For kids in the 1980’s, radio was strictly for the car. At home, they wanted their MTV.

Promo videos had been around since the 60’s and you can find early examples from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Doors, but these usually aired once, on a show like Ed Sullivan or The Smothers Brothers, and then good luck ever seeing it again. But with the advent of music television, the videos stayed in rotation 24 hours a day. And the impact on record sales was massive.

Bottom line: you needed a video. Not only that…..you needed a great one.

I think we can all agree that a-ha’s “Take On Me” exemplifies the textbook definition of an earworm, filled with hooks galore, so you would think it attained instant success upon release. It did not. Nor did it attain anything the second time. And what do they say about the third time? Well, that one’s the charm.

a-ha evolved out of a Norwegian band called Bridges, who got together in the late 1970’s when young teenagers Paul and Magne, inspired by their love of dark, psychedelic rock like The Doors and Hendrix, committed wholeheartedly to a life in music. Eventually they decided their songs needed a little more pop accessibility and the “Take On Me” riff was born — but it was originally too poppy for their taste (they called it “The Juicy Fruit Song,” so named because it reminded them of American bubblegum commercials of glowing, smiling teens frolicking in the sun) so they punked it up to keep it edgy.

Marten enters the picture in 1982. Bridges is down to a duo and Marten comes up after a show and gushes about the song with the poppy riff. In short order, they form a trio known as a-ha and move to London to find fame and fortune. They find neither. Even after the band’s catchy songs, Marten’s unearthly vocals, and, let’s face it, their chiseled good looks, eventually grab the attention of record executives, success does not clamor at a-ha’s door.

The first version of “Take On Me” was released in 1984 with a video of a-ha performing on an empty soundstage while a young lady performed slow-motion cartwheels. Does anyone remember the song coming out in 1984? Right. It didn’t do well. Somehow, the band managed to convince the record company to give them more money in order to rerecord the song, which they didn’t think captured the energy of the demo. So they entered the studio and recorded the version we all know today.

Big hit? Bomb. But the song was undeniably great so the record company threw more money at it, and proceeded to spend nearly six months making one of the most labor-intensive and creative music videos ever filmed.

Surely, this time. Right?

Right. Released as a single for the third time in September of 1985, “Take On Me,” assisted by an innovative hand-drawn video, topped the charts all over the world. No matter how magnificent, some songs need a little push, and the song that reminded its writers of a commercial became the soundtrack for one of the most effective commercials in music history.

So slowly learn that life is okay … with a-ha.