Well, this is more like it: This week’s song from 1985 is one I DO remember, and very, very well at that. In fact, at the time it was one of my favourite songs.
On October 19 1985, “Take On Me” (video up top) by Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. The song was the first single from their debut album, Hunting High and Low—well, technically it was the second single: The first was released in Norway.
Continuing the theme, the 1985 hit was actually the second version of the song, with the unsuccessful original version released in October 1984. In fact, even the 1985 version was released twice, and it was the second release that led to the song becoming a hit.
An important factor in it becoming a hit was the famous music video—well, the second (of course?) music video, actually: The first video was for the original version of the song. MTV played the well-known video (the version up top) in heavy rotation, and that definitely helped the song rise in the charts. Like a lot of people, I’d never heard of rotoscoping, and I can’t recall ever seeing anything using the technique before that video.
As I’ve said previously (in a 2019 post talking about some songs I liked at the time, including the Weezer cover of this song, among others), back in the day I owned the album Hunting High and Low on vinyl, though I couldn’t bring it with me. Since then, I’ve acquired the song several times on various compilation CDs. This song, then, still pops up my music rotation.
“Take On Me” reached Number One in Australia, Number 2 in Canada, Number 7 in New Zealand, Number 2 in the UK (Gold for physical sales), as well as Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, and it was also Number One on Cash Box “Top 100 Singles”.
The album Hunting High and Low reached Number 15 in Australia (Gold), Number 8 in Canada, Number One in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 2 in the UK (3x Platinum), and Number 15 on the USA’s “Billboard 200”. The album was certified Platinum in the USA.
This series will return next week (October 26) with the next Number One in this series, the third of five one-week Number One hits from this period in 1985.
Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5 – April 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 6 – May 11, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 7 – May 18, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 8 – June 1, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 9 – June 8, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 10 – June 22, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 11 – July 6, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 12 – July 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 13 – July 27, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 14 – August 3, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 15 – August 24, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 16 – September 7, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 17 – September 21, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 18 – October 12, 2025
2 comments:
Oh, THAT video. Not the think I saw the other day...
I did like it. Catchy pop song, and I was selling comic books at the time, so it was relatable at that level.
BAck in the day, when music videos were everywhere, I thought thisone in particular was really interesting!
Post a Comment