Hunting High and Low

Infobox Album |
Name = Hunting High and Low
Type = Album
Artist = a-ha


Released = 31 May, 1985
Recorded =
Genre = Synthpop
New Wave
Pop rock
Length = 38:16
Label = Warner Bros. Records
Producer = John Ratcliff, Tony Mansfield. Alan Tarney
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:l1uf6jah7190 link]
* Robert Christgau (C-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=a-ha link]
* Musicfolio Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.musicfolio.com/modernrock/a-ha.html link]
Last album =
This album = "Hunting High And Low"
(1985)
Next album = "Scoundrel Days"
(1986)
Misc = Singles
Name = Hunting High and Low
Type = Studio
single 1 = Take On Me
single 1 date = September, 1985 (3rd UK release)
single 2 = Love Is Reason
single 2 date = 1985
single 3 = The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
single 3 date = 1985
single 4 = Train of Thought
single 4 date = 24 March, 1986 (UK)
single 5 = Hunting High and Low
single 5 date = June 2, 1986 (UK)

"Hunting High and Low" is the debut album by the Norwegian New wave band a-ha. Released on 31 May 1985 through Warner Bros. Records, the album was a huge commercial success selling over 10 million units worldwide, peaking at #15 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and reaching high positions in charts worldwide. Recorded in London, and produced by Tony Mansfield, John Ratcliff and Alan Tarney.

Five singles were released from the album: "Take On Me", "Love Is Reason", "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", Train of Thought and "Hunting High and Low", all the singles were responsible for launching a-ha into mainstream popularity. a-ha was nominated for best new artist at the Grammy Awards in 1986 -- the first Norwegian band to be nominated for a Grammy.

Music

ongs

"Take on Me" was the first single released by the band. An early version was recorded and released in late 1984, becoming a #3 hit in their native Norway but failing to chart in the UK. The band went back into the studio to re-record the song for the "Hunting High and Low" album, but a second UK release in the early part of 1985 was again ignored. Before releasing their single in the U.S., the band undertook the production of a music video for the song, working with director Steve Barron. Barron had previously created hit videos for Toto, Thomas Dolby, Culture Club and Michael Jackson, but the a-ha video was unlike any of his earlier work. A plot-driven amalgamation of live-action and rotoscope-style animation by husband-and-wife team Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger, it drew inspiration from Patterson's animated film "Commuter" and the movie "Altered States". The innovative video for "Take on Me" was first broadcast on local Boston music video station V-66, and soon after given heavy rotation on MTV.

The single debuted in Billboard the week of July 13, 1985, and was heading into the U.S. top twenty when it was given an international release, including a second release in Norway and a third shot at the UK market. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., spending 27 weeks on the charts and becoming the tenth-biggest single of 1985 there [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=411&cfgn=Year-end+Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3077246&cdi=9015285&cid=12%2F31%2F1985 Billboard] ] , and this time going to number two in the UK and number one in Norway. In all, the song reached number one in 36 countries, becoming one of the world's best-selling singles of all time with nearly 9 million copies sold.

The second single for most of the world was "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." ("Love is Reason" had failed to hit the Norwegian Top 40 earlier in the year), and the band followed their massively successful music video with another critically acclaimed clip for the song. Starting off as a sequel of sorts, Harket breaks away from his happy ending to join his band in performance amidst mannequins at a rural church. "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." actually improved upon the first single's success in the UK, hitting number one and remaining there for two weeks in January 1986. Elsewhere it was a top 10 hit nearly everywhere it was released except in the U.S., where it peaked at #20 and would be the band's last major hit to date. The single sold 5 million copies around the world. The track was remixed for a dance version which was a top 5 hit on the U.S. Dance chart, and b-side to the single and remix was the otherwise unreleased "Driftwood".

"Train of Thought" saw limited release as the third single in Europe. It was not released as a 7" in the U.S. but it became a hit on rock radio and a set of remixes again made the Dance charts. Waaktaar based the lyrics for this song on existentialist authors and poets Gunvor Hofmo, Knut Hamsun and Fyodor Dostoevsky, his favourites at the time. It was a-ha's third consecutive Top 10 single in the UK and Ireland, reaching #8 and #5 respectively, charting well also in Germany and Sweden, for world sales of 500,000 copies.

The last single from the album was "Hunting High and Low", released in June 1986. The single saw its highest chartings in France, where it peaked at number 4 [ [http://lescharts.com/search.asp?search=A-ha&cat=s French Singles Chart] ] , and the UK, where it was number 5. [ [http://www.everyhit.com/ British Singles Chart] ] The single was released in the U.S. but did not make the Hot 100. An extended version was available on 12" vinyl, but the midtempo track did not see Dance chart success.

Coldplay has been known to perform "Hunting High and Low" in concert, with a nod to the band of their initial inspiration.

The "Take on Me" video was nominated for eight 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, and at the third annual ceremony on September 5, 1986, the video won six awards, including Best New Artist and Viewer's Choice. [ [http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/a-ha.htm 80s Music Lyrics: Best Music from the 1980s ] ] "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." was nominated for an additional three awards, winning two, for a total of eight wins. Even as the total number of categories has nearly doubled, only one other artist to date has won as many MTV Awards in a single year. Peter Gabriel won nine the following year for "Sledgehammer" and "Big Time", two videos which progressed further down the roads a-ha ventured in their groundbreaking use of animation in music video.

