Archive for the ‘a-ha’ Category

Fan looking for actors

I’ve been contacted by Brad Hansen in Ireland, who is looking for three young actors to play the a-ha members in a low-budget music video:

Ireland 2011: Morten, Magne and Paul lookalikes wanted in look, build, height etc to mirror their 1985 appearance as much as possible. This is a unique event, but with a low budget. If you know anyone in Europe, (closer to Ireland the better, to cut expenses), then please let them know of this. This is something by a fan FOR fans and a-ha themselves.

The full casting call can be found at starnow.com.

a-ha disappoint their fans with incomplete concert release

Not only are they getting an incomplete concert, German fans will also have their DVD covers ruined by a big freakin’ rating symbol.

The tracklisting for the upcoming Blu-ray, DVD and 2-CD release of Ending On A High Note – The Final Concert has now been officially confirmed by a-ha.com.

Unfortunately, it shows that two of the songs performed at Oslo Spektrum on December 4th will not be included – “Bowling Green” and “The Bandstand”.

The omission of the Everly Brothers cover “Bowling Green” was to be expected, considering the technical difficulties during that song. But leaving out “The Bandstand” is a very disappointing and puzzling decision.

Considered by many fans as one of the absolute highlights of the 2009 and 2010 tours and performed at nearly every show, there is no doubt that “The Bandstand” should definitely have been included…

This means that there’s still no complete a-ha concert that has been released officially. The previous live DVD Homecoming – Live at Vallhall (2001) left out the live version of “Angel In The Snow” that was performed at Vallhall.

In addition to the CD, DVD, Blu-ray and Deluxe Edition (2CD + DVD), Universal will also release a CD single with two live tracks; “Summer Moved On” and “Scoundrel Days”. The German release date for the CD single is March 25th and it can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.de.

Cover of the CD single, with a picture of Morten on the synth drums taken during…”The Bandstand”.

Signed photobooks

Signed copies of Just Loomis’ a-ha photobook are now available from his official website at justloomis.com.

There are two pricing options; signed book with priority international shipping ($90.00) and signed book plus signed 8×10 print with priority international shipping ($225.00).

Loomis’ exhibition “As We Are” at the Stenersen museum in Oslo is open until April 3rd.

a-ha receive honorary award

Morten and Magne with their trophy, meeting the press after the show

a-ha were given the honorary award at the Spellemann Awards for 2010, which were held at Oslo Spektrum on Saturday. This is actually the third time a-ha have been given the honorary award – they also received it in 1987 and 2001.

Magne and Morten had been specially invited, and was in the audience together with Heidi, Inez and manager Harald Wiik. Paul was in New York, where he is reportedly working on a new Savoy album.

The award was presented by Kaizers Orchestra vocalist Janove Ottesen, Thomas Dybdahl, Ida Maria Sivertsen and Bertine Zetlitz, who opened the show with a cover version of “The Sun Always Shines On TV” as a tribute to a-ha.

 

Here is Magne’s acceptance speech:

Thank you very much. The last time we were standing in almost this exact same spot, was on December 4th. That was a special evening, just as this is turning out to be.

We are a three-headed troll and we are missing one of our heads tonight. But on behalf of all of us I want to thank you all for a fantastic version of a song that’s actually 25 years old. And of course we can’t leave the stage without thanking our families and wives. According to my wife, that’s something we’ve never done before.

We have really been touring a lot. And I wouldn’t necessarily say that he managed to tame the troll, but he kept us organized; Harald Wiik, our manager in recent years. Thank you.

Thanks to everyone in Norway. It’s been a pleasure to entertain you through all these years.

Morten added: “Enough has been said. Thank you very much, everyone.

 

A video clip of the TSASOTV performance and the acceptance speech can be seen at tv2underholdning.no. Further down on the page is a clip of Morten and Magne arriving on the red carpet.

VGTV also has a video interview with Morten, who had just returned from a holiday “far away from Norway”.

And here is a video of Magne and Morten meeting the press after the show.

The Final Concert CD cover

 

The cover of the CD version of Ending On A High Note – The Final Concert has now started to appear online, including on the website of Universal Norway.

And I’d expect the covers of the DVD and Blu-ray to look somewhat similar.

These live releases are still scheduled to be out in Germany on April 1st, but details on tracklists and number of discs have not been officially confirmed yet.

Amazon.de has the CD version listed as being just 1 disc, which means it’s obviously not the complete concert. Hopefully the Deluxe Version (3 discs) will have all the songs. Needless to say we’re at least expecting the DVD and Blu-ray to feature the complete concert (although leaving out “Bowling Green” will be understandable).

