Posted By: Catherine 
Tags: 
Comments: (25)
a-ha on ‘Number One!’
Last night, the German Kabel Eins show ‘Number One!’ featured a 45-minute documentary about a-ha. Much of the documentary footage was filmed in fall 2009, after a-ha announced their intention to retire. In separate interviews, Morten, Magne and Paul talk about their history together, career milestones, their reasons for ending a-ha now, and more. Here are some highlights from the interviews, as well as links to watch the clips online for those who missed the broadcast.
When asked why the band is calling it quits now, Paul said, “Every album is quite hard to make…we go through a big process, and we don’t make it easy on ourselves. It’s a lot of tugging and pulling. So I think maybe that was the biggest thing…It’s not creative anymore in a way, that becomes too desctructive.”
Was the decision to end a-ha mutual among the three members, or were there any opponents?
“If there was an opponent, it was probably me, because I was sort of halfway into the next album and writing for that. So I kind of advocated doing one more album. But having said that I am kind of excited. There’s lots of other stuff we can do, and that’s exciting.”
When you look back now at 25 years of a-ha, what is the first thing that comes to your mind as a resume?
“For me it is always linked to the albums and the music, and that’s like a scrapbook for me. Every song you wrote brings back a memory of that time, it’s like a picture book. Every album has a very distinct flavor, and it feels like we did quite a lot. We really got to live a boy’s adventure tale. We went round the world many times, we got to record in lots of different places, we got to see and meet everybody. Best thing of all, I met my wife right before it all started, so I got to share the whole thing with her. So it is linked to a lot of good memories.”
If you could desribe a-ha in one sentence, what would that be?
“Three solo artists.”
Paul also talked about songwriting, the band’s musical influences and the beginning of a-ha.
Paul interview, part one | Paul interview, part two
Morten talks about the ‘Take on Me’ success:
“The only regret, when you have success like that, is that you don’t get to prove that you would have been a success without it. I have many times wished that we came out as a band before videos started to become important. Which was exactly when we started.”
[...]
“I would have liked to have been in a band, for instance, 10 or 15 years earlier, or 20 years earlier for that matter, where the focus would be much more on audio so to speak, much more than it was in our time.”
Morten also talks more about the three releases of ‘Take on Me’ and the importance of having the right promotion plan and a record label fully behind them.
Magne discusses ‘The Living Daylights’, the Rock in Rio concert, and the mechanics of the music industry.
“When you’re hot, you’re hot, and when you’re not, you’re not. Every young kid that asks me for advice, I say it’s hard to give them because it is not what you want to hear. You’re just lucky to be there one day, and the next day even luckier to be there.”
About the breakup in 1993, Magne says:
“I think we all felt a little bit battle fatigued. I know certainly from my point of view, I was really sick of fame. I got to a point where you understand why people get lost with their success. Success stops meaning something to you, it becomes something that empties you out, instead of fills you.”
“It’s hard for people to understand if you haven’t been in that position. It’s interesting because I had a long talk with Chris Martin about that in Barcelona a few weeks ago. And I said that, I said you have to find a way back into enjoying going on stage every night. Because you put out so much energy that in the end you stop taking something back. And when you stop taking something back, it gradually hollows you out and takes things out of you.”
“You can be at the top of your game – I mean you can’t be much bigger than Coldplay are at the moment – you can be at the top of your game and not enjoy yourself. And it’s a scary thing because you create that world yourself, you do everything you can to make it happen. And when it does happen, all of the sudden the feeling gets lost, you get the sense of why did I do this? Why was this meaningful to me? And sometimes you have to step on the sand castle to start again.”
Fans in Germany can access all the interview clips via Kabeleins.de. Outside Germany, a selection of clips is available here.
Time: 12:57 pm 
Thanks for share!
“”Fans in Germany can access all the interview clips”"
((
….yes i know…all interesting interview
are in this Country…i am from Canada and i can’t watch it
i am very sad about this…
thanks anyway!
Thank you for posting it! Tried to see it, but the show was
not avalible in Denmark either!
Thanks for posting =)
REALIZE ALL YOUR DREAMS PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE AND THAT YOU AND
YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY HAVE A LOT OF PEACE AND MUCH LOVE IN MY HEART,
I’LL NEVER STOP BETING A FAN OF THE THREE, THREE OF YOU TOGETHER OR
SEPARATE PART OF MY LIFE AND ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, ALWAYS AND
FOREVER! HAPPY 2011! KISSSSES!