In 2002, "Take on Me" was ranked at number 8 on "VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders", although this status is slightly misleadingly used since while it reflects the fact that a-ha never broke into the mainstream there, they were by no means one-hit wonders elsewhere or in career terms. In 2006, "Take on Me" was ranked at number 24 on "VH1's Greatest Songs of the 1980s". [ [http://www.vh1.com/press/press_releases/2006_release/100greatestsongs80s_10302006.jhtml VH1 Press | Press Release ] ]

The band released a live version of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." in 2003.

Release and reception

"Hunting High and Low" was the band's breakout album. Upon its release in May 1985, "Hunting High and Low" peaked at number 15 on the "Billboard"'s Top 200 album chart. The album granted a-ha international recognition. "Hunting High and Low" got 3x platinum status in the UK and Platinum status in the United States and Germany, and Gold status in Brasil, and the Netherlands.

The album peaked at 15 in the U.S., according to Billboard magazine music charts and has sold about 1.8 million copies in the U.S. It peaked at 2 on the UK charts, and hit 1 in Norway. The album has been certified platinum in the states and in the UK and is also their best-selling album in the US.

Beginning with the single "Take on Me", a-ha's debut album sold more than eight million copies worldwide and spawned two number 1 hits. In the fall of 1986, "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." were nominated for 11 MTV Video Awards combined, and a-ha won eight of these. [ [http://www.a-ha.com/MUSIC/discography/CD/AHA_albumHuntingHighAndLow.aspx A-ha biography] ]

Tim DiGravina of AllMusic Guide said "It's a cohesive album with smart pace changeups, and it rarely fails to delight or satisfy a listener's need for a synth pop fix...One can't escape the feeling that Hunting High and Low is a product of the 1980s, but with highs like "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," and no lows in sight, a-ha's debut is a treat worth relishing." [ [http://www.a-ha.com/MUSIC/discography/CD/AHA_albumHuntingHighAndLow.aspx A-ha biography] ]

The album has sold over eight million copies worldwide. [ [http://www.a-ha.com/MUSIC/discography/CD/AHA_albumHuntingHighAndLow.aspx Hunting High and Low] ]

Hunting High and Low Tour

In June 1986, a-ha began a world tour which carried on through August 1987. The band had never played a single concert when "Take On Me" shot to #1 in America; soon they could boast a 16-country, 113-city tour under their belt along with countless interviews and television appearances. [ [http://www.a-ha.com/MUSIC/discography/CD/AHA_albumHuntingHighAndLow.aspx A-ha biography] ]

Track listing

#"Take on Me" - 3:48 (Waaktaar/Furuholmen/Harket)
#"Train of Thought" - 4:14 (Waaktaar)
#"Hunting High and Low" - 3:45 (Waaktaar)
#"The Blue Sky" - 2:36 (Waaktaar)
#"Living a Boy's Adventure Tale" - 5:00 (Waaktaar/Harket)
#"The Sun Always Shines on T.V." - 5:08 (Waaktaar)
#"And You Tell Me" - 1:51 (Waaktaar)
#"Love is Reason" - 3:04 (Waaktaar/Furuholmen)
#"I Dream Myself Alive" - 3:06 (Waaktaar/Furuholmen)
#"Here I Stand and Face the Rain" - 4:30 (Waaktaar)

Personnel

*Morten Harket – Vocals
*Magne Furuholmen – Keyboards, vocals
*Pål Waaktaar – Guitars, vocals
*Bobby Hata – Mastering
*John Ratcliff – Producer, Remixing,Keyboards, vocals
*Alan Tarney – Producer
*Tony Mansfield – Producer
*Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff – Art Direction, Design
*Neill King – Engineer
*Jeri McManus – Art Direction, Cover Design, Design
* [http://www.justloomis.com/ Just Loomis] – Photography

Chart positions

Album

ingles

[cite web
url=http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&search=A-ha
title=Norwegian Singles Chart
publisher=VG-lista
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Singles&model.vnuArtistId=3914&model.vnuAlbumId=749648
title=American Single Charts
publisher=VG-lista
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=344&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Bubbling+Under+Hot+100+Singles&ci=3014843&cdi=6733544&cid=07%2F24%2F1993
title=American Single Charts
publisher=Billboard
accessdate=2008-05-07] [cite web
url=http://www.everyhit.com/
title=British Single Chart
publisher=UK Top 40
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=A-ha&cat=s
title=Swedish Singles Chart
publisher=Hitlista
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://lescharts.com/search.asp?search=A-ha&cat=s
title=French Singles Chart
publisher=Palmares
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://austriancharts.at/search.asp?search=A-ha&cat=s
title=Austrian Singles Chart
publisher=Austria Top 40
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=A-ha&cat=s
title=Swiss Singles Chart
publisher=Schweizer Hitparade
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://www.irishcharts.ie/
title=Irish Singles Chart
publisher=The Irish Chart
accessdate=2008-03-07] [cite web
url=http://www.charts-surfer.de/musiksearch.php
title=German Singles Chart
publisher=Charts-Surfer
accessdate=2008-06-07] [cite web
url=http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yends/hpe1986.htm
title=Italian Singles Chart
publisher=hitparadeitalia
accessdate=2008-06-07]

References