we want the world and we want it now

Making music, playing and recording, negotiating contracts… these are all just one side of being a pop artist. Equally important are public relations and using all the available media to inform people that “Here we are! We’ve got something special!” Warner Brothers and Terry Slater were experts at the game. They both made sure that all stops were pulled out: expensive videos, plenty of travelling, advertisements in the most influential magazines and newspapers, T-shirts with pictures of the boys, badges, posters, in other words, all the tricks of the trade.

So while the boys stayed at home in Oslo in August, 1985, eagerly following the slow climb of Take on Me from the bottom of the charts, after the release of the final version, Terry Slater was preparing for The Great Promotional Tour. At last, on August 30, 1985, the boys flew to Los Angeles to participate in the growing excitement being generated in the USA around these unknown newcomers from the Arctic.

But first they had to get rid of their jet lag. The day is completely reversed between Oslo and Los Angeles. With the nine hour time difference, morning becomes evening and vice versa. After such long trips, Terry always gives the boys a few days to catch up before starting work again. So the first order of business is to check out the swimming pool at the Hotel Sheraton Universal, Burbank, Los Angeles. Margaritas with tequila, crushed ice and juice are followed by Mai Tais and other fancy drinks in every colour of the rainbow, then the jacuzzi beckons… delicious relaxation and recreation.

On Tuesday, September 3, it’s down to serious business. A tightly packed schedule has been drawn up by Slater and Warner Brothers. Radio interviews, photographic sessions, video recordings, TV shows, meetings, newspaper interviews and a never ending list of other obligations. Radio station KROQ is first on the list, chosen in gratitude for having been the first in the USA to start playing Take on Me regularly. It’s an important radio station, always on the lookout for new groups.

Would-be pop stars have to be presented with style, and Warner Brothers certainly came up with the proper transportation – a long, lean, black limousine with colour TV, quadraphonic radio, a bar, and a license plate which reads ‘Music 24′ delivers us to KROQ’s not exactly plush offices and studios. Actually it’s just a little closet, but disc jockey Richard Blade has already warmed up the atmosphere during a live broadcast, ready for a-ha’s appearance.

The parking lot is full of teenagers who scream and howl when Mags, Pål and Morten alight from their magnificent limousine and try to clear their way through the mad throng into the studio. The interview is presented live. In the midst of an organised chaos of microphones, records, cassettes, photographs, drawings and posters, as well as coffee cups, secretaries, dogs and neighbours, Richard Blade manages to orchestrate the disorderly proceedings perfectly to the second.

First he introduces the boys and plays Take 0n Me. Then they open the telephone lines, and within five seconds there are forty callers on the waiting list – girls, curious to know if the boys are married or have girlfriends, boys who wonder when they’ll hold their first concert. One lucky caller is guaranteed to be the centre of attention in her classroom tomorrow after a-ha sing “Happy Birthday” to her in three-part harmony on the radio. But the studio will soon become even livelier: disc jockey Blade suddenly announces, “To you fans out in the parking lot – we’re bringing five of you up to meet the boys!” And in march five giggling teenage girls who want hugs and autographs. More music follows and then a-ha are escorted back into their limousine.

Now we’re on our way to the biggest radio station in Los Angeles: KIIS. Here they’re a little more serious, but the questions are generally the same and the enthusiasm just as great. Next stop, the CBS studios and their FM station. Here we have to wait our turn. Paul Young is facing the firing squad before a-ha. Later, we get to meet Paul who invites us all to his concert the next day and to the private party afterwards.

“Radio is important in the USA,” Slater says afterwards, “Everyone listens to the radio while driving, and they’re always driving!” Of course TV is important too. Slater has carefully chosen three nationally networked programs for a-ha: Soul Train, Solid Gold and American Bandstand, which has broad youth appeal and approximately 25 million viewers. Soul Train is basically a black program, and a-ha are in fact one of the very few white groups who have ever performed on it. Solid Gold, a program dealing more with New Wave and Synth Pop, is first on the list. Early on Wednesday morning the limousine floats into Universal Studios’ heavily guarded complex. The excitement is palpable. It is a-ha’s first important TV slot. Millions of potential record buyers who want to find out more about this new group from Norway, will be watching. They’ve got to look good!

