[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StianA-AHA_34.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:(L-R) Furuholmen, Waaktaar, and Harket: The PowerTrio that came from the North]]
->''Touch me, how can it be?\\
Believe me, the sun always shines on T.V.''
-->-- "The Sun Always Shines on T.V."

a-ha are a band from Norway, consisting of Morten Harket (vocals), Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars) and Magne "Mags" Furuholmen (keyboards). They chose the name "a-ha" because everyone would be able to say it easily. They initially rose to fame during the 1980s, but have had continued success in the 1990s and 2000s.

a-ha achieved its biggest success with their debut album and single in 1985. ''Hunting High and Low'' peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard charts and yielded an international number-one single, "Take on Me". Supported by one of the most [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914 iconic music videos]] of all time, it earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. ''Hunting High and Low'' was one of the best-selling albums of 1986, and 1987 saw them singing the TitleThemeTune to the Film/JamesBond film ''Film/TheLivingDaylights''.

In 1994, the band went on a hiatus, the same year a-ha reached a sales number of 20 million albums sold worldwide. After a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, the band returned to the studio and recorded 2000's ''Minor Earth Major Sky'', which resulted in a new tour. By 2000, they had reached 36 million albums sold wordwide plus several million singles. In 2002 the band released their seventh studio album ''Lifelines''. ''Analogue'' is their eighth studio album and is their most successful studio album in the UK since ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon'' and has been certified silver. Their most recent album is ''True North'', which was released in October of 2022.

They retired on December 5, 2010, although they would perform one last time on August 21, 2011 as part of a national memorial service for the 77 victims of two related domestic terrorist attacks that took place in the Oslo region on July 22. Fans rejoiced, however, when the band announced in 2015 that they were reuniting for at least another two years. It turned out to be for longer, as they have gone on three European tours since 2018 and went on a North American tour in 2022.

!!Discography
* 1985 - ''Hunting High and Low''
* 1986 - ''Scoundrel Days''
* 1988 - ''Stay on These Roads''
* 1990 - ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon''
* 1993 - ''Memorial Beach''
* 2000 - ''Minor Earth Major Sky''
* 2002 - ''Lifelines''
* 2005 - ''Analogue''
* 2009 - ''Foot of the Mountain''
* 2015 - ''Cast in Steel''
* 2022 – ''True North''

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!!''Stay on these tropes'':

