Highschool in the 80s had me loving Max Headroom, A-ha, and other culturally engineered New Wave content, before it evolved into other genres. Naively, I felt like I was ahead of the curve because I was into them before they did the James Bond track, Living Daylights. Of course I had all their albums (on cassette), and New Wave was my first "identity" before branching out, especially after working in a record store and DJ-ing local events (highschool dances, weddings, events). Later I'd realize my dreams of becoming an animator. Yet in all that time, I didn't know about the groundbreaking independent animated short video that was the precursor to Take On Me...
Commuter (1981) by Michael Patterson (4:47)
~ fTx Dream Station, 2008-10-21
a-ha - The Making of Take On Me (Episode 1) (10:21)
~ a-ha, 2019-11-01
a-ha - The Making of Take On Me (Episode 2) (12:38)
~ a-ha, 2019-11-08
a-ha - The Making of Take On Me (Episode 3) (7:44)
~ a-ha, 2019-11-15
a-ha - Take On Me (Official 4K Music Video) (4:03)
~ a-ha, 2010-01-06
a-ha - The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (Official Video) (4:39)
Interestingly, the "Commutuer" short was re-purposed for their "Train Of Thought" video. A-ha unconventionally mashed up musical styles, key changes, diversified instruments, etc. Some worked and some didn't, often in the same song. Some of their sounds are timeless and some are trapped in their era. Unfortunately this track has both great and weak parts...
a-ha - Train Of Thought (Official Video) (4:21)
~ a-ha, 2010-11-05
a-ha:
* Official site
* YouTube channel
* Wikipedia
This animation style kind of reminds me of some of the not-New-Wave stylized work of Ferenc Rófusz who won an Oscar for "The Fly" in 1981. He lived in Oakville in the early 90s as I did, and when I was asking about work opportunities my girlfriend almost dropped his Oscar statue with the cliché, "It's heavier than it looks."
A Légy (The fly) - Ferenc Rófusz (1980) (3:07)
~ Ana Q.F., 2010-04-29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fly_(1980_film)
Other versions of Take On Me:
A YouTube playlist of 82 variant styles! : 'Take On Me' Cover Versions
a-ha - Take On Me ► Extended Version 30th anniversary!! (7:07)
~ Die DSP, 2013-03-11
A - Ha - Take On Me (30TH Revisited Exclusive & Strings Acapella Version ) (10:21)
~ RetroMusicWorld, 2016-06-28
Take On Me - a-ha - Full HD 35mm Scan - Full Frame (4:40)
~ alittlevoice, 2018-03-29
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