Music by Berman: a-ha

A-ha have returned with their new album and film, ‘True North’,This film also include a special behind-the-scenes featurette, exclusive to cinemas.

The original idea for True North was for the Norwegian trio, formed of Morten Harket, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen, to record their first session in the wonderous studio location just 90km above the Arctic Circle then to film it. Eventually, the project expanded into more of a production, and they were joined by the talented Norwegian Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic. What spawned from these sessions is a magnificent album, and film to match, that details the band’s vision of a collective connection to the environment.

Since their worldwide breakthrough with ‘Take On Me’ in 1985, a-ha have continued to adapt and evolve. Now, with what is both their 11th studio album and the documentation of its creation, a-ha have entered a new phase.

4Ever Songs: The Nick Straker Band “A Walk In The Park”

The Nick Straker Band was a six-man Synthpop / New Wave / Jazz-Funk Fusion band out of London, several members of which were also in another London Synthpop group, New Musik, which which had three Top 40 U.K. singles in 1980.  Tony Mansfield (who has gone on to work with artists like The B-52’s, a-ha, The Damned, Captain Sensible and Naked Eyes) was the primary songwriter, producer, lead vocalist and frontman of New Musik and was one of the members of The Nick Straker Band. 

New Musik broke up in 1982, and between 1980 and 1984, The Nick Straker Band released 11 singles.  1980’s “A Walk In The Park” reached No. 20 on the U.K. singles chart.

Best Covers: Weezer ‘Take on me’

Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard has landed his dream job – playing Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo in a new video.

The actor, singer and self-confessed Weezer superfan appears as Cuomo in the band’s promo to accompany their cover of A-Ha’s 1984 classic Take On Me.

The video, which begins with Finn – as Rivers – dreaming up band names, features the actor jamming with his real-life Calpurnia bandmates in his parents’ living room back in 1985, while shooting a grainy home video to accompany their new song.

The clip also includes black and white animation just like the original a-ha promo, in which a sketch of frontman Morten Harket comes to life.