The tension mounts in the dressing-room as the boys wait for their cue. Finally presenter Dionne Warwick thanks the professional, scantily-clad dancing group for the opening act and introduces a-ha. Take 0n Me thunders out of the huge amplifiers and all the pre-show nervousness has vanished. Morten lip-syncs so convincingly that he almost believes himself that he’s actually singing. Pål hammers on the guitar so fiercely that blood spurts from his skinny fingers, and Mags sways and attacks the keyboards in perfect time with the music. Naturally the camera focuses on all three handsome faces, and both the producer of the show and the manager of the group are all smiles. The moment of truth! Everyone is satisfied.

That evening, a white limousine whisks us to Paul Young’s concert. In the darkness we can sneak in unobserved, but in the interval it’s impossible for us to deny that, yes, it is actually a-ha sitting here, in the flesh, amongst the audience. Suddenly there’s complete confusion as autographs, hugs and kisses are demanded once more. Morten happily signs bits of paper, while Mags pulls his jacket up over his head and hides!

The after show party is more relaxed – here it’s a-ha who are the newcomers. At the table beside us sit Paul King and his band, there’s Dionne Warwick and her friends and in the middle Paul Young. And later in the evening… yes it is! Elton John, with his customary hat and glasses, and full of charm.

We sit and discuss, slightly nervously, whether a-ha dare ask Dionne Warwick for a photograph together with them. “I don’t know if she’d like that, Pål muses. At that moment, Dionne appears at our table and asks politely if a-ha would possibly be kind enough to join her in a picture, and could she please have their autographs? The ice is broken. Soon we’re conversing with Elton John and Paul Young with the greatest of ease. Manager Terry Slater is tough. Long before there is even the remotest possibility of a-ha overdoing it, he insists that the boys have had enough partying. As Pål and Morten depart, they are followed by mournful glances from the girls. Had they perhaps hoped for another, and different, conclusion to the evening? “Too bad we’ve had such a moral upbringing,” Morten jokes.

Actually the boys prefer a peaceful end to the evening to living it up with the jet-set. Well, maybe ‘peaceful’ isn’t really the description after all. Their boundless energy and the excitement of everything that is happening to them means that, despite their good intentions and an exhausting schedule, getting to sleep early is not as easy as it should be!

Thursday dawns. Another TV show. This time it’s American Bandstand, one of the most popular networked programs. And not only do I have permission to be present, but even our photographer is allowed on the set. The only condition is that he must promise not to take any pictures of *** Clark, the presenter, before he has his make-up on. We sneak carefully into the studio and sit among the audience and TV crew. The lights are dimmed and abruptly a figure strides onto the stage.

“Hi, this is *** Clark greeting you from America’s most popular TV program, American Bandstand. Today we’ve got lots of exciting acts for you. The finals in the dance competition for which five hundred thousand of you viewers have sent in your votes and chosen the winners. We’ll be showing a video with the phenomenal Madonna, and for the first time ever, we can present a Norwegian pop group who have taken the world by storm! From far away in the North, direct to Los Angeles, ladies and gentlemen: a-ha with their number one single in LA, Take on Me! But first, a word from our sponsors…”

*** Clark, an institution on American TV, brushes a hair off his shoulder and requests more action from the hundred fresh-faced, fashionably dressed kids carousing wildly on the dance floor. The dancers create the traditional framework around the different sets in the TV show American Bandstand. The program has actually been running for 32 years (with *** Clark as host since the beginning) and has a viewing audience of 25 million people all over the USA.