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The two rival #13 racers from the "Take On Me" video, who both attack The Hero and The Girl inside the comic book seeking to murder the protagonist for beating them in a race.
* AlternateMusicVideo: The music video for "Take On Me" is actually the second version. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liq-seNVvrM first version]] had a different recording with scenes of the band performing on a blue background cut with others featuring tumbling gymnasts.
** The first version of the video for “Dark Is The Night” featured scenes that were considered so unnerving that the video was banned from MTV; these included a man struggling to move as his limbs are bound to multiple poles and Morten Harket’s face bursting from his own stomach. The second version of the video, billed as the official version on the band’s [=YouTube=] channel, replaces the disturbing scenes with others featuring the individual band members and 3 women in a comparatively much softer form of bondage.
* AnimatedMusicVideo
** "Take on Me" and "Train of Thought", both from ''Hunting High and Low'', integrate {{rotoscop|ing}}ed pencil sketch animation with live-action.
** The Internet exclusive video for "I Wish I Cared" was one of the very first wholly Flash-animated music videos.
* AudienceParticipationSong: "Hunting High and Low", "The Living Daylights".
* BondGunBarrel: "Film/TheLivingDaylights", naturally.
* BreatherEpisode: "October", a serene song about [[LongDistanceRelationship missing someone]], placed right after the [[LyricalDissonance lyrically dissonant hard-rocker]] [[{{Yandere}} "I've Been Losing You"]] and the [[TearJerker depressing,]] yet heavy "Manhattan Skyline".
* ChangedForTheVideo: The award-winning video for "Take on Me" has a different ending than the one on the ''Hunting High and Low'' album. While the album version does a repeat-and-fade at the end, the video has a quick, 3-note cold finish using unique instrumentation.
* ContinuityNod: The first 30 seconds of the video for "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." are spent ending the storyline in the "Take On Me" video.
** And then the first 10 second of the video for "Train Of Thought" are the last 10 second of the video for "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", picking right where the former left off.
* CoverVersion: "Crying in the Rain" (Music/TheEverlyBrothers), "Velvet" (Savoy, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy's other band) and "#9 Dream" (Music/JohnLennon).
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Scoundrel Days'' is this compared to ''Hunting High and Low'', with the former album featuring darker lyrics — And by darker, [[NightmareFuel we actually meant it.]]
** Similarly, ''East of the Sun'' and ''Memorial Beach'' compared to ''Stay on These Roads''.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Most of ''The Sun Always Shines on TV'' is in black and white.
* DownerEnding:
** [[spoiler: As stated above, the beginning of the video for "The Sun Always Shines on TV" is one for "Take on Me"; the man slowly (and apparently painfully) reverts back to his animated form, and he runs away from the girl. The girl looks dejected as a blinding flash lights up the night sky in the distance from where the man has run to, underlining the couple's tragic separation.]]
** In the music video for "Minor Earth, Major Sky", Morten's character is distracted by hallucinations on the moon. When Paul and Magne can't find him, they decide to leave him behind; Morten looks up in time to see the lunar module taking off without him.
* EpicRocking: 'Out Of The Blue Comes Green' and 'Cold As Stone' clocks in at 6:42 and 8:20, respectively.
* FourthWallShutInStory: The music video to the song "Take on Me" illustrates this, with a much more carefree attitude than usual. Given its medium 1980s pop music, carefree is to be expected.
* HappyEndingOverride: In the music video to "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", the video starts with the character from their "Take on Me" video turning back into a drawing and disappearing while the girl watches helplessly.
* IntercourseWithYou: "I Call Your Name" is actually a honeymoon song, complete with metaphors.
* LongRunnerLineUp (LogicalExtreme): 31 years and counting with the same three guys — 12 years from their formation to their first hiatus, 12 more years until their second hiatus (interrupted by one reunion benefit concert), and 7 years and counting since reuniting a second time.
* LyricalDissonance:
** Many, many of their songs have this going for them... "The Blood That Moves The Body" comes to mind.
** That one pales in comparison to "Scoundrel Days". The beat is rock-ish and spirited, the lyrics are pure MindScrew.
** "I've Been Losing You" is the musings of a male {{Yandere}} who has just [[MoralEventHorizon shot dead his own wife.]]
** "Maybe Maybe" sounds cute and poppy, but the lyrics describe rather lightly [[DomesticAbuse how a guy and his ex-girlfriend bitch at each other]], until said girlfriend [[MoralEventHorizon runs him over with her car]].
** More subtly, "Soft Rains of April" seems to be about a guy who's just bored and lonely away from home. [[spoiler: By the end we find out it's about an inmate from an English prison, and his relatives have all but disowned him.]]
* MoodDissonance: "Velvet" is a song about a man praising a woman's beauty. In the music video on the other hand, the band members' love interests murders all 3 of them. Morten dies in an ElectrifiedBathtub, Paul is killed by [[BoomHeadshot a bullet to the head]], while Magne's corpse is [[HumanPopsicle locked in a freezer]]. Morten's singing as he is transported out of the tub and into a body bag is part of the video's NarmCharm.
* [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]]
* ObligatoryBondageSong: "Celice", a love song dedicated to... a chastity belt. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer The group that gave us "Take On Me", everyone]]!
* PortalBook: Type 2 in ''Take On Me'', the lead singer invites a cute woman into the world of the comic book he appears inside of.
* PowerTrio
* {{Remaster}}: The music video for "Take On Me" was given a 4K HD remaster in 2019 from the original film and released on [=YouTube=] at the end of the year. However, most of the sequences in the comic world are a little too blue-skewed and the live action parts are a little too darkly lit.
* RereleaseTheSong: "Take On Me" was actually released three times. The first release was promoted with a PerformanceVideo, but neither the single nor the video became a hit. The second release, a rerecording of the song, did a bit better, but it wasn't until the third release and a new, rotoscoped music video that the song became a worldwide hit.
** "The Living Daylights" was recorded twice. Once for the [[Film/TheLivingDaylights the movie of the same name]] and once again for the album ''Stay on These Roads''.
* RockstarSong: "The Bandstand", arguably.
* {{Rotoscoping}}: The music video of "Take On Me".
* ShoutOut: The ending scene in the hallway of "Take On Me" is an {{Homage}} to ''Film/AlteredStates''.
* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Magne Furuholmen sings lead vocals on "The Way We Talk" and "Summers of Our Youth".
* {{Symploce}}: The song ''Locust'':
--> I don't know, make it.\\
I don't know, shake it.
* TakeThatAudience: [[spoiler:The DownerEnding for ''Take On Me'' that was the intro for the video ''The Sun Always Shines on T.V.'' It was an annoyed jab by the band at the thousands of fans who had endlessly written them to ask "what happens next?" with the couple from ''Take On Me''. What happens next? He can't stay in the real world, turns back into a comic drawing, and is forced to run back to his world, represented by a blue light he enters with a flash and disappears, and she leans against a tree with an expression of deep sadness. The end. Now listen to THIS song, which WE think is BETTER, stupid fans.]]
** And just drive the point home, the video for "Train of Thought" [[spoiler:starts exactly where "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." left off and confirms that yes, he's stuck in the comic book for good. At this point, she has completely vanished from the narrative.]]
* TitleTrack: a-ha has done this for nearly all of their studio albums. ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon'' is the only album that doesn't follow this, but its subverted in that ''East of the Sun'' appears as one of the tracks in the album.
* VocalDissonance: Morten's pretty looks would suggest he's a normal TenorBoy type of singer. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914 Think again]].
* WordSaladLyrics: Downplayed with "Take On Me". While the song is coherent, it is also a good indication that English is not this band's first language.[[note]]The title is a literal English translation of the Norwegian phrase "Ta på meg", which means "Touch me". Incidentally, the opening lyrics of their follow-up single, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", are the latter (English) phrase.[[/note]]
* {{Yandere}}: The narrator of "I've Been Losing You" and the girl from "Maybe Maybe".
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