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SUNDAY MUSIC VIDS: a-ha
Written by Katie Marzullo. Published: July 15 2018
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If you search the annals for some of the greatest music videos of all time, inevitably you will run across a-ha's "Take On Me".
The song is the
best-remembered single here in the States for the Norwegian pop
group, but the music video for it is legendary. Though it was
released way back in 1985, it still holds up today for it's
technological achievements and visual artistry. Using an animation
technique known as rotoscoping and mixing it with live action, this
little-known Scandinavian band shot into the public
consciousness and firmly cemented their place in pop culture.
What most
people probably don't know, however, is that neither this song nor
the video were a-ha's first stab at "Take On Me." Released a year
prior to the version we all know and love, a completely different
recording was used and a completely different video for it was
shot, but it wasn't very well-received. So, the band headed back to
the studio and, under the guidance of a new producer, churned out a
revamped version of the song and made a groundbreaking new video.
The rest is, well, you know...
Check out the 2
videos below, starting with the original version and then the
classic version we remember...
More recently,
an acoustic version of the song was featured on the Deadpool
2 soundtrack. No funky quirky video for that one, though,
unfortunately.
And in case
you're interested, the band is still together and have continued to
release albums as recently as 2015 (They are currently on a summer
tour in Europe.) Take a look and listen below to one of my personal
favorite post-'80s releases from a-ha, "I Wish I Cared" from their
2000 album Minor Earth Major Sky:
(Image via Brian Rasic/Getty Images)
- Katie
Marzullo, YH Staff Editor