Video of the Fortnight - Aha - Take On Me
Yes I'm back, back, BACK!!
Belatedly. Apologies for the delay. I've been away and rather busy, you know. And I got behind with my Video of the Fortnight post in the process. Smacked bottom. Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to this as "Video of the Fortnight plus A Few Days" but that might be slightly pedantic, plus such a phrase doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. Anyway to make up for the hiatus, here is some very....'80s music.
This song is over 20 years old which is quite a scary thought. And I distinctly remember buying the LP "Hunting High and Low". And it's even better sequel, "Scoundrel Days". For those of you not in the know, Aha were (still ARE to be precise, as they reformed not so long ago) three Norwegian fellas who produced catchy and sweeping, often grandiose-sounding pop, sometimes with a slight rock edge. "Take on Me" is one of their more disposable tunes, their debut one in fact, but still memorable and likable with it, as far as 1980s pop ditties go. Many a school disco has echoed to the sounds of Aha...
But a major contributing factor to the success of "Take On Me" has to be its video. I can't help wondering if the song would have been such a hit if it hadn't had such an unusual and interesting promo to accompany it! It's got a great little story and I love the comic book concept - falling in love with a cartoon character and escaping boring old reality to be (literally) pulled into a new world of romance and adventure with a handsome guy - what girl or guy wouldn't want to do that? Especially when it's someone as swoonsome as Morten Harket - a total dreamboat.
I love all the little touches to this video - the cleverly interspersed cartoon/real bits. The girl in the cafe. The fat overacting woman who screws up the comic. The nasty men with wrenches who come after Morten and the girl (whose real name, incidentally, was Bunty Bailey. I think even her and Morten-Forten-Rorten went out for a while). The gripping finale. And the look of delight on the girl's face! Fabulous stuff.
Belatedly. Apologies for the delay. I've been away and rather busy, you know. And I got behind with my Video of the Fortnight post in the process. Smacked bottom. Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to this as "Video of the Fortnight plus A Few Days" but that might be slightly pedantic, plus such a phrase doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. Anyway to make up for the hiatus, here is some very....'80s music.
This song is over 20 years old which is quite a scary thought. And I distinctly remember buying the LP "Hunting High and Low". And it's even better sequel, "Scoundrel Days". For those of you not in the know, Aha were (still ARE to be precise, as they reformed not so long ago) three Norwegian fellas who produced catchy and sweeping, often grandiose-sounding pop, sometimes with a slight rock edge. "Take on Me" is one of their more disposable tunes, their debut one in fact, but still memorable and likable with it, as far as 1980s pop ditties go. Many a school disco has echoed to the sounds of Aha...
But a major contributing factor to the success of "Take On Me" has to be its video. I can't help wondering if the song would have been such a hit if it hadn't had such an unusual and interesting promo to accompany it! It's got a great little story and I love the comic book concept - falling in love with a cartoon character and escaping boring old reality to be (literally) pulled into a new world of romance and adventure with a handsome guy - what girl or guy wouldn't want to do that? Especially when it's someone as swoonsome as Morten Harket - a total dreamboat.
I love all the little touches to this video - the cleverly interspersed cartoon/real bits. The girl in the cafe. The fat overacting woman who screws up the comic. The nasty men with wrenches who come after Morten and the girl (whose real name, incidentally, was Bunty Bailey. I think even her and Morten-Forten-Rorten went out for a while). The gripping finale. And the look of delight on the girl's face! Fabulous stuff.
posted by Old Cheeser @ 5:33 pm
3 Comments:
At 9:24 pm ,
matty said...
You know, the concept of that vid-clip came from Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES.
I used to dislike AHa. but, now, as an adult, I rather enjoy them.
At 7:15 am ,
Steve said...
Bunty Bailey? What a fabulous name - sounds like she should be in a film about World War II. Some sort of prim Wren who's a hotbed of sauciness and promiscuous spooning underneath that heavily starched uniform...
...excuse me, I need to go and lie down...
At 4:41 pm ,
Old Cheeser said...
Matty - That's interesting...I've heard of that movie but never seen it. Sounded kind of freaky though - as a lot of Ken Russell's stuff is!
I'm soooo glad that you are a convert to Aha. I think "Scoundrel Days" is a bloody masterpiece! Who can forget the lines from "Manhattan Skyline"? "We sit and watch umbrellas fly, I'm trying to keep my newspaper dry..." Classic. Yes.
Steve - Ha ha ha, you are so funny. I agree, BB IS a fabulous name. What a erm, vivid imagination you have! Calm down now!
Perhaps you could include such a character in your new novel - but then it's contemporary isn't it? Okay a potential character for your next one then!
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