Doesn't it feel like only yesterday when you were picking up a copy of Smash Hits and a-ha were the cover stars, the next to appear on Wogan, filling a shelf in a newsagents as the star of many a poster magazine? and doesn't it feel like a blink of an eye the last time you rushed home from the city to play the new release and have it spill over you with such delights and woes? Memories stay close don't they? Or is it that you nurture them to be that way?There are many things I recall about those years a-ha were riding high. I recall with vivid detail how enthused I was, how exciteable I could get and how much enjoyment they gave. They gave something to fill an empty space - be it in my head, heart, expression. They just in some way completed who I was - helped to put me in perspective. I guess that sounds weird and I suppose extreme, but a friend of mine once said "being an a-ha fan isn't something you do, it's who you are" and I can relate wholeheartedly. If it were just something we did - we wouldn't have been so affected and in many ways so obsessed.
I admit I was obsessed for a time. Obsessed
by the powerful feeling I got every time I listened to their music, or got
to see them perform or be interviewed. They were not my idols, but it doesn't
stop you from falling for a spark that is in them - seperate to the music
and unique to their individual character. It was important for us to watch
interviews, listening intently for anything to explain why they could write
music so identifiable for you. If Pål had been an egotistical wanker, the
music would've lost meaning and value. If Morten had been an unfeeling,
pretentious fop, then his voice would never have been allowed to bring home
the sentiment of the song and if Magne had been plain and boring ..well I
think you get the picture. Have any of you ever hated a bands hype, hated
the members' attitude so much and as a result switched off your openmindedness
to check their music out? I have, I admit I am very selective when it comes
to who I allow to pollute my ears.
So I concede that a part of the success
of a-ha still being on my stereo and in my heart and mind is that as people,
I respected, identified and basically liked them - even loved them in my own
way. I bet many of you could write and say you feel the same and I have to
admit that 'A Forever Thing' was made for you -made for you who was courted
by music and somewhere in what could be called the wooing period, made friends
with three very original, complex and loveable characters who knew how to
seduce you with a song.
I relate that to a-ha... Pål especially in my case.
So this is for all of you - a trip down memory lane and a look at what might be to come. You know who you are, you knew the second you related to our own particular brand of insanity - that of being a true fan.
Hand on heart Pål, Morten and Magne - I didn't ask for it, tried to keep my head, I consider myself a balanced individual, but.. you were just too damned convincing.
Where were you when a-ha released 'Take On Me'? I was happily ignorant, digging "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" and 14 years old. I recall coming in one night from a friends house to hear my Father thuse about a video that was annimated and the best video he had seen and I sort of said great and that I would look out for it, but it was a while before I did. In this space between my Dad seeing the cool video and me clicking on to how great the band's music was, my entire class were drooling over some Norwegian guy called Morten who I wouldn't entertain at all. Silly Me.
No, I am proud of the fact I never salivated at Morten because he was just too sexy and I am doubly proud of the fact I never really liked "Take On Me" - hell, I had outgrown poppy ditties and was fittedly listening to The Smiths, The Cult and my Dads old Pink Floyd albums. a-ha - no thanks - not with that song. It took "The Sun Always Shines On TV", gratefully loaned to me on single by my Brother to wet my appetite. I had never heard such lyrics, so poignant, so.. me. From this moment, however, my life was destined never to be the same again.
I remember sitting in my kitchen watching the portable television on a Monday night when a-ha were due on Wogan. My family were watching something else in the living room and I had put my tape in the video and was poised to run from one room into the next to tape it for posterity. I was a nervous wreck, not wanting to miss a second, but in those days, videos were so slow and inevitably I got a lot of Wogans introduction and it was lengthy. I also remember waking up one Saturday morning extra early for a change and my intuition telling me to go downstairs and put on Saturday Superstore - or on another occasion Going Live, just in time to catch a-ha coming on. It was like having a built in a-ha detecting sixth sense, but I still have those clips on video today.
I remember the launch of the World Tour and how myself and friends were going to rent a bus for all us fans to go and then our local bus company putting on a trip to which 4 of us were lucky to get tickets. This was during April 1986 and the gig wasn't until the 5th January 1987. We counted down those days with a never wavering excitement and then I was pissed to hear more screams than music when the day did come around. To make matters worse, we were so far back, we didn't even get to see a-ha, depending on how you define seeing them. But, I remember that night as if it were yesterday. My first gig - aarrrr, brings a lump to the throat.
