a-ha

Pal Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen, formerly of Bridges, formed Norwegian synth pop group a-ha in the early '80s. Nimble vocalist 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. Their debut single, "Take On Me," went through three versions before becoming a hit in the U.K., eventually reaching number two in November 1985. It went one better in the U.S., mainly due to the wide exposure of its stunning video on MTV, which fused animation with real-life action. They returned to the charts with "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." which became a U.K. number one in early 1986, helping take the album Hunting High and Low to the Top Ten. The song hit the Top 20 in the U.S., where the album reached number 15. - Artist Biography by Kelvin Hayes, Allmusic