's time. 48 year old me still loves this song and video.
Just as a side note, every time I see this vid I think of one of my favorite movies of the era, Altered States. It's toward the end where the hero is throwing himself against the panel borders trying to break out--pretty much like where the protagonist in the movie is doing the same in a hallway or tunnel in order to try to beat himself into returning to a modern human. Just checked wikipedia and it confirms that the scene was lifted from the movie. Anyway, always loved this song--always appreciate great vocals.
I always associate the two as well. I remember the first time I saw the video and recognizing that scene from the movie.
Probably the most famous synth rift from the 80’s, magne who is the keyboard player wrote that rift was only 15 when he wrote it.
Pure joy. Pure music. New wave 80s! That debut album hunting high and low was and is still a gem when music for me was pure. Mabuhay!
He's done some recent performances live of this, and it's still amazing
Thank you for this wonderful reaction❤
A-ha is one of the best bands ever, with a frontman who has a vocal range of 5 octaves, holds a world record for the longest held note in a pop song and has one of the best voices in the music business.
A-ha has released 11 studio albums so far (the last in 2022). A-ha is incredibly versatile, they have combined everything from rock, jazz, blues to pop in their works. There are countless a-ha songs that are called masterpieces and perfect pop songs.
Unfortunately they are so underrated in the USA, but the band is considered big stars all over the world with millions of records sold and countless sold-out world tours. Take On Me is their best-known song but by no means the best a-ha song.
I would highly recommend a few songs from each album released.
1. 1985 (Hunting High And Low album ):
* The Sun Always Shines On TV
* Hunting High And Low
* Living A Boys Adventure Tale
2. 1986 (Scoundrel Days album):
* Scoundrel Days
* I've Been Losing You
* Manhattan Skyline
3. 1988 ( Stay On These Roads album):
* Stay On These Roads
* This Alone Is Love
* The Living Daylights(this was the James Bond Theme song)
* Out Of Blue Comes Green
4. 1990 ( East Of The Sun West Of The Moon album):
From the 'a-ha live in NRK 1991' performances the following songs
* Crying In The Rain
* East Of The Sun West Of The Moon
* Early Morning
* Slender Frame
* Sycamore Leaves
and the Album version of
*Rolling Thunder
5. 1993 (Memorial Beach album):
* Dark Is The Night For All
* Move to Memphis
* Cold As Stone
* Angel In The Snow
* Lamb To The Slaughter
* Memorial Beach
6. 2000 (Minor Earth Major Sky album):
* Summer Moved On (Morten has the Guinness World Record for this song for the longest held note)
* Little Black Heart
* Velvet" (soundtrack from the Hollywood film One Night At McCool's)
7. 2002 (Lifelines album):
* Lifelines
* Forever Not Yours
* Cannot Hide
8. 2005 (Analogue album):
* Celice
* Cosy Prison
* Analogue
* Make It Soon
9. 2009 (Foot Of the Mountain album):
* The Bandstand
* Foot Of The Mountain
* Shadowside
* Nothing Is Keeping You Here
10. 2015 (Cast In Steel album):
*Cast In Steel
* Under The Makeup
* Mythomania
* Giving Up The Ghost
11. 2022 (The Live Theme Album 'True North'):
* I'm In
* True North
* You Have What It Takes
* Forest For The Trees
* Make Me Understand
* Summer Rain
This, and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" too, both were very creative!
Hi from Türkiye. A-HA is a great choice.
The video for this song was ground breaking and mind blowing when it first came out, it was phenomenal, the song itself is brilliant as well, all round a wonderful creation
I actually tear up every time I watch this.
this song was HUGE
This Norweigan band made musicvideo history with this one ! Epic !
Love your reactions !
👍👍👍🇸🇪😎💕
What I wish for you Phil & Sam -
be sitting in front of the TV at 10 years old (that was my age) on August 2, 1981 at midnight watching MTV come on the air for the first time like the rest of us. The moon man landed, planted the MTV flag, "Ladies & gemtleman this is Rock & Roll" & "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles was the first video to come on. It didn't matter if the video cost 10 dollars to make & was cheesy as hell (yet the perfect synthetic song) like Flock Of Seagulls "I Ran" or a full length masterpiece like MJ "Thriller" - we were in for them all!
