The band signed with Ratcliff, who introduced them to manager Terry Slater. They decided to record new demos, and chose the studio of musician and producer John Ratcliff, intending to re-record five songs. A-ha returned to Norway to earn some money when they returned to London, they left Lionheart out of frustration. After a few meetings with various A&R personnel, they signed with the publishing house Lionheart. The band moved into an apartment in London and began contacting record companies and publishing houses. They intended the song to show off Harket's vocal range, which led to his vocals "doing this spiraling thing". In January 1983, the band returned to London in search of a recording contract. They were joined by singer Morten Harket and began working on demos, including a new version of "Miss Eerie", which was renamed "Lesson One" before it evolved into "Take On Me". Waaktaar and Furuholmen relocated to London to try their hand in the music industry there, but returned to Norway after six months of disappointment. Waaktaar initially thought the song would be too pop to work with although Furuholmen recalled thinking it was "quite catchy". The first take of the song was inspired in part by Doors member Ray Manzarek and his "almost mathematical but very melodic, structured way of playing". Initially the band felt the riff was too pop oriented for their band, thus the first version of the song was more "punky" in an attempt to offset the riff. It included elements of what would later become "Take On Me", including the central synth riff, which Magne Furuholmen created when he was 15 years old. One of the tracks rehearsed around this time was called "Miss Eerie", which had an original title of "Panorama". "Take On Me" originated from Pål Waaktaar's and Magne Furuholmen's previous band Bridges. The video won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. In the United States in October 1985 the single topped Billboard's Hot 100, no doubt bolstered by the wide exposure on MTV of director Steve Barron's innovative music video featuring the band in a live-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The second of those 1985 releases charted in September 1985, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in October. The original 1984 version "Take On Me" failed to chart in the United Kingdom, as did the second version in the first of its two 1985 releases.
The recording combines synth-pop with a varied instrumentation, including acoustic guitars, keyboards, and drums. The 1985 international hit version was produced by Alan Tarney for the group's debut studio album, Hunting High and Low (1985). The original version, recorded in 1984, was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff. " Take On Me" is a song by Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha. "Take On Me" (original version) on YouTube
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