#24: The Sun Always Shines On T.V. by A-ha

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: February 1986
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Danish Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Swedish Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #4
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Finnish Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on West German Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Swiss Singles chart ~ #7
Peak Position on Austrian Singles chart ~ #8
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #8
Peak Position on Italian Singles chart ~ #9
Peak Position on French Singles chart ~ #10
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #12
YouTube: “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.”
Lyrics: “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.”

A-ha is a Norwegian synth-pop band. It was founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy who was born with the name Pål Gamst in 1961 in Tonsenhagen, in suburban Oslo. Pål first to learn the flute, then he studied music composition. His performance skill revealed him to be a child prodigy. He was later known as Pål Waaktaar and co-founded the Oslo band Bridges in 1978. Bridges released two albums and folded in 1981. The following year, Paul Waaktaar founded A-ha. Lead singer, Morten Harket, was born in 1959 in the mining town of Kongsberg, Norway. At the age of 4, he started writing music and playing piano. The third bandmate is Magne Furuholmen. He was born in 1962 and learned to play keyboards and guitar. In 1978, he joined Bridges along with Paul Waaktaar.

The band says the name “A-ha” comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song. He was dithering between the titles “A-ha” and “A-hem”. Morten was looking through Paul’s notebook, and came across the name, which he liked, and immediately decided that it was the right name for the band.

The band credits filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, The Doors, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Joy Division, as their early influences. A-ha moved from Norway to London in 1982. It was there that Aztec Camera, OMD, Soft Cell and Yazoo, additionally contributed to their emerging sound. In 1984, the band released their first single titled “Take On Me”. The song with English lyrics climbed to #3 in Norway. However, it was ignored internationally. Subsequently, they re-released “Take On Me” and in 1985 it topped the pop charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA, and West Germany. The international hit also climbed to #2 in Canada, Denmark, Ireland and the UK, #3 in France, #4 in Finland, #7 in New Zealand and South Africa, and #11 in Spain.

The band released their debut album, Hunting High and Low. In addition to “Take On Me”, it included their next hit single titled “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.”.

Pål Waaktaar wrote “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” The song concerns someone who has found when they look inside themselves, there’s nothing “to ease the pressure of my ever-worrying mind. All my powers’ wasted away. I fear the crazed and lonely looks the mirror’s sending me these days.” The chorus contrasts the anxious state of mind with a better horizon:
Touch me, how can it be?
Believe me, the sun always shines on T.V.
Hold me close to your heart.
Touch me and give all your love to me.

In the second verse the singer adds, “Please don’t ask me to defend the shameful lowlands of the way I’m drifting gloomily through time.” Pal Waaktaar told “The Sun Always Shines On TV was written on one of those down days. Me and Mags (Furuholmen, keyboards) were in a hotel watching English television on a rainy day and the guy announcing the program says, ‘It’s a rainy day but, as always, the sun always shines on TV.’ The song is about the power of television and the way television presents life.”

The chorus on “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” was originally a last-minute middle-8 on a tune Waaktaar was working on called “Never Never.” He told American Songwriter, “Putting bits of songs together that come from different places often provides a great lift or adds a dimension you wouldn’t have stumbled upon otherwise.”

“The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” reached #2 in Seattle, #3 in Cleveland, #4 in Saskatoon (SK), #7 in Detroit, #8 in Dallas, Winston-Salem (NC), and Philadelphia, #9 in Ottawa, and Vancouver (BC), and #10 in Portland (OR), Calgary, Pittsburgh, Sydney (NS), and San Francisco.

The song was used in the trailer for the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. It won two trophies at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1986: Best Editing in a Video (for editor David Yardley) and Best Cinematography in a Video (for Director of Photography Oliver Stapleton). A-ha performed this at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 1998. They performed “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” again at the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize concert.

Internationally, “The Sun Always Shines In T.V.” reached number-one in Ireland and the UK, #2 in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, #4 in the Netherlands, #5 in Belgium, Finland, and West Germany, #7 in Switzerland, #8 in Austria and South Africa, #9 in Italy, #10 in France, #11 in Canada, #12 in New Zealand, and #19 in Australia and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Another single from Hunting High and Low was “Train Of Thought”. It peaked at #5 in Ireland, #8 in the UK, and #14 in West Germany. While “Hunting High and Low” reached #4 in France and Ireland, #5 in Italy and the UK, #9 in the Netherlands, #10 in Norway, and #11 in West Germany.