An official announcement is expected soon.

Sound On Sound article

Sound On Sound, a UK magazine focusing on music recording technology, has a 6-page article about the recording of “Take On Me” in its latest issue, March 2011.

Describing the studio work on the different versions of the song in great detail, the article features contributions from producer Alan Tarney and engineers Neill King and Gerry Kitchingham.

The March issue of the magazine can be ordered from soundonsound.com. The a-ha article is also available as a PDF file here (includes a preview of the article).

(Thanks to Oliver and Matthew for the tip)

Just Loomis book and exhibition

A sample of the book

The 96-page photo book a-ha photographer Just Loomis was published in Norway earlier this week. It features a selection of Loomis’ a-ha photos between 1985 and 1991, taken in the UK, Canada and Brazil.

The book also includes a foreword written by Magne, an interview with Morten (done by Loomis himself) and a text written by Paul. There are also interviews with Warner executive Jeff Ayeroff and graphic designer Jeri Heiden.

We recognised in Just someone whose ambition and passion for photography matched our own ambition and passion for music: he wanted to take great pictures, we wanted to make great music“, Magne writes in the foreword.

Just Loomis with some of the photos on display at the Stenersen Museum

The book release tied in with the opening of Loomis’ exhibition As We Are at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo on Thursday, February 10th, which also features some of his a-ha photos.

WOTM forum member “Hermetic”, who attended the opening, writes:

“Both Magne and Morten were at the opening of the exhibition, and I was lucky enough to have my copy signed by both + Just. Lauren was there too, but no sign of Paul though (might have left already as I arrived quite late).”

Update: Just Loomis has posted a couple of pictures from the opening on his Facebook page. Here he is with Morten, Magne, The Swing Of Things author Jan Omdahl and head of Press Publishing Håkon Harket. And here is another one with Morten and Jan.

A TV interview with Loomis from NRK Østlandssendingen can be seen here. There were also interviews with him at Dagbladet.no and Foto.no.

“This is the first time I’m in Oslo and it’s a great honour for me to show these photos now, following a-ha’s farewell tour”, Loomis says in the Foto.no interview.

“It’s very special for me to be among those who were there from the start, taking part in the process that eventually turned a-ha into international stars”, he added to Dagbladet.

The exhibition at the Stenersen Museum is on display until April 3rd.

The photo book, which will be available outside of Norway next month, can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

If you’re in Norway, the book is now available from online stores such as Bokkilden and Haugen Bok.

Ending On A High Note coming on CD, DVD and Blu-ray

Several German online stores (like Buch.de) are now taking pre-orders for Ending On A High Note, the recording of the final two a-ha concerts in Oslo Spektrum, which is set for release on 1 April and will be available on CD, DVD, CD/DVD (deluxe) and Blu-ray.

This will be the first a-ha Blu-ray release. The concerts in Oslo were filmed with ten HD cameras.

Cover image and other info is not yet available.

(Thanks to “Elly2” on the German forum for noticing)

2011 a-ha fan calendar now available

 

The West Of The Moon 2011 a-ha fan calendar is now available to order from Lulu.com.

Here’s some info from Catherine on the WOTM Forum:

“This is a weekly desk calendar, NOT a 12-month wall calendar. Please be sure this is what you want before deciding whether to buy – Lulu.com doesn’t do returns or exchanges unless something is faulty.

Because we missed January due to production delays, we added in January 2012 so that everyone could have the January facts and more photos 🙂 As always, this is a non-profit product, you pay what it costs Lulu.com to print and ship to you.

Thanks to everyone involved, and for all members’ support and patience! Let us know what you think of this year’s calendar!

Join the calendar discussion here.”

If you missed any of the the previous a-ha fan calendars from 2007, 2008 and 2010, they are still available from Lulu.com here.

Contributors wanted for a-ha book

I have been contacted by Greg Lansdowne, a freelance journalist/communications professional from England, who is planning to write a book about a-ha, based on the experiences of fans during the “Ending On A High Note” tour.

In a longer message posted in the “fan corner” section of a-ha.com, he writes:

“I am, therefore, writing to ask for contributors to such a book who would be interested in sharing not only their thoughts on a specific concert but also why your love for a-ha took you to that concert (particularly for those travelling quite a distance).

Initially, I would like to get as much feedback as possible in terms of whether this is a book that would be welcomed the a-ha fraternity.

Were that to be the case, I would then ask for people to volunteer their interest to write about a particular concert (to make sure all bases could be covered).”

To read the whole message, which includes contact info, visit a-ha.com.

Lansdowne has also created a thread about this on the WOTM forum.

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