Michael Morse (the only MLB player to hit a grand slam without using a bat) of the Washington Nationals used Take On Me as his walk up song. As a Nats fan, glad to hear this song any time.
This band's other big hit is The Sun Always Shines On TV, and it's amazing. Energetic driving tempo.
There is an unplugged version done just a few years ago for an MTV session - plus on the Masked Singer, Viking sang this. It was the lead singer for Aha who sang it. I believe it was the first time the original singer sang their own song on the show.
There next song you could do is, The Sun Always Shines On TV.
This video, like Sledgehammer and Thriller, was a landmark in the music video world. Stunning to watch it hourly for awhile. Never got old.
Man, listening to you guys at the beginning of this.... you've got a fantastically DEEP rabbit hole to go down. In a way, the two of you are going to be like Alice in Wonderland with what you will find. Music evolved drastically from the mid-1960s onward, when the "Counter Culture" started to emerge in the US and UK. Canada also entered the scene, but it really started with the introduction of the "Hippy" movement (Baby Boomers, who, for all the crap they get (much of it well deserved, mind you) made some incredible music. Blues, bluegrass, soul, rock, folk songs, lyrics that spoke to the human condition, and started to include more electronic elements.... evolved and became what we had in the 1970s and 80s. The evolution continued into the early 2000s, but seemed to stagnate with the advent of Autotune. A lot of the creativity and talent seems to have been stifled. But that's my personal opinion. Maybe I'm just an "old head" (I was born in 1967) that's lost touch. But you guys have a well deeper than you know, to head down, and I'm here for it.
Also... here's a little history lesson: Music videos DID exist before MTV debuted, however, they became much more "cinematic" once we had a 24-hour music channel. In the 70s (and even into the 80s), there were dedicated shows (usually on Friday and Saturday nights) that would show music videos for 1 hour, of the most popular songs of the week. Many were just "concert footage" with the studio version dubbed over it. Some were "pantomimed" performances from a variety show (very popular in the 60s and 70s).
When MTV went on the air (I stumbled across it channel surfing during the very video shown, and stopped to watch), they only had about 160 music videos in their library. Once they got to more "modern" music of the 90s, VH-1 was created to run the earlier videos from the 80s. Damned shame that channel will only play music for "special events" anymore. I miss my MTV.
The technique used is called rotoscoping which had been around for decades, including integration with normal live action, with music, the best example being Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry, a cartoon mouse in Anchors Aweigh (1945). Even the "cartoonization" of people in live action had been done before. But it was groundbreaking putting it all together, its creative use and storytelling in a music video.
It was one of a handful of videos which literally enabled MTV and VH-1 to even exist. It was so advanced and innovative for the day, that it’s still impresses me now…just as it did when it came out.
Well, that couldn't be FURTHER from the truth. MTV & VH1 was WELL established for YEARS at this point. And both channels COULD NOT exist without EVERYONE doing videos, not just a few. Where did you come up with this?
@@nielgregory108 - congratulations for the stupidest effort to challenge or correct me. VH-1 wasn’t even created until months after “Take On Me” was first released…and MTV which hadn’t even really gone “nationwide” until 1983 - and then to a broad TOP 40 and multi-genre format until 1984 not long before AHA released their song and then very soon released their insanely popular video.
Most top artists and songs only began to actively produce and release music videos to broaden the reach of their new songs in 1984-85…and it was the massive success of a handful of smash hits/videos that enabled MTV to survive, build an audience - and for VH-1 to even be launched.
Word of advice…if you want to challenge what others write - you should make some minimal effort to actually know or find out the facts…you’ll embarrass yourself less 😉🤣🤪
@@ChicagoDB Videos are since 60´s, MTV was just separate channel to play them.
@@drakulkacz6489 - newsflash for you…I was alive in the 60s and the 80s…there was no real outlet or broadcast market for music videos until the mid-80s when MTV and then also shortly after VH-1 became established and successful.
@@ChicagoDB Newsflash for you. I lived from the other side of iron curtain. No MTV here.
Another song that got an award for it's music video was Peter Gabriel's video for Sledgehammer as it was all done in stop motion.
On Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, MTV was launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll". It was played over footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia and the launch of Apollo 11.