DEAR MORTEN . PAUL . MAGS, WHAT I GREAT INSIDE TO A-HA
& EACH ONE OF YOU ON THE NUMBER ONE TV SHOW I KNEW SOME OF
IT ALREADY. I UNDERSTAND IT MUCH BETTER NOW THAT ALL GREAT THINGS
IN LIFE SOMETIMES HAVE TO END & NEW THINGS COME ALONG THAT
CAN TAKE YOU ON A NEW PATH IN LIFE. ONCE YOU ARE A-HA FAN YOU ARE
ONE FOR LIFE!!!! I WISH YOU ALL THE LOVE , PEACE IN LIFE IN
WHATEVER YOU DO. HAPPY NEW YEAR. JO X
An information for all a-ha fans outside of Germany: You can use some kind of VPN service to view the complete interviews on kabeleins.
For more information see here: http://myvpnreviews.com/
Have fun!
Tomas
Thanks for sharing! I´m from germany and I saw it on
national television – and believe me, these interviews are MUCH
longer than in the show itself! BUT: Markus Kavka (and his team)
did a great job! I´m glad, that he had the opportunity to do this,
because he is a good and serious music-journalist! A-HA WILL ALWAYS
BE MY “NUMBER ONE!”
Wauw! My compliments, 25 years of A-ha in 45 minutes, great
job! Thank you A-ha.
SADNESS INCREASES EVEY DAY, AND MY HEART BLEEDS SO NOSTALGIC.
Angel@
Fantastic 45min. video! But it could be in
english…
i liked it
on march 3rd i met Morten in luna park after the sound chek
and said to Paul see you in Rio since that day i just can thank God
to have met these boys cause they have been and will be part of my
life for ever. love you a lot i will always be waiting for you here
in Curitiba please come back, remember Brazil is your second home.
Melissa Ramos
Thank you very much for posting this! It is very
interesting.
I liked the documentary, thanks!
Fantastic video! I would love to see Morten and Mags part 2
videos. Thanks to A-ha and thanks for posting.
Everything you did, Paul, Magne, Morten is priceless. You were and continue to be part of our lives. Thanks a lot these twenty-five years, and was totally worth … thank you, A-HA! I love your songs and my daughters too.
I think it is very important to achieve something and the end not to lose the essence, and here you guys are good. Not only artistically, but as people too. A-HA makes a difference, and that’s why we love them forever!
Paul, you’re a great composer, Morten and Magne, you guys are great performers, and are simple people. This brand essence is A-ha’s registered and I know you guys take this to other areas of their lives.I wish you much success!
Post a community of A-ha, in which I participate here in Brazil:
International Day of A-ha!
Well folks .. am not part of the community Official A-ha, and the one-hamiga had a brilliant idea of creating the World Day of A-ha, that day eh December 4, qa band has said in his end!! This honor so wonderful band q love so much, Here is her post:
The day World-ha
December 4th! let’s make this day The day World-ha
What do you guys think hamigos a-? would be perfect, so every year we could
Celebrate the World Day of a-ha! and thus worldwide.
On this day could make a grill party, meetings, and many other things …
just use your imagination! each town can arrange the best way to celebrate!
Let’s go a-hamigos! making on 04 December The day World-ha
Ñ but alone can make it happen! vcs-hamigos to have to help me … faby but how?
Mesagem sending this to all your to-hamigos orkut, facebook, twitter, myspace, blog, videos on YouTube
In all the media from the web the-hamigos!
My dear, we anxiously wait for the DVD of the Farewell Tour. And why not, many others, while we enjoyed the last album. So many miss the best band … no equals A-HA.
TO DEFINE A-HA I use two words: ORIGINALITY AND TALENT. IS THE BEST BAND IN THE WORLD OF THE LAST TIME. I will never tire of thanking them, Paul, Magne and Morten for the legacy to music.
It’s so pathetic to think that at this time we will no longer count on their performances and future recordings … everything sounds like a dream. But when we hear its sound, we realize that A-HA still lives in us.
Although several months have passed since the farewell of A-ha, I’m still finding it very hard to accept it. I play their music every day and I’m sure many other fans are still doing this and will keep on doing this, so that the most talented band ever will never be forgotten. We are all longing for another world tour. Please don’t forget us!! Your music will be cherished forever
God, how I love this band and love is forever! Thanks for the beautiful lyrics Paul for the brilliant performance Morten, Magne for all his talent! You are unique!