A-ha 'takes on' new audience, rediscovers old one

August 22, 2000
Web posted at: 11:16 AM EDT (1516 GMT)

(CNN) -- If you're a musician, you can have the skills, the backing band and the record deal all lined up, but so what? Unless you have the audience, you don't need the other stuff.

That fact has struck a resounding note with Norwegian pop band a-ha, which recently released "Minor Earth Major Sky," its first album in seven years. Since its release earlier this year, the disc has found huge commercial success - larger, perhaps, than band member Magne "Mags" Furuholmen anticipated.

"We left a lot of the '80s behind us," said Furuholmen. "But to a surprising degree, our fans have been extremely loyal. We did our best to forget about a-ha for seven years, and they've been doing their best to keep remembering."

BIOGRAPHY a-ha: Three guys, one memorable video     NORDIC NOTES A renewed interest in Scandinavian folk

Perhaps Furuholmen and bandmates Morten Harket and Pal Waaktaar actually re-invented the band, retooling the image that first brought the trio success in 1985with the catchy song and hit video "Take on Me."

The pressure to maintain commercial success was an important factor in the band's decision to take a break for a couple of years, Furuholmen told WorldBeat. "For a while we were judged by the success of our records as opposed to the records themselves," he said.

During the band's break, the three pursued different interests. Furuholmen composed film scores to accompany Harket's Norwegian-language recordings of evangelical verse, while Waaktaar recorded with the husband-and-wife group Savoy.

The three were "enjoying the freedom to do things with less pressure and more time to do exactly the things that you do this (a career in music) for: more creative work," Furuholmen said.

Waaktaar thinks the break refreshed his songwriting skills.

"I used to make the lyrics like (they were) a headache," he said. "Now I am trying to make them more spontaneous, immediate things, always making it more personal."

The change apparently has struck a note with audiences, too. The band's latest disc is selling well with a-ha's old fans and new listeners.

"Signing a new deal, you have expectations and fears that the album might totally bomb," Furuholmen said. "To think we have sold half-a-million records now in four weeks time -- that is a major, major achievement because that means there are new people listening to a-ha today. I can't believe half-a-million people would hold out for seven years."

A renewed interest in the Great Frozen North
August 18, 2000
World Beat bio: a-ha
August 21, 2000

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