a Ha

Pal Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen, formerly of Bridges, formed a-ha in the early '80s. Morten Harket joined the duo, and they left for the now "legendary London flat" (so called because of its state of disrepair) to make it. By late 1983 they had achieved part of that goal by signing to WEA. "Take on Me" took three times to become a hit in the U.K., eventually hitting number two in November 1985…

Norway's a-ha took "Take on Me" to the number one spot on Billboard's Top 40 in 1985, thanks to the award-winning animated video that accompanied it. Still, a-ha contributed rather accordingly to the '80s pop sound, drenching their music with bouncy riffs and employing the keyboard as the foundation to their colorful formula. Headlines and Deadlines: The Hits of a-ha assembles all of their singles together, a definite one-stop for all of their music. Combining ballads and radiant '80s pop, this set includes their most fervent offering in "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," which hit number 20 in 1986 and originated from Hunting High and Low, the same album that included "Take on Me."

It follows the band on tour, telling the full story of how three young men followed their impossible dream of becoming Norwegian pop stars. When Take On Me reached number 1 on Billboard in the US in 1985 the dream came true. Or did it?

Recorded at the Oslo Spektrum in December 2010, Ending on a High Note: The Final Concert is a chance for those a-ha fans who couldn't get a ticket for the Norwegian synth pop trio's last ever live performance to bask in the glory of their triumphant swan song. Their third live album, following 2001's Live at Valhall and 2003's's How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head, features 16 of the 21 tracks that were played on the globe-conquering tour's emotional finale, which wisely celebrates the entirety of their career, with every one of their nine studio albums represented (although songs from 1990's East of the Sun, West of the Moon and 1993's Memorial Beach are only included in the CD/DVD edition).

A-ha, the multi-platinum selling legendary Norwegian trio, will release a 15 track Acoustic Hits MTV Unplugged album on October 6. This is the first time in the band’s 30 year history that they have recorded an acoustic album…

Memorial Beach is the fifth album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released in 1993. The album was recorded primarily at Prince's Paisley Park studios outside Minneapolis in the U.S. Memorial Beach featured three UK Top 50 singles for the band, "Move to Memphis" (released as a single in 1991, almost two years before the album), "Dark is the Night" and "Angel in the Snow". While the album did not chart on the U.S. Billboard 200 and would be the band's last to be released there, the single "Dark Is the Night" peaked at #11 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, their last U.S. charting to date. Q magazine listed the album as one of the 50 best albums of 1993: "If ever a band deserved reappraisal on the back of an album then it was a-ha!"

Stay on These Roads is the third studio album by Norwegian band A-ha. It was released on 3 May 1988 by Warner Bros. Records. Six singles were released from the album. A Synclavier, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Yamaha DX-7, Roland D-50, and Roland Juno-60 or Roland Juno-106 synthesizers were used in the recording of this album, as was a Yamaha RX-5 drum machine. Stay on These Roads was the band's third studio album. The album's peak on the Billboard 200 was 148. The album was another big hit by A-ha internationally, selling over 4 million copies worldwide. Stay on These Roads achieved Platinum status in Brazil and Gold in the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany and Double Platinum status in France.The album reached #2 in the European top-100 albums sales chart.

While not quite as strong as the band's debut, Scoundrel Days is still a-ha succeeding as a marketed "pretty boy" band which can connect musically and lyrically as much as any musical sacred cow. The opening two songs alone make for one of the best one-two opening punches around: the tense edge of the title track, featuring one of Morten Harket's soaring vocals during the chorus and a crisp, pristine punch in the music, and "The Swing of Things," a moody, elegant number with a beautiful synth/guitar arrangement (plus some fine drumming courtesy of studio pro Michael Sturgis) and utterly lovelorn lyrical sentiments that balance on the edge of being overheated without quite going over.