TAKE ON ME
THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV
TRAIN OF THOUGHT
HUNTING HIGH AND LOW
I'VE BEEN LOSING YOU
CRY WOLF
MANHATTAN SKYLINE... our first phase - being wooed . Life was sweet, music was invigorating and the lads themselves.. infectious to watch, to be around. But what exactly made them stand above the crowd all begging for our affections?
If you have
already viewed the section on Magne Furuholmen, you will have read my personal
view on the facades, but nevertheless, in the early days, it was easy to fall
in love with his energy, optimism and humour. He was a bright spark of life
in a sea of blandness, seemed very down to earth, very approachable and he
didn't take himself too seriously at all and was unmistakably a rare breed.
Who can forget the stunts Mags, as he was known back then, pulled on stage during the first tour. The promise of taking us all out for Pizza, or giving us ten pence each if we could copy his back flips, hand stands and fast clapping. He had the advantage as we were all crammed up tight against each other in a very full hall, but he wowed us all with his athleticism and his childish revelry. Of course a year later, we would hear it from his own lips that performing as he did on stage may have been the reason for a failure to perform with his girlfriend, but - even that comment made us identify with the person underneath the star - suffering for his art.
I recall a smirking Magne hand gesturing to Take On Me, him driving his skateboard from one side of a Top of The Pops stage during Train Of Thought to a not very amused Pål and I recall him rugby tackling Pål to the ground in some snow in Italy to the same song. Always the prankster, always the live wire, and then in the midst of it all, he made a comment about being the clown in the circus called the music industry and not referring to the fun, but the ridicule and the selling out to the masses to promote well meaning music.
So that was Magne in the earliest days - dressed in denim, boasting of denim underwear, making us smile, keeping us guessing and on occassion adding salt to the sweet.
Tall and a little gangly, the one younger kids and their Mothers liked? - Pretty much, except those who were into a-ha for what counted. I swear I am not the only one who has valued Pål from the start.
I remember being frustrated by the fact that he never spoke much. I would sit infront of my television or with my ear against the radio waiting for him to divulge the secrets of his music and I guess I am still pretty much waiting. I got irritated by Morten chirping in about the kind of stuff I felt belonged to Magne and Pål, but Pål was quite happy to sit back and allow his songs to be his spokesperson. I guess that is why so many of us misunderstood him for so long. Pål the shy, the romantic, the sensitive soul - sure he is shy to this day, but he was coated in this sweet, innocent icing that shrouded the gusto, determination and sheer balls that lurked beneath.
I recall the live performance for the first time proving he could play that guitar that was inaudible on the album. I delight in the memory of the first time I actually heard him speak, with that nordic/anglo/american accent so sexy in it's way. A dark horse, so still and contained, he provoked our warmth and he forced my interest - like a mission. I had to know what made him tick the more the quietness reigned. I admired the fact that as a man he was unafraid to put his emotions on the line, doing whatever he could for love. I often reflect on the fact insecurity in that need was counter attacked by strength to fight for the girl and I thank god many times that I realised someone like him existed.
The romantic, the intellectual, the unafraid of emotion, the book worm, the fighter, the poet,
the poignant, the shy and yet the achiever. Presenting Pål Waaktaar Gamst.
Pretty Boy Harket with the sexiest holey jeans in the business. Morten in the eighties was the epitome of the Norwegian novelty that swept the nation. Those cheekbones and piercing blue eyes, the Norwegian knit wear alongside the clean living and climbing trees made him irristable. A no sex before marriage claim and the discolosed importance of love and family made him a God... for those who read the papers of course. To the rest of us - he was one hell of a singer who made love to his microphone stand like no other.
I remember all the interviews Morten gave at this juncture. He flitted between the humble, polite, down to earth and the over confident, the know it all and the arrogant. Little did we know that it was all a mirror review of the jigsaw that made up who this guy actually is. He would posture his ass off on tv, smile the right smile, flick his pelvis in the correct way and smoulder into the heart of a myriad of adoring fans. I think many lost touch with the fact that he was quite old at 26 and that although he sang the songs like a soaring angel - they were not his sentiments he sung. So many would stand and feel that he was singing to them, as convincing as he was.
I remember the idle conversation fans had guessing how big the gap in his teeth really was, as well as the girls learning dirty norwegian phrases to say to him on the day their paths would cross. Morten Harket in the early days was nothing more than a pin up, a object and so unfairly received. To be honest, I think there are few of us who never once wondered what it would be like to have those full lips against our own, those hands on our bodies and that strange language he often spoke on request whispered in our ear. The marketing of a-ha has a lot to answer for - especially with regards Morten, but Time Pronounced.
