Is there not a more innovative music video than “Take on Me” by Norwegian band A-Ha? The widely acclaimed and highly seen clip was the lead single from their 1985 debut, “Hunting High and Low.” While the single was a huge international hit for the band, this was the rare case where the video outshined the actual song. I remember watching the video in awe on MTV, wowed by the clever mix of live-action and animation.
This video wasn’t the first version the band filmed for “Take on Me.” A-Ha had recorded an early version of the track in 1984 and produced a simple video of the band lip-synching in front of a blue background. The band knew they needed something more elaborate when they re-recorded the song and decided it would be the lead single of their debut. They turned to video and future film director Steve Barron who helmed Madonna’s “Burning Up” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
The clip features a woman in a London café reading a comic book, only to be pulled into the comic world by cute lead singer Morten Harket. Once inside, Harket shows the woman the wonders of the animated comic wonderland with some eye-popping visuals. Soon they are chased by a gang of race car drivers, and the woman is returned to the real world in the café. She rushes home to finish the comic only to see the animated Harket breaking free of the animation realm to be with her.
It’s a beautifully produced video with a self-contained story. Sadly, the video would overshadow A-Ha, and they would become the dreaded one-hit wonder. “Take on Me” would be the band’s only remembered hit, although they did the title song to the 1987 Bond film “The Living Daylights.” As for director Barron, after being one of the archetypal directors of the music video format, he moved into the feature film world, directing the 1990 iteration of “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” live-action franchise. Reportedly, the film producers were so impressed with the “Take on Me” video that it helped him land the coveted gig.
Check out the video below, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Always loved that song and video. What a fantastic time for music and MTV.
I did not know the back story of the first version. Thanks for sharing. It certainly was a video that stood out from the others being produced at that time.