News archive - July 2009
More tour details / Westfield Mall performance / Sky News
a-ha.com has some more details about the upcoming world tour plans that Magne mentioned last week:
" - In November 2009, the European tour will be extended. The band will also add a show in Tokyo, Japan.
- January will bring a-ha back to Australia for the first time since their first world tour, which opened in Perth, Australia on June 3, 1986.
- Fans in South America, Canada and the United States can look forward to some concerts in March.
- In May and June, a-ha will return to Europe and do some festivals. "
The tour will then continue in October 2010, according to a-ha.com. So there is a lot to look forward to!
The UK midweek chart was published today, and it looks like a-ha will make a spectacular chart entry with FOTM. The album is currently at #2, only beaten by Michael Jackson's The Essential-collection, Music Week reports.
So it looks like this could be the most successfull
a-ha album in the UK since Stay On These Roads in 1988!
The guys started the day by appearing on Sky News this morning. Video clips of this are available here and here. There is also an article on Sky News' website.
Afterwards they headed over to Westfield Mall, where they performed acoustic versions of "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Hunting High And Low". This was followed by a signing session at the HMV Westfield store.
YouTube videos of both songs performed at Westfield are up on YouTube here and here, courtesy of Chris.
BBC Breakfast / Radio interviews / Reviews
The guys had a day off yesterday but were back in promo mode today, as the album is finally being released in the UK.
In the morning hours they made a TV-appearance on BBC Breakfast, which can be seen on YouTube here. They also appeared on BBC News.
There's also an interview on BBC News' website, where Magne hints at what's to come next year: "For the [25th] anniversary, we want to do something creative and revisit material in a different way and make something special for the fans."
The music blog DoYouRemember has a 21-minute interview with Magne and Morten here. The same interview was also broadcast on Hope FM today.
The radio station BBC Shropshire broadcast an interview with Magne and Morten on Saturday night, which can be heard again here (starts after 42 minutes), and the Real Radio interview from July 16th is now available here.
Additional album reviews has appeared on the websites of The Independent on Sunday and The Scotsman.
And there are some positive reviews of the iTunes Festival concert on Times Online, The London Paper, Visit London and Daily Star.
"Foot Of The Mountain" enters the UK singles chart at #81 this week, after only being available as a download. But the album sales seem very promising in comparison; it's currently #3 on amazon.co.uk and #7 on iTunes UK.
iTunes Festival / Radio 2 session / Jonathan Ross video
a-ha had decided to shake things up a bit for their concert at the Camden Roundhouse yesterday, as part of the month-long iTunes Festival. "The Sun Always Shines On TV" was an unusual opener, and Morten surprised the audience when he played drums at the end of "The Bandstand" - as you can see in this YouTube video filmed by Chris.
Other songs that are now available on YouTube include The Sun Always Shines On TV, "Summer Moved On" and Manhattan Skyline
And more pictures from the concert can be found in this Flickr set.
Here is the full setlist:
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Riding The Crest
3. Cry Wolf
4. Scoundrel Days
5. The Bandstand
6. Stay On These Roads
7. Hunting High And Low
8. Summer Moved On
9. Manhattan Skyline
10. Foot Of The Mountain
11. Analogue
12. The Living Daylights
----------
13. Train Of Thought
14. Take On Me
Today they played 7 songs live on Dermot O'Leary's show on BBC Radio 2. Their set included a fantastic cover version of Depeche Mode's "A Question Of Lust". The 1986 single, taken from the album Black Celebration, was originally sung by Martin Gore.
These songs were played live on Radio 2:
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Riding The Crest
3. Foot Of The Mountain
4. A Question Of Lust
5. Take On Me
6. Analogue
7. Hunting High And Low
on BBC Radio 2
Somebody has posted the Depeche Mode cover on YouTube, and you can listen on the left.
It's also interesting to note how the new live intro to "Foot Of The Mountain" sounds similar to the instrumental break in the Savoy song "Barefoot In A Denim Jacket".
The whole Dermot O'Leary show is also available on BBC's website. a-ha appear after 1 h 12 mins, 1 h 47 mins and 2 h 16 mins.
