80's Flashback

a-ha, The Sun Always Shines On TV, 1985. The second hit single from their debut album, Hunting High And Low, this track didn't do quite as well as 1984's Take On Me, which went to #1 in a dozen countries, including the U.S. But it did reach the Top Ten in many places, even bettering the #2 peak of Take On Me in the UK, staying at the pinnacle there for two weeks in early '86. Here in America the track petered out at #20 on pop, but it was the astonishingly great extended 12" mix with its huge crescendos that turned the song into a big-room club classic. I'll never forget the crowd's reaction to the track early one Easter morning at South Beach's Paragon. The band continues to draw arena-sized crowds in many places, especially its native Norway where they've notched 24 Top Tens including 8 #1's, but plans to split after a 2010 world tour.