Agree on both counts.
Posted on 10/16/2009 2:24:28 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
Pop group A-ha have announced they are to call it a day, just months after achieving a top 10 album in the UK.
"We've literally lived the ultimate boy's adventure tale," the group, which formed 25 years ago, said.
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.
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...
The group have announced they will mount a farewell tour before disbanding. Only the final date, in Oslo on 4 December 2010, has so far been confirmed.
"We are retiring as a band, not as individuals," the band reassured fans in their statement..
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
That video is one of the best of all time.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
They are the first song on my iPod. I used to love them. Now I am irritated by them. I swerve through traffic trying to move the friggin dial to something else.
I don’t think anybody else did either. “Take on Me” is their only song I’m familiar with.
Indeed. I loved that video. You can Bing it and see it again! I remember now, the Altered States ripoff at the end but it was still very, very well done. And I liked the song, too.
Speaking of "progressive" and bands that have been around for a while (in this case 40 years!), I caught Yes live on tour (I sprang for the VIP tickets, including a M&G with the band), and I've been really surprised that they've been turning up more and more in the "mainstream." For instance, in the new Chase credit card commercial, you'll hear them, and just last week they could be heard in an episode of "Fringe" when Theresa Russell was loaded up with psychedelic drugs!
Mark
Agree on both counts.
I wasn't particularly taken with A-Ha, but subsequent years have made me appreciate '80's music more than I did at the time. Today's segue is as follows: the "Family Guy" episode where Chris gets pulled into the "Take Me On" video was far better than the balance of the show.
I was definitely surprised to hear them in the Chase commercial. When did you see them? Was is the full Wakeman/Howe/Anderson/Bruford/Squire lineup?
I have been a huge fan since I was a teenager. I was lucky enough to see them in NY in 2005. I also have snagged 2 tickets to the final concert in Oslo in Dec. 2010. Call me crazy but I really love their music - they have been seriously underrated and forgotten in the States.
Yep.
The girl in the video, Bunty Bailey...then & now.
I did like their one song, and my favorite music video ever;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIvAsPlm8es
“A Swede is just a Norwegian with the brains knocked out.”
Zer0 has received the Nobel Peace Prize. Their work is done.
Mrs. Springman told me she had a big crush on Morton, back in the day.
They did the second-best James Bond theme in the ‘80s, “The Living Daylights.” Alas, John Barry’s last Bond film. He did report they were a pain in the ass to work with, though.
“Do you think A Flock Of Seagulls will follow suit?”
What about Kashagoogoo?
Great song. I remember the video premiering on MTV, and being upset that Z-100 (the local Top 40 station) didn’t play it.
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