You buried the lead. They then played the first ever MTV music video:
Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles.
First time I saw this was watching MTV for the first time and have never forgot it. Always loved this song & video.
The mtv acoustic version of take on me from the summer solstice album is mind blowing it makes it sound like an entirely different song plus the band members are a lot older then but still sound amazing. A-HA are the best band ever. The follow up to take on me is another you should definitely check out is The sun always shines on tv it’s much rockier but follows off from where the take on me finishes and i definitely recommend Summer Moved On with the two guinness books of records awards for the longest note held best watched live at the Oslo Spektram, Norway in 2010. Take care and i hope you’ll continue to react to more A-HA. 😘🏴 ❤️🇳🇴❤️A-HA FOREVER❤️🇳🇴❤️
Yes it’s been in a ton of movies , this version and the acoustic version feature in deadpool 2
La canzone più bella del mondo ! Anche se hanno fatto canzoni anche più belle di take on me , ma da lì e cominciata in altra era di fare musica ! Grandi a - ha ! Bisogna solo valorizzarli di più. Meritano!
one of the songs and videos that defined the '80s. unfortunately, it was so popular they kind of became a 1-hit wonder in the USA. they had a minor hit with The Sun Always Shines On TV, and then again with the James Bond theme, The Living Daylights, but their careers continued on for multiple decades with hit after hit, album after album all around the world... just not here.
If you want to keep digging into this fantasic band, there's lots here for you to discover. One of my personal favs is The Swing Of Things, off their second album, Scoundrel Days. The guitarist, Paul, wrote it with his wife in mind, and it articulates the moment he realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
"Oh when she glows in the dark and I'm weak by the sight, of this breaktaking beauty in which I can hide. Oh, there's a world out there of people I fear, but given time... I'll get into the swing of things. Yes, when she glows in the dark and I'm struck by the sight... I know that I'll need this for the rest of my life...".
Morten sings this up into a crescendo for that last line and it puts a lump in my throat everytime I hear it. Any man that's ever had this epiphany knows exactly how this feels...
Todd in the Shadows has a lovely short documentary about the band on his RUclips channel. He loves "I Do My Crying in the Rain"
Next A-ha tune to react to is The Sun Always Shines On TV.
I believe the method used to make this video is called "rotoscoping". With that method you film a scene and then artists take the film and draw over it. It's a painstaking process usually requiring several artists. There is a movie titled "Fire and Ice" (1983) that also used the method. Imagine doing it for a whole movie. The great artist Frank Frazetta led a team of artists to do it. o
A fantastic song and a revolutionary, innovative music video from a band from Norway! I live in Sweden, the neighboring country in Scandinavia here in Europe. So great that you chose this to react to….I am 60 years old and experienced the groundbreaking era of MTV in the 80s.
1985-ish...and they're a Norwegian synth-pop band. Oh how I miss the 80's 😊
I had a massive crush on Morten, loved the song and him, just watched and I still do swooooooooon.
That impossible note! It still amazes..
here in the UK and Europe this was a smash hit at the time, excellent sound and great video
Great reaction!! Yes, this was a game changer as far as videos went (much like Michael Jackson's Thriller). It came at a time when MTV(US)/MuchMusic (Canada) were exploding, so popularity was definitely bolstered by video play! (and IMHO, it still stands as a fantastic video achievement!)
The song itself is incredible (as is most of a-ha's catalogue). Others have mentioned - you should check the 2016 Live Unplugged version of this song - it's amazing how the same words feel completely different when given the acoustic treatment!
HIGHLY recommend: The Sun Always Shines On TV (a continuation of this song kinda), Manhattan Skyline, Lifelines, Hunting High And Low, Stay On These Roads, Summer Moved On, Scoundrel Days...that's for starters!! You won't regret it! Cheers.
Great reaction !! The video brought back many memories. I watched this video daily in the mid 80's on MTV. I believe it was released in 1984. Cheers !!
Gotta love that Yamaha DX7 keyboard. It's also used on "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins and "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin for the 1986 Top Gun movie soundtrack. So iconic.
The greatest band from Norway. Hi, boys! Morten, Magne and Paal.
Fun to watch again, a Norwegian band, one of our greatest! Still going strong! Check the latest album “True North “ from 2022.
