a-ha’s “Take On Me” Crosses One Billion Views…and Is Still Counting

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Before there was Undone, Dream Corp LLC, or A Scanner Darkly, Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha released a rotoscope-animated music video for their track “Take On Me”, a track that didn’t do well in Europe, but did so here in the United States thanks to MTV and 80s dance clubs, helping the track stay on the charts for 27 weeks. At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the video for “Take On Me” won six awards—Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, and Viewer’s Choice—and was nominated for two others, Best Group Video and Video of the Year. “Take On Me” was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Video at the 13th American Music Awards in 1986.

The likes of Family Guy and Paramore have paid homage to the video in one way or another making the song just as contemporary as ever. Today, the track nabs a half a million streams a day on Youtube where it has been remastered in 4k resolution and has officially surpassed one billion views.

 

About John Schwarz

John is the Chief Editor and Founder of Bubbleblabber.com. While at first a part-time project, Bubbleblabber quickly grew into a full-fledged operation and officially became a company in 2014. When John isn't running a business full-time, he likes to go to concerts with your mother.