The Jonathan Ross live performance, broadcast last night, will not go down in history as being among their best moments, unfortunately. But here it is on YouTube - "Foot Of The Mountain" and "The Sun Always Shines On TV" live:
a-ha on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross"
Telegraph and Virgin interviews / More UK reviews
The interviews keep coming. Telegraph.co.uk has a video interview with Morten and Magne, and they answer questions sent in by readers on VirginMedia.com.
New UK reviews of the album have been published by The Independent, The Guardian, Evening Standard and Yorkshire Evening Post.
TheQuietus.com probably provides the most in-depth UK review so far. And Q Magazine gives the album 3 stars in the current issue.
a-ha are playing a concert at the Camden Roundhouse in London tonight, as part of the iTunes Festival. Their live set is expected to last between 60 and 75 minutes. Here is a Twitter picture from rehearsals last night.
(Thanks to Mark, Michael, Sandra, Catherine and "samar22")
Jonathan Ross taping / Radio 6 acoustic performance
with Jonathan Ross" last night.
a-ha's appearance on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" was taped in London yesterday. The band (yes, Paul is back!) performed two songs; "Foot Of The Mountain" and "The Sun Always Shines On TV". The show will air on BBC1 in the UK tomorrow night.
Today they performed acoustic versions of "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Hunting High And Low" on George Lamb's radio show on BBC Radio 6. In between songs, the interview touched upon such topics as Morten's healer, Thor Heyerdahl's theories and the guys' worst job experiences. The whole thing can be heard again here (starts after 1 hour 41 mins).
To see a-ha's own updates and pictures from the TV-taping and radio performance, visit the official a-ha Twitter page.
Pinkpaper.com gives the new album 4 stars. The reviewer writes that "Several of the songs here easily rank among the best they have recorded in years". Read the whole review here.
2010 World Tour news
Magne and Morten were interviewed by Dale Winton on BBC's Radio 2 this afternoon. At the end of their chat, Magne revealed some of the countries that they'll be visiting as part of next year's tour:
"We just came back from South America. We're going back there. We're going back into Australia for the first time since the beginning of our career, next year. And next year is kind of an anniversary year, so we're sort of revisiting a lot of places like Japan, and America - for the first time in a very long time. So that's gonna be exciting."
If you didn't hear it live, the interview is now available here (starts after 2 hours 30 mins).
And AP provides today's video interview.
LBC, Mirror, Gala interviews
Morten and Magne continue to do UK promotion without Paul (who has been on vacation). Today they were guests on James O'Brien's show on the London radio station LBC 97.3.
There is a picture of O'Brien and his two guests on the radio station's website. A podcast of the show is also online, but unfortunately it's only available to subscribers.
Mirror.co.uk has a another video interview with the guys. And the German site Gala.de has an interview with Magne about the band's stage outfits and his own design projects. There are also a few pictures of Magne and Morten visiting "Niketown Berlin", where they were given the chance to design their own pair of sneakers.
Over on a-ha.com there is a new interview with backing musician Erik Ljunggren, while CMSpin.com has an article about drummer Karl-Oluf Wennerberg's other band Dreampilots, who are preparing their first US release on September 29th.
(Thanks to Tina and Andreas)
Video clips / Single is out / Danish chart
An interview with Morten and Magne appeared on the Irish entertainment show Xposé today.
It is now up on YouTube here.
ITN has a short video clip from another interview here.
A few more album reviews can be found at teletext.co.uk and er... musicOMH.com.
The single was released in the UK today. It's available as a digital download on iTunes, Amazon.co.uk and 7digital.
And on the UK radio airplay chart, FOTM climbs up to number 19 this week.
Kenneth from Denmark e-mailed me to help spread the word about a Danish chart.
Here's what he writes:
"Please vote for Foot Of The Mountain (the song) on the Danish chart "Tjeklisten".
The chart is on Denmarks biggest radiostation and is purely based on votes.
Go to: www.dr.dk/tjeklisten or just send an email to: tjeklisten@dr.dk
where you write that you vote for the song, AND write your name and adress.
Otherwhise the vote don't count. You must vote before Tuesday at 1 pm."
