Farewell boys. Its sad to see you go. I don't think they will ever get back together. I just hope they still do the show in London next month.

They never quite got the recognition they deserved, but those that discovered them knew what they did to the face of modern music.

from the BBC

Pop group A-ha have announced they are to call it a day, just months after scoring a top 10 album in the UK.

"We've literally lived the ultimate boy's adventure tale," the group said in a statement.

The trio added that the split would allow them to pursue "other meaningful aspects of life, be it humanitarian work, politics, or whatever else."

The Norwegian band scored international hits with The Sun Always Shines On TV and Take On Me in the 1980s.

Their most recent album, Foot Of The Mountain, marked a return to their synth-pop roots after a period in which they recorded chiming guitar ballads. It charted at number five in the UK.

Farewell tour

However, the band never quite recaptured the spark of their heyday, when lead singer Morten Harket was a teen pin-up and the group were followed around by screaming fans.

They even broke a world record at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium in 1991, when 196,000 fans paid to see them.

But after the commercial failure of 1993's Memorial Beach, the band went on hiatus, only reforming after being invited to play the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 1998.

Both Harket and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy released solo albums during this period.

The group have announced they will mount a farewell tour before disbanding. Only the final date, in Oslo on 4 December, has so far been confirmed.

"We are retiring as a band, not as individuals," the band reassured fans in their statement.

"Change is always difficult and it is easy to get set in one's ways. Now it is time to move on."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/h...308829.stm

lastdecember is gonna be crushed

very sad news indeed

Nooooo!

they're still alive?

i thought they boke up like 20 years ago....

mimi07 said:

I did too but from the timeline, they broke up and got back together numerous times.

Timmy84 said:

Actually, they have never broken up before. They took a break from 93-98, but never split until now.

I guess they think they have gone full circle. Next year is the 25th anniversary of their debut album, so they are going out on tour to celebrate and go out with a bang.

I wonder if the last single will be a re-recording of Take On Me.....

Yeah technically a-Ha never officially broke up in that period of 93-98, they just stopped working as a unit. I somewhat knew that this was coming in a way, currently doing promotion for this record it has just been 2 members (morten and mags) doing the talking, Paul the guitarist, who actually wrote all the songs on this record, wasnt there for alot of the promo. And he has actually lived here in NYC for the last 15 years while the other two live in Norway.

SoulAlive said:

Not really i go the John Lennon route when talking about the Beatles "its just a rock group, its nothing important, you still have the records and the memories".

SquirrelMeat said:

I will be putting together an a-Ha thread on their career. a-Ha never really was appreciated for what they were, but the last decade they did finally get their due from the press and more importantly from their peers, the break announcement is strange, but not a surprise, even in their interviews you can hear that they were looking to do other things, they had many problems within at times, fought alot. like brothers, but many times didnt get along, but honestly that is the mark of a strong band that knows what you do together is stronger than yourself seperately. as for the tour im hoping the USA part isnt just a "hunting high and low" type tour, i think to limit the setlist to just that sound and period would be cheating themselves. I dont think a-Ha would do a re-make of take on me, theres alot of pride and ego in the band to go out like that. The thing is that all 3 are very strong on their own as artists and interesting as artists, that you lose the unit but gain 3 individuals, not many bands can say they actually have more than one member that can make interesting music on their own, and just as relevant.

They stopped being relevant in the US years ago.

scriptgirl said:

ok then tell that to all the bands that the us sucks up like Coldplay,Radiohead,u2,SnowPatrol,Keane who they got their major relevance from. They didnt stop being relevant in the usa, the usa stopped being relevant to them, that goes for every other artist that acheives greater success in the world, the usa is a very small piece of a the picture, we need to get over ourselves and our relevance.

lastdecember said:

Good point.

I didn't see it coming because I've seen them up close a few times this year on and off stage and they seems like they were really enjoying themselves. (London Roundhouse and Westfield shopping centre).

But now I thing about it, I never saw Pal and Morten speak once. My guess is its Pal instigating this. He let Mags have far more control on the last album than ever before. Also, the last album was a much more rushed affair. Possibly a sign.

Regardless, its great that we got A-ha version 2.0 at all. Minor Earth, Lifelines, Analogue and Foot Of the Mountain are and will remain some of the best slices of adult pop out there.

I think it cool that they are going out in a controlled manner, finishing in Olso next year. I hope the US get a show or two, even if its just for you!

Looking forward to your retrospective thread.

