Tonight marks the final ever performance of A-ha. After 25 years, 9 studio albums and 10 tours, Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen and Pal Waaktaar are calling it a day after their sure to be emotional show at the Oslo Spektrum.
A pivotal band for this blog as they altered the way EqualityMusic perceived the music industry. Until a-ha came along in 1985 we, like most people, liked what NME, Sounds or Melody Maker told us to like. A-ha changed all that.
If only teenage girls could like this music, we wanted to be teenage girls. Listen to the lyrics, if anything their sound is geared to single, melancholy males trying to find a meaning to their life.
Criminally underrated, misunderstood and misinterpreted. Dismissed as nothing more than a 80’s boy band with a great video, A-ha never got the credit they deserved. It has only been in recent years have they received praise and cited as influences by the likes of Coldplay, Keane, Bloc Party, Keane and Muse. Q magazine has also cited Pal Waaktaar as the greatest unknown lyricist of his generation. We couldn't agree more.
Music is inclusive not exclusive. It is a crying shame that many people will never get to hear A-ha's great body of work because of the preconceived image that has hindered the band throughout their career.
Now as the candle burns out on Norway’s finest export they may start to get the credit they so truly deserve.
Here is a selection of what the music snobs have missed;
Ok. You have permission to gently weep.
And if you still need convincing sit back and watch this insightful, intelligent interview. They should have been giving interviews like this from the beginning of their career and maybe peoples perception of A-ha might have turned out different;
A sad loss.
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