Hunting High and Low topped the album chart in New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. It also reached #2 in the UK, #3 in Brazil, and the Top Ten in Canada, Finland, France, Germany and Switzerland.

In 1986, A-ha released their second album titled Scoundrel Days. The album topped the Norwegian album chart. It was a Top Five seller in Germany, Iceland, New Zealand and the UK, and made the Top Ten on album charts in Austria, Finland, France, Japan, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It stalled at #11 in Italy and Sweden. The debut single, “I’ve Been Losing You”, climbed to number-one in Denmark and Norway, #3 in Ireland, #7 in Italy, #8 in the UK, #11 in the Netherlands and Sweden, #12 in Finland, #13 in Belgium, #14 in France, #15 in New Zealand and West Germany, and #16 in Switzerland. A second single from the album, “Cry Wolf”, peaked at #2 in Norway, #4 in Ireland, #5 in the UK, #6 in Italy, #10 in New Zealand, #12 in the Netherlands, and #13 in South Africa. The third single from Scoundrel Days, “Manhattan Skyline”, climbed to #3 in Ireland, and #4 in Norway.

In 1987, A-ha released the theme song for the James Bond spy film The Living Daylights. “The Living Daylights” topped the pop charts in Italy and Norway, peaking at #2 in Ireland, #3 in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, #4 in Belgium, #5 in South Africa and the UK, #8 in Switzerland and West Germany, #9 in the Netherlands, and #18 in Austria.

In 1988, the title track from the third album, Stay on These Roads, topped the pop charts in Denmark, Italy, and Norway, and climbed to #2 in Ireland, #3 in France and Iceland, #4 in South Africa, #5 in the UK, #7 in West Germany, #8 in the Netherlands, #10 in Belgium, Finland and Switzerland, #11 in Austria, and #17 in Sweden. A second single from the album, “The Blood That Moves the Body”, topped the pop chart in Iceland, reached #3 in Italy, #11 in Ireland and South Africa, and #16 in Belgium. Later in 1988, “Touchy!” topped the European Airplay Top 50, and climbed to #5 in France, and #6 in Ireland.

In 1990, A-ha released East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It topped the Norwegian pop album chart, and made the Top Ten in Germany and Iceland. A-ha covered the Everly Brothers Top Ten international hit “Crying In the Rain” from 1961, which was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. A-ha charted their version to number-one in Norway, #6 in Germany, #7 in Luxembourg, #8 in Ireland, #9 in Italy, #10 in the Netherlands, #11 in France, #12 in Belgium, #13 in the UK, #14 in Finland, and #17 in Austria.

In 1991, A-ha released Headlines and Deadlines: The Hits of A-ha. Though it was a greatest hits album, it contained a new single titled “Move to Memphis”. The single reached #2 in Norway, and the Top 15 in Luxembourg and the Netherlands. In 1993, A-ha released their fifth studio album titled Memorial Beach. The lead single, “Dark Is the Night for All”, peaked at #4 in Norway, and #10 on the European Hit Radio chart.

In 2000, A-ha released another studio album titled Major Earth Minor Sky. It reached number-one on the album charts in Germany and Norway, and was a Top Ten seller in Austria, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland. The lead single, “Summer Moved On”, climbed to number-one in Norway, #2 in Belgium, Poland and Spain, #7 in Hungary, #8 in Germany, #10 in Austria, #11 in the Czech Republic, and #14 in Switzerland. While their seventh studio album, Lifelines, released in 2002 featured “Forever Not Yours”. The single topped the pop charts in Norway and Poland, and climbed to #2 in the Czech Republic. The album topped the charts in Germany and Norway, and also cracked the Top Ten on the album charts in Austria, Denmark, Greece, Poland and Switzerland.