As we all do, the men went through changes. It showed in the music and as they grew and matured, many of us fans grew with them and others grew on a seperate vine and fell in with another bunch of fresh faces!! I warn you now that throughout this history, fans come and go, flee the flock in favour of other sheep heading in in the direction of a mirage of a greener pasture.
Phase two - the getting comfortable.
STAY ON THESE ROADS
THE BLOOD THAT MOVES THE BODY
TOUCHY
YOU ARE THE ONE
I think if anything stands out to me about this phase in their lives, it was the fact it kickstarted my touring days. Sure, I had seen a-ha on tour, but touring yourself - seeing more than one show - the adventure came with the March 1988 european a-ha trek, which wound down in London in the December of the same year. I saw a total of 7 shows that year, spread across the country and believe me - they were sensational!!
This was also a period when I recall being unhappy with their single choices. I think many of us also thought the production of the album "Stay On These Roads" left a lot to be desired - cow bells ahoy and sadly the great guitar solo on 'This Alone Is Love' only heard faintly beneath the thunderous percussion. There were some of the best a-ha songs on that album - lurking under a cacaphony of unwanted instrumentation, a Big production that sold the melodiousness out for effect. The worst a-ha album ever pressed and sadly a fault that had nothing to do with the actual songs!
It was at this time also that Mags Furuholmen showed us signs of metamorphosing into Magne F. A friend and I discussed at great length the fact that on a 'Going Live' show, he was at the centre of the interview, speaking plain and with authority as Morten was forced to take a back seat. I knew then something was changing. This was the phase also known as the leather jacket phase, for Morten in particular, the biker jacket and black polo neck for Magne and as for Pål ... he was just looking healthier and happier than for some time and a little more talkative in interviews. Pål was also heralded as the nicest of the three in reference to his willingness to smile and sign autographs without complaint.
I believe that a lot of us were getting tired of the screaming teens at this point. Did any of you watch the 'Going Live' edition where the fan got to meet them at the big a-ha express event??? Did any of you cringe as I did when Karen - the girl who won the chance to meet her "idols" acted all gooey and subsequently asked them absolutely nothing new or exciting and in actual fact showed her fickleness by latching on to Morten as fast as she could? A friend and I sat in amazement wondering why people who really care about the real a-ha never got a chace to win a competition like that. At this point, getting close to a-ha wasn't easy and I think thousands hated Karen for that day with a-ha, not because she got to be with them, but that she did little to get the most out of it. I even remember the four line verse she wrote to win!!!!!!! Am I being a little harsh on her?? I guess after all, some people do pull a 'stuffed lemon'* when they meet a-ha in the flesh for the first time.
But, getting back to the important issue. This was the time frame when a lot of us fans fell in love with the live performance. Many of my most savoured memories come from those touring moments watching Magne play a solo in 'Hurry Home' with a spotlight rebounding off his gold plated roaming keyboard. It was such a blinding light and such searing music - it was like being dissected by a host of acutely sharp blades and too damned good to resist. To this day I can often be found playing the old concert tapes and squirming as he plays that solo - transported back in time to music soo good, soo touching and affecting, I didn't know if I should laugh, cry, scream or simply pull my hair out. I also reflect on a day when so moved by the guitar solo of "This Alone Is Love", Magne looked as physically pained by the goodness as I. That meant everything and since then, it has always been a highlight to watch them go through the same intense emotions as you do yourself while they are on stage - although granted, a performer misses out on so much with having to play the stuff and more besides, play the stuff they have worked with for long periods of time.
Any one of us could've told anyone all about a-ha at this point. You knew the stats of them as people (within reason) and the stats about chart positions, release dates, what was available... we knew it all. They were like our best friends and we stood up for them as our other friends criticised, promoted them to anyone who didn't know the new material and most of you .... hated BROS!!!! It wasn't because they were taking the chart positions - although that miffed everyone who thought that "Drop The Boy" was simply a crap record coated in a new novelty of good looking twins this time instead of the norwegian element, but it was because so many fans ditched a-ha for something so unworthy. It goes back to what I was saying about idol worship and it offended me that a-ha were caught in that web of bullshit.
More memorable moments include a very funny Andy Crane interview with the band during the 'Touchy' promotion where Morten was in a strange mood and confused Andy with cracks about George Lucas winning the 'Star Wars' competition and not 'Garret Nelson' and what about the 'Touchy' video itself which was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen a-ha do at this point. Fun and games - umm, but as always their was salt added to the sweet.
