In 2012, a-ha were appointed Knights of the 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav in recognition of their contribution to music. Many would be forgiven for thinking that contribution extends exclusively to their seminal worldwide No.1, Take On Me. But their totem smash is both a blessing and a curse, obscuring a long and diverse career. Of course, they achieved another international cultural milestone: a Bond theme, with The Living Daylights. a-ha have enjoyed a well-deserved reappraisal in recent years. The band previously caught up with Classic Pop, which recognised their ‘melodic Nordic melancholia’, highlighting how the group feel more naturally aligned with the likes of Echo & The Bunnymen than the string of Smash Hits acts they were inadvertently lumped in with.
Before wooing the world with synth-pop and groundbreaking music videos, two members of the band, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen, were in the psychedelic rock group Bridges. Frontman Morten Harket recalled watching them perform: “That was very powerful. It struck me with tremendous force; a pivotal moment. I had never seen anything like it in Norway.”