In 2005, A-ha released their eighth studio album titled Analogue. The album was the eighth number-one on the Norwegian album chart. The lead single, “Celice”, became the ninth number-one hit on the Norwegian pop chart. It also climbed to #6 in Belgium, #15 in Finland, and #21 in Germany. It was considered for inclusion in the soundtrack for the film The Da Vinci Code, but did not make the cut. A second release the following year, “Analogue (All I Want)”, reached #8 in Scotland, #10 in Norway and the UK, #16 in Belgium, and also had strong sales in Ireland and Germany.

In 2009, the band released Foot of the Mountain. It topped the album chart in Germany and stalled at #2 in Norway. The title track, “Foot of the Mountain”, peaked at #3 in Germany, and #8 in Norway. Their last hit record, “Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)”, was the debut single from A-ha’s greatest hits album 25. In 2010, the single reached #9 in Israel, #13 in Norway, and #22 in Germany. After the album was released, A-ha announced they were calling it quits.

However in 2015, A-ha went back to the recording studio to release Cast in Steel. The album reached #2 in Norway, #3 in Croatia, #4 in Germany, #5 in the Netherlands, #7 in the Czech Republic and Scotland, #8 in the UK, #9 in Switzerland, and #13 in Austria. In 2022, A-ha released their eleventh studio album titled True North. The album peaked at #3 in Norway, #4 in Germany, #5 in Switzerland, and the Top Ten on album charts in Austria, Belgium, and Scotland, and also had strong sales in the Netherlands, Poland and the UK.

In 1995, Morten Harket released a solo single titled “A Kind of Christmas Carol”. The single topped the pop chart in Norway, and climbed to #9 in Iceland. Later that year, “Spanish Steps” peaked at #14 in Norway. In 1996, “Heaven’s Not for Saints (Let It Go)” reached #9 on the Norwegian pop chart. That year Morten Harket co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. In 2007, Harket’s single “Movies” peaked at #3, while “Darkspace (You’re with Me)” climbed to #5 – both on the Norwegian pop chart VG-lista. Later in 2012, Morten Harket’s “Scared of Heights” topped the Norwegian pop charts. Between 1993 and 2014, Harket released a half dozen studio albums. In 2007, he appeared in the BBC sketch comedy TV show The Armstrong & Miller Show. In 2021. he was cast in a reality singing competition on the BBC titled The Masked Singer. He has also been cast in three children’s-family Norwegian films released between 1988 and 2009. In 2025, Harket was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

In 2004, Magne Furuholmen released his first solo album titled Past Perfect Future Tense. This was followed by A Dot of Black in the Blue of Your Bliss in 2009, and White Xmas Lies in 2019. Magne Furuholmen is also a well known visual arts artist working with glass, paint, etching and woodcut and has exhibited his works all around the world. To date, he has been featured in nearly thirty solo exhibitions. He has also had numerous commissions including the permanent public commission, ‘Resonance’ for The city of Bergen in 2003; As well as his largest commission to date – a ceramic sculpture park in Oslo consisting of 50 tonnes of clay, in 2016.

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy was married in 1994 to American filmmaker Lauren Savoy. They are part of a band called Savoy who have released seven studio albums since 1996. The seventh studio album, Under, was released in 2024. He has also exhibited his paintings at a number of exhibitions. His trademark is not starting to paint until the canvas has been fitted with a frame. This trait was played upon in his debut exhibition “Rammer” (meaning “Frames” in Norwegian) in Lillehammer, Norway.

In 2012, the bandmates in A-ha were awarded the Order of Olav for distinguished services to their country, at a ceremony in Oslo.

June 5, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Jason Schreurs, “A-ha Take on Retirement After 25 Years,” exclaim!, October 15, 2009.
A-ha, “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.“, Nobel Peace Prize concert, Oslo, Norway, December 11, 2015.
Lauren M. Johnson, “Music video for ‘Take On Me’ hits one billion views on YouTube,” CNN, February 19, 2020.
Ed Potton, “Guest List: The pop singer Morten Harket: The world as listed by the A-ha frontman,” The Sunday Times, July 18, 2009.
“A-ha Receives Prestigious Award,” Music Export, Norway, September 6, 2012.

CKOM 650-AM Saskatoon (SK) | February 14, 1986