morten harket

Morten on himself: “I flirt a bit too much with too many things, I guess. My self-discipline is terrible when it comes to working. I always have great visions of music and other things which I can see the outlines of, but which I don’t get around to doing anything about. I guess I’m really a dreamer.”

Pål on Morten: “Morten is totally different from me. When we first came to London together, he burned all my clothes and re-dressed me from head to toe. I don ‘t care much about clothes, whereas he’s always very interested in them. He has given me self-confidence, encourages me to talk to people, not to be afraid and to use the abilities I have. Morten is actually the only one in Norway who had as much ambition as I did. I guess we both have big egos. In a way, we’re each sitting in our own little world, while Mags is more down to earth. Mags often has to mediate between Morten and me… It’s good that we’re so different and still respect each other. The tension between us is creative. No one sings like Morten. He’s got what it takes and I have great faith in him.”

Mags on Morten: “What’s nice about Morten is that he’s so together. He believes strongly in everything he does. This goes for the band too, and it rubs off on us. He has the courage of his own convictions and cannot be shaken. He’s an expert at always getting the last word, whether he’s right or not. Morten is very loyal and he’s fair when it comes to giving people a chance, letting them show who they are and what they’re worth before judging them.”

Morten Harket was born on September 14, 1959 in the town of Kongsberg. He was number two in a family of five children, four boys and one girl. His father, Reidar, is now chief physician at a hospital. His mother, Henny, is a recently qualified Home Economics teacher.

Morten has a great need for emotional security, as his childhood and school years were not exactly easy for him. He was unusually self-confident from an early age, often disappearing from home and running around on his own which would frighten his poor mother out of her wits. Morten built up a fantasy world which could often seem more real to him than the real world.

“Starting school was a total disaster for me,” Morten says. “It’s always been easy for me to let my thoughts wander freely, and they seldom come back down to earth. I couldn’t differentiate between fantasy and reality. It didn’t matter to me if a story I told was true or something I made up.”

“I was constantly getting beaten up. Just about every day. The third, fourth and fifth grades were the worst. It was awful. Luckily I had a pretty long walk home from school so I had enough time to calm down a bit before I got back. But sometimes I’d arrive home in a real mess, with tears still running down my cheeks.”

At home, Morten lived in another world which had little or nothing to do with school. But he felt most comfortable in his third ‘world’, his imagination. He could bring this to life not only by making up stories, but also through his drawing, at which he had become very proficient. In his dreams he was always strong and powerful… the leader. One he remembers in particular is where he is riding into school on a white horse, followed by his teacher (with whom he was head over heels in love) also on a white horse. Two black panthers accompany him, pulling an aquarium on wheels containing a shark… however, he can’t remember how the dream ended!

But in reality: “Those were tough years. It has always been a mystery to me how I survived it all the way I did. It could have messed me up but, in fact, it has made me stronger. It has given me a total lack of respect for mobs, cliques and narrow-minded people who don’t think for themselves. I feel that it’s healthy to go against the mainstream of public opinion”, Morten says.

The elementary school years were the worst, and it went on in secondary school, too, to some extent. But at that point, Morten joined the Christian Union. In the Union, Morten made new friends, friends who knew nothing of his past problems – and he was given a fresh chance. They listened to his stories attentively and laughed good-naturedly at him and with him. When it came to light that he was unusually good at drawing, he rose even higher in the estimation of his new friends. This positive encouragement made him want to use his drawing ability more constructively, not just as a means of private escape. Morten gradually became a central figure within his circle, a kind of leader, and as a result his self-confidence blossomed once again.

Morten had a religious experience at this time, which was to have a profound effect on the rest of his life. Morten’s parents are active members of the church, and until then religion had been something he had grown up with and taken for granted. Now he was able to make up his own mind about his belief:

“You can’t fool yourself when it comes to matters like this. It’s all about honesty. The certainty that something is greater than yourself, and that that something is Love, makes submission easy. I know it’s good for me to learn that kind of obedience. It gives me a feeling of safety and belonging,” Morten says.

After Heggedal Elementary School and Solvent Secondary School, Morten made his way to Asker Gymnasium, an upper secondary school which prepares students for university. There was nothing wrong with his natural aptitude towards learning and Morten’s grades were basically fairly good, but his concentration was poor and his head full of other things. So, he was somewhat surprised when he received the highest grade in Christianity. He made a sudden decision to begin studying at the Theological Seminary. Apart from his very real interest in the Bible, he was attracted by the ‘minister’ image. He would don the robes of the clergy, have really long hair… but then there was also his interest in music…

Morten’s love of music started at the tender age of three when he was taken to see a local marching band. His sensitive temperament was immediately attracted to the emotional music, and he started crying and laughing and got into the spirit of the music to such an extent that the band leader noticed him and lifted him up onto his shoulders to conduct the band. The youngster was thrilled.

Morten’s father is musically talented and had difficulty choosing between a career as a classical pianist or a doctor. Morten took piano lessons as a boy, but it was too strict a discipline for him. He practised very little and didn’t learn to read music. But he did compose and liked to improvise on the instrument for his own pleasure.

Morten managed to exist happily in total ignorance of pop music, until the summer before he was to begin at the Gymnasium. Then Jimi Hendrix and Uriah Heep changed his life.

“At the time, I collected butterflies and cultivated orchids. I was totally absorbed by that. Then I got a complete collection of Uriah Heep LPs, and there was only one group in the world for me. It was at this time I really started to enjoy my music. I could hear exactly what I wanted to do inside me and when I sang, I could go for hours without knowing where I was. It was incredible. I’m sure that it beats any kind of chemical trip. Only the feeling of being in love or tremendously infatuated can be as strong as this.”

But one day he woke up and realised that he had nothing to show for it. He had dreams and ambitions. But results. ..? The period when he sang in the professional band Souldier Blue was a breakthrough for Morten. Finally he had managed to channel his creativity.

“Arild was the boss in Souldier Blue, I was just the vocalist. But I learnt a lot about singing and about being in a band and by February 1982, after only two months of rehearsing, I was on stage singing in front of an audience. I don’t remember anything about the performance except that I was scared stiff. A few electric seconds, minutes or hours passed, and then some guy came over and stuffed £60 in my pocket. I actually earned money singing!”

On the surface it looked as though everything was beginning to fall into place for Morten. He was studying theology, had completed his military service, and had an outlet for his creative ability in singing and performing with Souldier Blue. He still lived at home with his parents but he was considering taking a small flat in Oslo. Morten appeared to be establishing himself, but a bet he made with one of his fellow students betrayed his restlessness. He knew that one day he was going to become a rock star. Just then, Mags called him up and asked if he would like to join him in a new band…