A-ha: Top 50 Songs

A-ha Top 50 Songs

Synth-pop band from Oslo, Norway. 1982-. Magne Furuholmen (k/g), Morten Harket (v), Pal Waaktaar-Savoy (g). For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Take on Me (1984) DMDB Top 10%: 2. The Sun Always Shines on TV (1985) 3. Hunting High and Low (1985) DMDB Top 20%: 4. Cry Wolf (1986) 5. I’ve Been Losing You (1986) 6. Train of Thought (1985) 7. The Living Daylights (1987) 8. Stay on These Roads (1988) 9. Manhattan Skyline (1986) 10. Crying in the Rain (1990) 11. Dark Is the Night for All (1993) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 12. Move to Memphis (1991) 13. You Are the One (1988) 14. The Way We Talk (1990) 15. Maybe Maybe (1986) 16. Touchy! (1988) 17. Analogue (All I Want) (2005) 18. Forever Not Yours (2002) 19. The Blood That Moves the Body (1988) 20. Angel in the Snow (1993) 21. Scoundrel Days (1986) 22. Summer Moved On (2000) 23. Minor Earth Major Sky (2000) 24. I Call Your Name (1990) 25. Barely Hanging On (2000) 26. Celice (2005) 27. The Shapes That Go Together (1994) 28. Cosy Prisons (2005) 29. Early Morning (1990) 30. Lifelines (2002) 31. Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurrah) (2010) 32. East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1990) 33. Foot of the Mountain (2009) 34. The Sun Never Shone That Day (2000) 35. The Company Man (2000) 36. We’re Looking for the Whales (1986) 37. Velvet (2000) 38. Did Anyone Approach You? (2002) 39. Love Is Reason (1985) 40. Under the Makeup (2015) 41. Nothing is Keeping You Here (2009) 42. Shadowside (2009) 43. Lie Down in Darkness (1993) 44. The Swing of Things (1986) 45. The Weight of the Wind (1986) 46. Soft Rains of April (1986) 47. October (1986) 48. Waiting for Her (1990) 49. Birthright (2005) 50. Objects in the Mirror (2015) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for A-ha Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 8/31/2022.

 

A-ha released tenth studio album, Cast in Steel

First posted 9/9/2020.

Cast in Steel A-ha

Released: September 4, 2015 Peak: -- US, 8 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK, 0.06 world (includes US and UK) Genre: synth pop

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Cast in Steel (2/12/16, --) Under the Makeup (7/3/15, --) The Wake (8/28/15, --) Forest Fire (9/15/15, --) Objects in the Mirror (2/12/16, --) Door Ajar Living at the End of the World Mythomania She’s Humming a Tune Shadow Endeavors Giving Up the Ghost Goodbye Thompson Total Running Time: 47:01 The Players: Morten Harket (vocals, guitar) Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitar, bass) Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars, drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.050 out of 5.00 (average of 2 ratings)

About the Album: After 2009’s Foot of the Mountain, a-ha, the Norwegian synth-pop trio who found fame with “Take on Me” in 1985, announced their retirement. Six years later, however, they returned with their tenth studio album and a world tour. Morten Harket and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, the band’s singer and guitarist respectively, started work on the album in New York. Pål said he played some new songs at his studio when Morten dropped by occasionally. Morten then recorded some vocals for some of the songs. Magne Furuholmen, the keyboardist, wasn’t initially involved, but said of the reunion, “The other two wanted to do it, and I had to decide: do I block it, let them do it without me, or make a fool of myself, with my statements about this being the end.” WK The three of them were never in the studio together which Pål said was common for the band. WK As of 2020, the resulting Cast in Steel album is their last recording. Like their previous effort, Foot of the Mountain, the album hit the top-ten in the UK, their sixth album overall to do so. The album was supported by five singles, although none charted in the UK or US or even their native Norway where they’d taken 19 songs to the top ten. Outside of Norway, the band did have some international success, primarily in other European countries, but were seen as little more than a one-hit wonder in the United States, even though they’d followed up the #1 hit “Take on Me” with the top-20 song “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” Notes: A deluxe edition included six bonus tracks.

Resources and Related Links: A-ha’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AZ Amazon WK Wikipedia