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A-ha did an acoustic cover of 'Take On Me', and it's breathtakingly beautiful
14 October 2022, 16:26
In 2017, A-ha gave a stunning stripped-back acoustic rendition of their eighties hit 'Take On Me'.
Many may assume '80s hit-maker Morten Harket has been laying low for years.
But a sensational video from 2017 show Harket and his A-ha bandmates, Magne Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar Savoy, have not lost any of their star talent.
The trio were performing on MTV Unplugged and gave an acoustic performance of their worldwide hit 'Take On Me' , the synth-pop song widely considered to be the Norwegian band's signature track.
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Gone were the pacy drums and energetic electronic keyboard, and instead, lead singer Morten Harket's incredible vocals stole the show.
Released originally in 1984, and again in '85, the tune is famous for its catchy melody and award-winning music video.
See the MTV Unplugged video below:
a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)
The acoustic rendition was recorded live at the Harbour Hall at Ocean Sound Recordings in Giske, Norway, in June 2017.
It was part of a live album by the band titled MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice. Only a couple of hundred people got to witness the stunning performance live.
Morten had previously said that the band needed to "strip every song".
"We needed to reset everything in order to rediscover the songs," he explained, "to sort of resurrect them again from nothing."
a-ha - Take On Me (Official 4K Music Video)
The famous hit was penned by all three band members and originated from Pål Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen's previous band, Bridges.
Elements of what would later become the hit song we know today, including the iconic central synth riff – which Furuholmen created when he was just 15 years old – had existed in Bridges' track 'Miss Eerie' (which was originally called 'Panorama').
But the band felt it sounded too much like a pop song, which is why the first version had more of a punk feel.
Bridges - Miss Eerie (The Juicyfruit Song, earliest recording of Take On Me)
Bridges disbanded and after multiple remixes, the song was released twice and subsequently flopped twice in the UK.
But the track went on to became a worldwide hit – thanks to the video and its heavy use on MTV – and managed to reach number one in the USA and number two in the UK.