Out in the dressing-room, or should one say apartment, complete with living room, TV, shower and bath, Mags, Pål and Morten are sitting tensely. Did I say sitting? They’re in constant motion! Mags is juggling with some fruit. Morten tries on different jackets and checks his hairdo. Pål is talking on the telephone to his girlfriend in Boston. Everyone is joking and laughing. Changing the channel on the TV; watching another cartoon ; flirting with the make-up girl; sticking ice-cubes down an unfortunate photographer’s shirt. They play the song they’re going to sing loud, LOUD on their walkmans, get ready, hype themselves up to a superhigh pitch of excitement. But mostly, they just have fun…

In the enormous TV studio, *** Clark is building up the excitement as he announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, the hottest act in town. Way over from Norway, a-ha, with the hit Take on Me!” Morten, Mags and Pål rush in through the crowd, grab their instruments, and the song thunders out into the huge studio.

The TV camera pans the whole studio – high up under the ceiling, out on the dance floor on rotating cranes, from left to right. With perfect precision they focus onto Mags’ fingers on the keyboards, Pål posing with the guitar, and above all, Morten’s face in close-up. Morten has a strong, expressive face and this, combined with his blue jeans and leather jacket image has caused the American Press to compare him with James Dean. The studio audience stare fascinated at the TV screen’s close-ups. The last chords fade away. *** Clark weaves his way through the mass of bodies and asks the question that a-ha have already answered many, many times before in TV, radio and newspaper interviews. “How is it possible for a Norwegian pop group to make it big in the USA? Do you ever sing in Norwegian? Where did you get the name a-ha?” The boys answer professionally and routinely. Pål starts off by speaking broken English with a thick Norwegian accent, then laughs and switches over to perfect English : “I think Mags should answer that question”.

Twenty five million viewers learn that a-ha went to England and signed a record contract, that they sing in English because they have always intended to have an international career, and that a-ha is a good name because it means the same thing all over the world. *** Clark is amazed and impressed by their excellent English, and charmed by their winning smiles and ready wit. But now it’s time for more music: Train Of Thought, also from their first album, Hunting High And Low. “We’ve never done this one on TV before,” Mags says in the dressing-room before the show. “We practised twice in the hotel room yesterday evening. But that’s typical – we always take things as they come. Here we are appearing on one of the USA’s biggest TV shows, with hardly any practice!” Of course it’s a huge success. The audience are unanimous in their approval, applauding and screaming and a-ha have to practically force their way back to the dressing-room.

“How were we? Was it professional enough? Too stiff? How did my face look on TV? Did they like the jokes? Was the sound good?” Lots of questions to ease the tension. “Take it easy. I’m satisfied. And this TV show is going to sell a lot of records,” manager Terry Slater answers. The boys relax. It was a good ten-minute performance – longer than Madonna’s slot – on one of the USA’s most popular TV programs. The boys round off the day on a high!

Especially Pål. After all, it’s his birthday today! Back at the hotel wait a big guitar-shaped birthday cake and presents. Mags decides to tease him a bit and gives him a beautifully wrapped parcel of… ‘men’s’ magazines! These are supposed to help Pål overcome his misery at being parted from his girlfriend Lauren! At last, it’s time to open the champagne, kindly provided by the hotel. But now we’re on the move again! This time, to mix a little business with pleasure. a-ha have never performed live on stage together and as their first tour in the Autumn of 1986 is going to attract huge crowds, they’ve decided to see as many artists in concert as possible before then.

But this evening, they don’t want to be part of any official set-up. They’d rather ask a couple of Warner Brothers’ secretaries to join them for a night out on the town. So we all crowd into two tiny VW beetles and cruise down the highway in Los Angeles.

We’re on our way to a concert with the young, up-and-coming group Lone Justice. But even though the boys want to be out on their own tonight, Warner Brothers have taken the trouble to reserve seats in a little balcony overlooking the main floor of the club, with a special view of the stage.

But the earthy blues-rock of Lone Justice isn’t enough! At 2.00 am, we’re on our way to a concert with the Elvis-inspired rock ‘n’ roller Chris Isaac. The high spirits of the boys are still in evidence as Mags contrives to turn a somersault from the back seat to the front seat of the little VW filled with eight people!