THIS IS FREAKING SHOCKING!!! A-HA - TAKE ON ME

[@pisces228]

When you think about the fact this video was made over 35 years ago, it really does stand the test of time as one of the best videos every produced. I love it when I was 15, and I still love it today. Cheers!

[@albamartinez4987]

I was 14....best time to be a teenager right!? How lucky were we?!

[@anthonymullen6300]

@@albamartinez4987 35 year's ago i got my haircut like Morten harket and I used to wear leather string around my wrist, 35 year's ago😱 still have my hair and still brown🤪

[@mandyatterbury5408]

I was 11 years old when this song came out. I'm 46 now

[@GeographRick]

Not only that it's not CGI, it's hand drawn animation mixed with video.

[@helenatyeo6840]

My bedroom was covered in their posters in the 80's 😀

[@coachnicolejohnson7741]

One of the BEST music videos EVER! The graphics still hold up to this day so imagine being a kid in the 80's like me and seeing something like that!! Chills, excitement, wide eyes and all!

[@3DJapan]

The visual effects hold up.

[@herrbonk3635]

It's a great video for sure. But there were cartoons, and short art films in this style already in the 1940s. So we were't exactly shocked (when we saw what our little sisters listened to ... :D)

[@Ultra54able]

Hand drawn, took several months to complete.

[@_eclipz_]

Yeah this video is simply amazing!

[@CLoak183]

I remember in the early 80s running over to my friends house so we could watch these videos on VH1. About 8 years old, it was amazing to us back then.

[@philpennington826]

I remember this. I was a teenager. Even kids that didn't like this type of music loved this. My friends and I back then were all hard rock/heavy metal kids. We wouldn't listen to this song on the radio, but we'd watch it every single time it came on MTV because the video was so awesome.

[@maryreilly5092]

Same here! Our group of friends were a bit older than you guys. We were 18 to 22 yrs old. We went to each others homes after work every night to watch MTV! We watched MTV then like people look.at their phones and devices now!!

[@Lokey21]

@@maryreilly5092 😂 Yes MTV was EVERYTHING back then‼️Videos for days and I loved most of the people that would were leading us into and commentating on the videos 😃 So much fun back then

[@espenvippen]

Was completely revolutionary when it came out in 1985. I was 18 years old, and MTV was something new and big. They showed music videos 24/7. Mobile phones and the Internet were something no one had ever heard of

[@1TonyNash]

That was 1985, I was 20. This was a massive hit. I recommend A-Ha's next big hit after this one, The Sun Always Shines on TV. Enjoyed your reaction you two ;-)

[@aleksanderfinstad5785]

Maybe the best song from a-ha!

[@Hearts4UrMomm]

Imagine having MTV in 81 all the videos wow.

[@JustaGuy2.0]

"Hunting High And Low" is amazing too

[@chrisrandall2710]

I saw them in Ottawa 🇨🇦in 1987....I wanted Mags! Hahathey opened for a band called 54:40

[@matthewhoag2609]

Another vote for Sun Always Shines on TV if you do another form them.

[@ACETATEjunkie]

this was my uncles claim to fame. he was working on the production that day and ended up featuring in the video...well half of his face did. When the lady lead re-emerges from the comic and is behind the counter he is the chap on the far right when they all peer over. its only a fleeting glimpse, blink and you'll miss it but its satisfying to see him immortalised for a second.

[@toddwinchester328]

For a 1980s videos...this was one of most state-of-the-art videos ever produced for that time.

[@kaarhildtorset4850]

This was way ahead of its time in 1985 groundbreaking🎼

[@BardOfAndromeda]

We knew it too. I'd never seen anything even close and everyone at school and on TV was talking about it.

[@herrbonk3635]

It's a great video, but there were art and short films in this style since the 1940s.

[@markwebster7435]

Morten harket has one of the best voices in music history. 5 octave range

[@baylessnow]

He appeared on The Masked Singer UK as The Viking singing this song but obviously not in this fashion, leaving out the high notes, as he would have been spotted straight away. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYfUeHmba9GZa9U

[@maryamallison6404]

No 8 actually

[@heavenlywithhishands]

​@@maryamallison6404 Freddie Mercury had 4, Michael Jackson had 4, Steve Perry had 4.. 5 octaves is already pushing it. For reference, Mariah Carey has a 5 octave range too. 5.