(Thanks to "sneakythesnake", "scorcher" and Kenneth)
More radio and print interviews
Magne and Morten were interviewed by Gethin Jones on BBC 5 Live this morning. They also performed an acoustic version of "Foot Of The Mountain", accompanied by Martin Terefe on guitar and xylophone.
The interview is available for listening here (starts after 10 minutes).
A few hours later they appeared on Gary Crowley's show on BBC London. This interview, which was taped a few days ago, can be heard here (starts after 1 h 32 mins).
There was also a recent interview on Magic 105.4, which is now available for download here.
The Times has an interview with Morten today, where he gets the chance to mention his favorite vocalists, artists and albums, among other things. Read the interview here.
And The Scotsman has a decent interview with the guys here.
(Thanks to Sandra, Milly and "scorcher" for some of the links)
a-ha to perform in Berlin on August 14th
a-ha will perform two songs at the opening show of the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin on August 14th.
This is in connection with "Foot Of The Mountain" being chosen as the official song of the Berlin championships, which is held from 15 - 23 August. The song will be used as background music every day during all the events, which are being broadcast to 190 countries across the world.
"This is fun for the guys. Nothing is like big sport events, you know. And I guess the World Championships in Athletics is the biggest sport event this year, when there's no Olympic Games", a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells VG.
Britta Ostermann of Universal Germany says: "The Championship organizers contacted us, and we suggested a-ha's "Foot Of The Mountain", which was already doing well in the German singles chart. They felt that it was a good and fitting song."
VG also reports that the album has now reached gold status in Germany, selling more than 100.000 copies so far.
GMTV / Lottery draw / Chart update
Morten and Magne are doing UK promo without Paul this week, suffering through braindead questions from ignorant "journalists". Today they appeared on ITV's GMTV, where they were first interviewed and then answered questions from fans in a live video webchat.
On Wednesday night, Morten and Magne appeared on BBC1's National Lottery Midweek Draw. A clip of this is also up on YouTube - here.
Metro.co.uk has an interview here, which includes a short video clip.
And Times Online has published the best UK review of the album so far, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. Read it here.
FOTM drops from #4 to #7 in the German album chart this week. But if it hadn't been for the massive sales of Michael Jackson albums, a-ha would still be at number 1! FOTM is actually the only album in the top 10 that isn't a Michael Jackson album. In the German singles chart FOTM drops from #10 to #16.
In Norway the album drops from #3 to #5, while the single falls out of the top 20 after eight weeks.
(Thanks to Caterina and the fans who have uploaded clips to Youtube)
More interviews
Virgin Media are inviting readers to send in questions for an upcoming interview with a-ha.
Questions can be submitted here.
The website RememberTheEighties.com also want readers to send in their questions for an a-ha interview. Which is what they also said last year - when nothing happened. Anyway, you can e-mail your questions to this adress.
And a-ha.com has been updated with the following UK promo:
July 27: BBC Breakfast (6:00-9:15am), London Tonight (6:00-6:30pm), & Five News (5:00-5:30pm) (television).
July 30: iTunes Festival Coverage on ITV (television) (repeat July 31).
Additional television promo in July on Bliss, Reuters News, Getty TV, The Chart Show TV & Flava Music TV. Additional radio promo interviews on Smooth, Radio 2, Ents News, LBC, Show Biz and other stations, plus a lot of regional programs.
GMTV webcast and BBC 5 Live performance
Some additional UK-promotion:
A live video webcast, following their appearance on GMTV on July 17th. Questions for the band can be sent in here. (Thanks Nicola)
And an acoustic performance on Gethin Jones - BBC 5 Live on July 18th. (Thanks a-ha.com)
Re-scheduled HMV signing and more radio appearances
a-ha.com announced that the HMV signing session/acoustic performance has now been re-scheduled for July 28th. It will also be held in a different HMV store, located at the Westfield Shopping Centre in West London.
A few more radio appearances have also been confirmed. They will do an acoustic perormance on George Lamb's show on BBC Radio 6 on July 23rd. And they will perform five tracks (including "a new cover of a great British song") on Dermot O'Leary's show on BBC Radio 2, July 25th.
