A-ha band biography

a-ha is a Norwegian new wave/synth-pop band. The trio, composed of lead vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, formed in 1982 and left Oslo, Norway for London in order to make a career in the music business.

The origin of the name a-ha comes from the lyric of an early song. After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that 'a-ha' was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations.

A-ha band biography wikipedia

It was short, a-ha was easy to say and somewhat unusual.

"Take on Me" was the first song Morten Harket heard Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy created. At that time the song was called "Lesson One." After multiple re-recordings and two failed releases, "Take on Me" became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1985.

Although their first release of the song in 1984 was not a major success, it was remixed by producer Alan Tarney a year later, and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in