Not one of our greatest. Definitely our greatest band of all times.
Great video! Not a big pop electronic fan but this was the exception! Still love it!
Its one of the most played and lauded MTV videos of all time. Simple as that. This was the height of New Wave.
Great music, video and great vocals.
Yes, this video changed the industry, literally overnight, by raising the bar so high that no one has equalled it since. For American audiences, A-ha came from literally nowhere with this amazing video, and superstardom hti them within hours of its premiere on MTV. It was that much of a smash, that fast. Everyone into music was talking about it as soon as it dropped.
Every one has heard this song at some point in there life . Amazing song Amazing video Amazing band
Many people who watched MTV back in the day would say wit was overplayed. I really loved it!❤❤
Great reaction! Love those 80’s!!❤❤❤
No 1 in UK many many years ago when I was a young lad, still sounds good today, great post
Do love you folks, great couple wonderful chemistry, wish long healthy happy lives togrther!! I was exposed to all music growing up so watching you learning about my childhood sound tracks is quite emotional...
Thank you! 🙌
I don't know if you know MUSE? Best live band working today!! Check em out, you have never seen anyone who plays the guitar like this dude!!! ruclips.net/video/XCUZSS54drI/видео.html&ab_channel=Muse@@barsandbarbells2022
Great song and great video....I love the 80's.
This is one of my favourite videos could not get enough of it . Still love it .
Best music video ever🙂
Now that you've watched this, you should watch the live unplugged version they did just a few years ago, called "a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)". It's beautiful. It was featured in the theatrical release of Deadpool 2.
Thanks!
Thank you for the constant support John!
@@barsandbarbells2022 Forgetaboutit
This video was beyond anything that had been seen before. Revolutionary and awe inspiring.
MTV played this video all the time, paved the way for them to have so many views and made the song popular
The unplugged version of this song that came out a few years ago is amazing.
이 것은 못참지요. 정말 멋진 영상 그리고 멋진 박자 그리고 멋진 목소리 그리고 멋진 사람들❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤아-하
I so loved this video back then. I just had my second baby when this came out. Kept me entertained raising this little ones.
One of my favorite songs.. the unplugged is really cool..
This is arguably the best song of the 80s.
This was from an era where pop videos, supported the music, the songs came out on the radio, then followed with video. The 80s was the pop era
Actually it’s 1.8 billion views, it gets on average 5 million views each week and has done so for the last 3 years.
I was 17 and freshman year in college when i first heard this in 1985 andi will never forget how huge it was!!!❤
Next of them - The Sun always shines on TV! Their best imo!!❤️❤️
You nailed it re the video. This was too mainstream pop for me at the time, but I love dthis song because if it came on on after school musci video shows (which all raced home to watch), it was a treat! Now as an adult I can really appreciate his vocals. In teh last decade or so he recorded a slowed-down acoustic version of this song and it's quite beautiful.
Did you notice that when the couple are running through the screwed up magazine the walls have creases in them, very detailed artwork.
One of my guilty pleasure songs🤭🤭🤭 there is a photo of these 2 floating around the net of how they are today. 🤘❤️
"The Sun always Shines On TV" is another hit to check out from the same album.
If I remember correctly, they had released the song in 1984 and it had flopped. In 1985 they re-released it with this music video and it blew up.
Great song and great reaction! 😄
The 1984 version was butchered by the producer, Tony Mansfield. Alan Tarney was asked to do the job over again. He went back to the demo, and in collaboration with the band he did a great job bringing the demo version into life.
@@ahkkariq7406 Interesting! That bit I didn't remember. Didn't know the song itself had been improved as well. Thank you for this information 😄
@@harold-thedutchguy If you are interested, there is a three part documentary about the song and the video on YT. Very interesting.
@@ahkkariq7406 Thanks. I'll check it out.
Absolutely greatest video ever made. I'll fight anybody who says differently!! 😏
I remember when this came out on MTV. We had never seen anything like it before. The 80s... What a great time that decade was... 💯
I agree, this was completely new for music videos. And as fun as the song is, it's really important that you see the video. Yup, NO digital, they did it the hard way. Always great to see and listen to.
The singer is in his 60s. He still looks like a supermodel and he can still hit that high note.
Morten Harket is a great Singer 💎