[@maryamallison6404]

No 8 actually

[@bobpegram8042]

@@maryamallison6404 The only other singer with that range that I know of, at least in pop music, was Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous Brothers singing Unchained Melody way back in the mid 1960s.

[@ashleyfletcher5044]

I fell in love with this video because of the artwork in it. It inspired me to start sketching at a young age. Love this song. Thank you Shawn and Mel for this one. Great reaction as usual. 🙌❤️ love y’all

[@robb9395]

This video was groundbreaking in its day and won a lot of awards. And the song is just plain good. "So much fun" Yup!

[@mcgee227]

This is the heart of the 80s.

[@davidelswick6660]

I was so lucky to live in that era. I was 16 and a Jr. in high school when this came out. I would get up, turn on MTV, get ready, and watch until it was time to go to school. Really was the good old days.

[@aditisk99]

Ha, I was born in 1999 and I had the same routine too 😁

[@davidelswick6660]

Big difference between MTV in 1985 and 2015. Similar, perhaps, if you were watching MTV Classic.

[@aditisk99]

@@davidelswick6660 Yeah, I watched other channels too, not just MTV.

[@squint04]

AMEN!!!!

[@kimberlinibambini1988]

ICONIC 80’s right here!! Song and video! I was 15 when it dropped- what a great time to grow up!! 🧡🤎🤍👍✌️

[@kiwigirljacks]

My first crush… Morten Harkett 😍😍 i wore a wrist full of leather bracelets because he did 🤣 and my hair similar even haha! They have some amazing songs!

[@54nomore]

This video was the first of its kind and won multiple awards for its animation and illustration. The song went onto become a monster hit for the group A-HA. And the video has garnered over 3billion hits world wide. Great response to an original of its day. Awesome!.

[@sarahormerod6261]

I was 16 when this came out, Morten Harket can still hit those notes and this video has been viewed over a billion times!! Another one of theirs you might like is 'hunting high and low'. Loved your reaction to this

[@jenfries6417]

One of my favorite 80s pop hits. FYI, the animation technique in that video was rotoscope, which involved taking film and hand-drawing the animation over the film frame by frame. It's really labor intensive, so no one does it anymore, but it is absolutely perfect for combining live action and animation like this video did.

[@femoman]

Not quite true, people do rotoscope still nowadays, for stuff like A Scanner Darkly, Waltz with Bashir, even Smiling Friends has a minor character who's uniquely rotoscoped. Digital animation tools have made it much less labour intensive now tho, since instead of individually printing out the live action frames and tracing them one by one, you can basically drag-and-drop the live-action reference footage into the animation software and scrub through the frames to trace them on layers. Not to mention motion-capture is kind of like the CGI equivalent.

[@JustaGuy2.0]

This is still seen as one of the greatest music video of all time.

[@hmpphoto]

To this day, 36 some odd years later, still one of the most brilliant music videos ever made. Cutting edge by todays standards, much less mid 80’s.

[@missd9785]

Still one of the all time best videos ever made. Can't count how many times I've seen it and it never gets old. Thanks for letting me enjoy it again with you. Loved ur reaction!

[@metal13panda76]

Fun Fact: this song came out before autotune was invented so he really hit that high note

[@jenniferfoster1692]

I was in high school when this came out, it was THE big video...now has 1 billion views!! Good things stand the test of time :-)

[@throwabrick]

Their other video "The Sun Always Shines On TV" starts off as if it was the end of this video, it departs from there but it is a very cool touch, and a great song!

[@cynthiaanderson8699]

That was one of the BEST videos on MTV back in the 80’s🤗❤️🎶

[@bwilliams463]

This was one of the songs that helped spark New Wave music in the U.S. It was A-Ha's biggest U.S. hit, so a lot of people classify them as one-hit wonders, but they remained a very popular band in Scandinavia for many years.

[@jasonsmart3482]

They had a number of hits in the Uk so for me no way one hit wonders

[@Scots_Diesel]

Many hits across norther Europe, sweeden Norway Finland Germany UK Holland Belgium France Iceland Austria....

[@hord81]

A-ha is Norway's biggest band of all time. I was born in 81. Remember they were very popular from the mid to late 80s. Lead singer is Morten Harket.

