a-ha bassist live (1991)

[3alfa3]

 

[nickpc]

"Take On Me" is a great song, but not even the best track on their debut album - this song was, and there are others at least as good as well.

The US market really missed on these guys. One Hit Wonders here, and a solid 40 year career in the rest of the world.

 

[Slade N]

They had other hits here, like this one, not as big, not as remembered, however.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Morten Harket has a great voice. I remember discussions back in the 80's with friends, would you kill someone if you would get Morten Harket or Richard Page's (Mr Mister) voice. What are the statute of limitations on attempted murder? Just asking before I reveal my answer. Heh.

 

[higain617]

You shouldn't murder people for those purposes. A-Ha and Mr. Mister aren't popular in the clink.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You shouldn't murder people for those purposes. A-Ha and Mr. Mister aren't popular in the clink.

But Morten Harket has a 5 octave range. I'm lucky if I have a 5 note range.

 

[Wood and Wire]

When they first relocated to the U.K. they were a Prog-Rock band.

They realised very quickly that wasn't going anywhere, so they ditched the guitars, and went all in on synths ; the rest, as they say, is history.

At the time, I was a full-on metal head (but my first musical love as a little kid, before punk, and new wave) was Kraftwerk, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and John Carpenter soundtracks - so a-ha were a top secret guilty pleasure for me.

I had a Sony Walkman with auto-reverse, so I made sure that the cassette with "Hunting High And Low" on one side, and "Iron Fist" by Motörhead on the other, was always inserted Lemmy side up in the little window.

 

[andruca]

I guess in other parts of the world there's much less stigma about A-HA and some of its pop contemporaries, such as Pet Shop Boys or Erasure, but I reckon it's still there (me being an Argentinean living in Spain). I've particularly developed a love for Erasure in later years (and particularly for the mature version of Andrew Bell, superb singer, artist and performer). Morten has always amazed me too.

Nice thread about a really cool pop act that most probably has attracted more hate than deserved simply because they made it. Now I'm going to compulsively check out A-HA bass lines for a while

 

[pie_man_25]

But Morten Harket has a 5 octave range. I'm lucky if I have a 5 note range.

I can hardly fathom a 5 octave range tbh

 

[Wood and Wire]

I can hardly fathom a 5 octave range tbh

Kind of surprised there was never a duet with Mariah Carey, when they were both at the peak of their powers.

I doubt either of them can manage 5 octaves any more.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I can hardly fathom a 5 octave range tbh

Me either, isn’t the “Take on me, Take me on, I’ll be there take on meeeee” or whatever the lyrics are like a three octave span? And that’s impressive

 

[MidlifeBeginner]

My favorite band. Their later albums have more variety. Some songs are synth heavy pop and other are more traditional rock. Their keyboardist is a great composer. Some of the basslines are written by Pal(main guitarist) and others by Magne(keyboardist).

Listen to their unplugged album if you haven't yet.

 

[MidlifeBeginner]

Here, I looked for one with a clear bass line. They don't ever have bass play lead. I listen to other bands for that.

<iframe width="941" height="404" src="" title="Analogue (All I Want) (MTV Unplugged)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[pie_man_25]

Me either, isn’t the “Take on me, Take me on, I’ll be there take on meeeee” or whatever the lyrics are like a three octave span? And that’s impressive

I couldn't tell you, I've honestly never studied vocals,I just yell and hope it sounds like something.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I couldn't tell you, I've honestly never studied vocals,I just yell and hope it sounds like something

I was wrong on the lyrics and the range. 2 1/2 octaves. Still impressive

 

[andruca]

Was worth a try. Not easy at all (still clumsy at it), but SO MUCH FUN

 

[MidlifeBeginner]

I was watching a performance from their Minor Earth Major Sky tour yesterday. You don't see their touring bassist much, but he was rocking pretty good. Pal used a Danelectro double neck on a couple songs without much lead guitar work.