And the German Vogue has a 7-minute video interview with Morten on their website. It can be viewed here. (Thanks to Verni)
a-ha to appear on Jonathan Ross
It has been confirmed that a-ha will perform two songs on the BBC 1 talkshow "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" on July 24th. a-ha manager Harald Wiik tells Dagbladet.no that this is why the UK release was postponed by two weeks - which lead to the cancellation of the HMV signing session:
"This is so huge that we had to re-schedule our whole promotional plan. They wanted exclusivity by letting this be the first TV-performance a-ha will do in the UK this summer, which is a standard agreement with all their guests. This meant that it was best for us to change the album release date accordingly."
"Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" is the most popular talkshow on UK television, and is on average watched by 3,7 million viewers. Other guests appearing on the July 24th show, which is also the last show of the season, include Quentin Tarantino and Denzel Washington.
While this is the first time a-ha appear on Ross' television show, Morten was interviewed on his radio show back in 2002.
Order link / TV-appearance / Charts
If you want to get your own copies of the latest MASSIV magazine with 3 different front covers, MASSIV have now set up a page where fans everywhere can place their orders.
The magazines are free, you only pay for the shipping. So far, a-ha fans from more than 50 countries have ordered the magazines.
Here is the link: Order MASSIV #3
Some UK news:
a-ha are scheduled to appear on "National Lottery Midweek Draw" on BBC1 next Wednesday, July 15th.
And the first UK album reviews have started to appear. There's one on BBC Music, and another one was published on contactmusic.com.
FOTM drops from #2 to #4 on the German album chart in its third week. Michael Jackson albums take over the top two positions.
On the single chart FOTM is still in the top 10 after six weeks, only down from #9 to #10.
In Norway, the album is at #3 - same as last week, while the single drops from #13 to #19.
(Thanks to Sandra for links and info)
UK radio interviews
a-ha appeared on several UK radio stations today and over the weekend, including Forth One, Lincs FM, BFBS Radio and Wave 105.
Some of the interviews are also available online:
Lincs FM (starts after 10 minutes), BFBS Radio (starts after 22 minutes) and Wave 105.
In between interviews, Magne found time for a quick visit to the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on Sunday, where he hung out with his friends in Coldplay - who ended the festival with a big concert.
There's a backstage picture of Magne and Guy Berryman on Coldplay.com.
a-ha's appearence on the morning TV show GMTV has apparently been re-scheduled for July 17th.
(Thanks to Catherine, Bunty, Sally and Carlos for links and info)
P2 radio interview
Somehow I missed this when it was first broadcast, but Magne was interviewed on NRK P2's radio programme "Mozart og Madonna" on June 15th.
The theme of the week was England, and Magne had been invited to talk about how a-ha went to London to make it in the music business. He says that staying in London had an important impact on Paul and himself as musicians:
"We discovered and opened up to more commercial music than what we had listened to before. We were rather stuck in the sixties, in a way. We had noticed punk music and thought it was cool, but we tried our best to hold onto the sixties-sound in the music we did ourselves."
This month's promotional push in the UK was also mentioned:
"We're going to play and talk our way through July in London. There's a surprising amount of interest and love directed towards the band over there these days."
I have made a full translation of the interview, which can be found here.
And if you want to listen to it yourself, the June 15th programme is available for download from nrk.no as a podcast. The interview starts after 9 minutes.
Magic Indulgence Event / BFBS radio interview
(Picture by Qouda)
"The Bandstand" made its live debut last night, when a-ha played a 7-song live set in front of 150 lucky ticket winners at the One Marelybone venue in London.
According to a-ha.com on Twitter, the setlist at the promotional mini-concert was:
1. The Bandstand
2. Riding The Crest
3. The Sun Always Shines On TV
4. Foot Of The Mountain
5. Analogue
6. Take On Me
-------------
7. Hunting High And Low
An interview with a-ha will be broadcast on BFBS Radio on Monday, July 6th, on the show "Breakfast with Sim" between 09.00 and 10.00 (UK time).
The show should be available for listening at bfbs-radio.com. (Thanks to "feeb" on WOTM)