[@Isleofskye]

Great Reaction. THREE THOUSAND HAND DRAWINGS that took a team 4 months to produce which is why this was the most-watched video on MTV AND though it is over 35 years old there are over a BILLION views on KZbin :)

[@johnhawkins9626]

You younguns might not realize how groundbreaking this was technically, but in 1985, nobody had seen anything like that. That video is iconic.

[@cflournoy1529]

And it still looks good in 2021!❤️

[@saansardar1215]

I always get nostalgic when i hear this song😭😭

[@hildapederson8174]

This is my absolute favorite all time music video!!! Was in high-school in the early 80s when everything was still pretty fresh. Loved it then, love it now. Song is still as fun to listen to now as then. Man, could he hit the high notes! Lol! Thanks for reacting to it.

[@dmbfannh]

Morten Hacket is in his 60s now and he can still hit that high note singing this live, that's incredible!😊

[@ellenstergaardgravesen1011]

The MTV unplugged edition from 2017 is completely different but sooooo beautiful!

[@rons3634]

I loved this video when it came out and I still love it. I guess the effects aren't such a big deal anymore since every reacter I've seen doesn't really notice it, but back then this really was amazing. The scenes where he was going back and forth between a real person and a drawing were especially awesome for a music video but today it doesn't even get mentioned. I guess I'm old now. lol

[@SC-ej6zl]

This video was cutting edge back in the 80's. And yes Morten has one of the best voices with a five octive range.

[@deborahdennehy9937]

That was in the 80's & I was in my 20's, just loved/love it so so much, fabulous video!!!! xx

[@FD-E-St-Fire]

This was the first time the industry ( movie television ) used this style of videography to split video tape and art style video ( stop frame ) it blew everything else in creativity away. I think the next time this format was used was the movie Roger Rabbit where cartoon was added to video for a movie.

[@lightlantern]

Gotta Love Those Norwegian Studs Who Haven’t Aged At All!!! ❤️ Yes 80s

[@strawberryeyes3496]

This was A-ha's first single, their second single The Sun Always Shines on TV is a loose follow up to Take on Me, the video is a lot different but the song is banging.

[@suchendelokidottir5673]

Now you know why this was considered the greatest music video ever made for decades and it still makes the list.

[@kissmy_butt1302]

Fun fact: This is the 3rd version of the song by A-Ha. It did ok in their home country. A producer heard it, brought them to the US and had them do it again and this is the version that became the international hit.

[@hap2664]

A-ha my first concert...I was 13 years old. Morten is one the best singer ever...and a wonderful person too.

[@WineSippingCowboy]

This is really a re-release. The original in 1984 by a-ha got DOA. 😖 This version runs circles over the 1984 version! 😃🎸🎹 At the AMA in 1986, the late Kenny Rogers praised Morten Harket of a-ha: KR wished he could reach that high! 😃 Written by a-ha. This is the video version. The 1985 radio version has a different ending. With the high falsettos, Morten Harket deserves to be in the GOAT male singer category. Sampling. Pitbull sampled the chorus. He wrote lyrics and got permission from a-ha. Suggested video: Pitbull, Christina Aguilera and Morten Harker perform Feel This Moment. Suggested next a-ha video: Train of Thought. 🎸😃🎹

[@qwertyTRiG]

The original (blue version) is strange. I like it, actually.

[@js-jd1dx]

1976 Born here, I Love your shirt Mel!❤ this song will always be great!

[@prodigal71]

I saw them when I was 15...my metal-head friends messed with me about going to this show (that was a no no as a metal lover myself) but I had so much fun! Danced with so many girls & it was great! Always had a soft spot for pop music well before I got into Ozzy and Metallica and Megadeth

[@TheMedievalman9]

Haha! Hardcore punk in the 80s here, myself. Same thing, mate. I had to keep my love of music like this to myself for sure, but telling everyone about the girls I danced with was something they understood well!

[@michw3755]

Aww the 80's when music video releases were an actual event, the good old days. You know you're getting old when you get all nostalgic🤣

[@Lolo-zs2eo]

Haven't heard this in years. I remember it because of the comic strip like panels. I think they were the first to do a video like this.

