a-ha

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Morrissey has made several references to the band.
From "Morrissey In Conversation" (with Muriel Gray, 1987):

“I went to see a-ha in America. I really liked their records, but when I saw them it was this constant deafening squeal. Not even a respectable scream; it was an indecent squeal which completely drowned out the musicians… and which totally threw them off their racks because they seemed totally embarrassed by all these screaming girls.”

He sang a brief part of "The Sun Always Shines On TV" at the Quart Festival, Kristiansand - July 5, 2004.
Villa Manin, Codroipo, Italy - July 14, 2006:

"So tonight we make our way to Rome... by foot... and it's the first time I will sing there since I was in a-ha in the eighties..."

Morten Harket said of Morrissey:

"He almost had an erection around me! We met up in New Orleans sometime in the Eighties… he thought it was a bit difficult I think, the whole thing. He said something… I thought he was decidedly on the gay side."

(From: "Verdens Gang", translated Norwegian interview, 2012).

Discogs Information

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Norwegian band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band split in 2010 after a worldwide tour of 73 shows. In December 2014 they announced they would participate in the "Rock in Rio" festival for September 2015. In March 2015 they announced a comeback album "Cast In Steel" that was released September of that year. The first single from that album "Under The Makeup" was released in July 2015. They continue to record and tour.

Morten Harket (born September 14th, 1959): vocals Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born September 6th, 1961): guitar, vocals Magne Furuholmen (born November 1st, 1962): keyboards, vocals

External Links

http://myspace.com/aha

Wikipedia Information

A-ha (often stylised as a-ha; Norwegian pronunciation: [ɑˈhɑː]) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band rose to fame during the mid-1980s. A-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album Hunting High and Low in 1985. The album peaked at number one in their native Norway, number two in the UK, and number 15 on the US Billboard album chart; yielded the international number-one single "Take On Me", as well as "The Sun Always Shines on T.V."; and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist. In the UK, Hunting High and Low continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. The band released studio albums in 1986, 1988, and 1990, with single hits including "Hunting High and Low", "The Living Daylights", "Stay on These Roads", and "Crying in the Rain". In 1994, after their fifth studio album, Memorial Beach (1993), failed to achieve the commercial success of their previous albums, the band went on hiatus. Following a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, A-ha recorded their sixth album, 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, which was another number-one album in Norway and Germany. This album was followed by Lifelines (2002); Analogue (2005), which was certified Silver in the UK; and Foot of the Mountain (2009), which was certified Silver in the UK and reached the top five in many European countries. The band split after their 2010 worldwide Ending on a High Note Tour, but reunited in 2015 to release their tenth studio album, Cast in Steel. They toured in support of the album and participated at Rock in Rio, which celebrated 30 years for both the band and the event. The band has released eleven studio albums, several compilations and four live albums, with their most recent album, True North, released on 21 October 2022. In less than a year, during 2010, the band earned an estimated 500 million Norwegian kroner from concert tickets, merchandise and the release of a greatest hits album, making them one of the 40–50 highest-grossing bands in the world. The band were listed in the Guinness World Records book for having the biggest-paying rock concert attendance; they drew an audience of 198,000 at Maracanã Stadium during the Rock in Rio festival. They have sold more than 100 million units, albums and singles combined.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-ha

Related Forum Threads

Morten Harket on Morrissey - Morrissey-solo (Apr 06, 2012)