SquirrelMeat said:

yeah i agree on that, it did really look like they were done after "Memorial Beach" in 1992 and then the single "Shapes that go together" in 1993. I was fortunate to get that one-off show on Sept 12th 2005 here in nyc. In the qoute today from most likely mags, the amount of shows left will depend on the fans, they will play everywhere in the world, the assumption is about 2 weeks in the usa, im thinking they will most likely hit nyc as their main usa stop. I think their deal calls for 3 albums to Universal, the latest being the second, i can honestly see this final tour becoming a live cd and dvd after the fact. It is good that they are going out on this high, and in a controlled fashion, most bands dont normally do that. As for the members, it is a sudden move, it does seem as though Paul might be the one pulling the other way, the fact is he was the one that had this album written and was waiting for Mags and Morten to finish thier solo album promos. Ironically on the last song "Start the Simulator" on the latest album, the last words are "Now your on your own"

Rorywan said:

Oh no... Babs is going to be very upset

A-Ha the singles 1984-2004... great pop music...



1. Take on Me
2. The Sun Always Shines on TV
3. Train of Thought
4. Hunting High and Low
5. I've Been Losing You
6. Cry Wolf
7. Manhattan Skyline
8. The Living Daylights
9. Stay on These Roads
10. Touchy!
11. Crying in the Rain
12. Move to Memphis
13. Dark Is the Night
14. Shapes That Go Together
15. Summer Moved On
16. Minor Earth Major Sky
17. Velvet
18. Forever Not Yours
19. Lifelines

"Forever Not Yours" is not included on every release, try amazon.com (USA) if you need to buy this cd, amazon.co.uk has another version WITHOUT this track,

take me on

take on me

i'll be gone

in a day or twooooo
ooooo
ooooo
ooooo
ooooo
ooo
o

for real what have they done since that song?

[Edited 10/16/09 3:16am]
[Edited 10/16/09 3:17am]

SquirrelMeat said:

Agreed.. They left a terrific musical legacy, and i'm glad we got these 4 most recent albums. I thought they were done after Memorial Beach.

Well, It can be said that A-ha has increased local tourism....I just bought tickets for there final ever show in Olso next December!

After much refreshing, I managed to bag row 1 in the upper tier. It will be nice to see them off at their home venue.

japanrocks said:

Looking at your tastes to put it into persepective, it like saying De La Soul made one good track, Me Myself and I. Didn't they vanish after that?

lastdecember said:

The Pet Shop Boys stopped being "relevant" in the US, but to US fans old and new, that didn't matter. And they had very respectable numbers (sales wise and chart wise) in many other areas.

Frankly considering how the US chews up and spits out artists more than ever before, US relevancy is not where it is it and I think many UK based artists (among others, including those from the US like Scissor Sisters and Anastasia) realized that. I realize sales all over are way down but when they went down in the US, they really went down and the US does not appear to be the place to look for relevancy as an artist. The masses just don't buy like they used to here. So why chase it if you aren't a fifteen year old that can get a few bit hits or an artist that is young enough (or young looking enough) like Shakira that still has a chance at another hit album.

scriptgirl said:

That says far more about the US than it does about a-ha.

SquirrelMeat said:

I know, its funny how people just make their "take on me" jokes, but let me tell you this final tour is going to be huge, this is a band that still holds the crowd attendance record for a show at 196,000 in South America, not even MJ did it, they have the GBW record on that one. The tours through South America,Germany,obvviously Norway and i think the UK on the "final" leg, are going to be the biggest shows of any artist next year. And i can guarantee they will sell out in the states, they sold out NYC in 2005 in 50 minutes, thats with no advertising here in the usa, no distribution,no label even. The members were blown away that night at the response of the crowd.

NoVideo said:

i can see a a-ha reference here and there regarding radiohead.. but lets not get too carried away here.



coldplay, keane? sure..
[Edited 10/16/09 16:52pm]

AlexdeParis said:

Yeah the US has let alot of relevant artists go, i mean Tina Turner anyone?? sure she had the whole Private Dancer thing, but what about the years after ike, she couldnt get anything going here, and then the us let her go as she got older. And tons of bands, i mean im sure people dont realize that Simple Minds still cut records, doesnt mean they arent relevant to a certain audience.

Sdldawn said:

Theres def a mutual influence, Yorke did speak of a track by a-Ha called "Sychamore Leaves" as one he was playing as they recorded OK COMPUTER and got inspiration from. a-Ha paid them back with the song "make it soon" on "analogue" which has the manic guitar solo (something RadioHead needs again).