The Secret History of a-ha's Smash "Take on Me"

"I have no doubt that the video made the song a hit," Furuholmen says. "The song has a super catchy riff, but it is a song that you have to hear a few times. And I don't think it would've been given the time of day without the enormous impact of the video." The legendary clip, directed by Steve Barron, took two months to create due to the backbreaking rotoscoping process, but it was worth the effort: At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, "Take on Me" took home six trophies and put a-ha on the fast track to fame in the U.S.

"Take on Me" was a Number One smash in the U.S. and abroad, and its follow-up single "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." seemed primed to be a hit in the States… until it only peaked at Number 20 on the Hot 100. It also marked the last time a-ha ever charted a Top 20 single in the U.S., despite a run of Top 10 hits in Europe in the decades that followed. Looking back, Furuholmen blames a-ha's reluctance to play the pop star game in America for their limited success here. "We were three headstrong Norwegians saying, 'No we don't want to record another "Take on Me," we're doing our own thing,' " Furuholmen says. "We never expected to become teenage idols, so for us it was like, 'Let's move on.' But for the record company this was a successful formula, and anything we did to break with that was seen as a disease."

While a-ha vanished from the American pop landscape, in Europe the group scored a long run of critical and commercial success including their newest — and final — album Foot of the Mountain, which debuted at Number Five in the U.K. but didn't even enter the Billboard 200. "We had a lot more trust in our audience than the record companies did, and I think our audience has stayed with us because of our musical qualities," Furuholmen says, adding that although the band never repeated their "Take on Me" success here, "Even in America we have die-hard fans. We sold out these concert halls faster than we expected to." A-ha, who decided to call it quits after nearly 25 years with a farewell tour called Ending on a High Note, will perform their final two American concerts this weekend before returning to Europe for a trek that stretches from June to December. Their career will wrap for good with three concerts in Oslo, Norway.

Today, Furuholmen says the band's smash hit still sounds "really energetic," and admits he's also seen the viral "literal version" of the "Take on Me" video where a Harket impersonator literally narrates the action in the classic clip. "I thought it was fucking fantastic. It was amazing. I wish we'd have that video back when we made it," Furuholmen says. "The lyrics make so much more sense than the one we have."

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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