[@steph990]

Y’all might get this. Amazing video. I requested it from V66 in Boston (our free answer to MTV at the time). waited for it for hours, even got in trouble with my mama for not doing my chores waiting for this video. Worth it. When I got to college, it was an album everyone could agree on that you could play whenever. 👍🏻

[@SweetThing]

A-ha is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The lead singer could sing 5 octaves. The band has since retired. This was always me and my SO's song. Check out their song: "The Living Daylights" which is the theme song of a James Bond movie of the same name. Also, check out: "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." These guys are awesome and so unique. :-)

[@stevegans3517]

This was their one big hit, and you couldn't go anywhere without hearing it and seeing the video. It's iconic.

[@hwd71]

I was 13 and still love and listen to this song, it's great that new generations love it too.

[@joecochran7797]

This video was revolutionary, way ahead of its time.

[@donaldyoung9002]

This was a huge hit and a ground breaking video in the 80s. Had huge rotation on MTV.❤

[@vegasbaby3669]

Ahhhhhh the 80’s. 1985, I was a 10 year old kid. We just didn’t know or realize how good we had it, in terms of music.

[@graymouser6599]

Nearly 40 years old, and this is still the greatest music video ever made. Technologically way ahead of its time, great song, great story. Still the GOAT!

[@nortiwriot9682]

This song was a banger!!! 💯🔥 A-Ha is a synth-pop band from Norway, this song is off the album Hunting, high and low which was released in 1985.

[@crowgrl13]

One of the sweetest love stories of the 80's...in less than 5 minutes.

[@larrymcauley3152]

This is the first video I saw on MTV. A brand new venue for music. I'm 72 this is very nostalgic.

[@miaschu8175]

This was groundbreaking. Way before its time. I and my friends were all in love with Morten Harket! He was also really cute as a character from one of those teenage romance magazines. (Long before your time, Shawn & Mel!)

[@pilargonzalez8442]

I was 8 when this came out, it was huuuuge!! Mtv daysssss

[@robertgieseler1220]

Can you believe that the entire cartoon passages had been HAND-DRAWN!

[@carlossilva7530]

I grew up listening to this song and practically all their songs from their first 4 albums. Still today, they are one of my favorite bands of the 80s. I do listen to their most recent material but, this takes me back to the time where I'd rode my bike or play football (soccer) on the streets with my neighbors

[@leogem177]

There's something so heartwarming and uplifting about this song and the video. Its so straight forward and joyful makes you feel very nostalgic for the 80's and simpilar times❤️.

[@derekseven1647]

I remember when this came out on MTV it played around twenty-four hours throughout the day for months.

[@bluewaters3100]

I have been hearing this song since 1985 and this is the first time I have seen this video. WOW is all I can say...

[@alphonsowilliams5072]

Hey Shawn and Mel, so glad you guys liked the video. I was in my twenties in the 80s, and yes, we had some of the best and most creative videos during that decade, thanks to VH1, BET, and MTV.

[@xoxxobob61]

"Take on Me" is such a Iconic Video since it's one of the first on KZbin to surpass One BILLION Views! The video used a 1930's technology known as "RotoScope" in films whereby every part you see in the frame was hand drawn. By the way this song was released 3 times in the 1980's and failed to make the Music charts until this Video came out.

[@ffjsb]

It's first filmed, THEN drawn by hand over the individual frames, which makes it so highly realistic. Still very labor intensive.

[@daveg2104]

@@ffjsb And tedious, particularly back in the days of film. Software does a lot of the work these days, provided you have set up your shots and green (or other appropriate colour) screen correctly. Rotoscopers are kind of the unsung heroes of a lot of films.

[@stillaboveground2470]

One of the best music videos ever made... Great song... I remember when this came out. It was a phenomenon. I miss the '80s... I miss being young.

[@tracyc8910]

Hands down the best music video ever made even today 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@markwebster7435]

Best music video ever. a-ha still going to this day. Still sell out arenas all over the world

[@mattc3581]

I've been to a concert where the band (big band with huge hits of their own) played a couple of covers half way through. 'Take on me' was on of the covers they did and it got a crowd of their own fans singing along and screaming way more than any of their own songs!

[@jeffcallahan8713]

70's and 80's were a great time to live!! I miss them but thankful 🙏 I was there.

[@dalee72]

When the lady cafe owner thought that she was stiffed by the girl by not paying her coffee check, she crumpled up the comic book and threw it into the trash can. Those two men who were chasing the lead singer and the girl were from the beginning of the music video when they lost the motorcycle race. Their worlds collided when the lady cafe owner crumpled up the comic book.

[@blinkspacestudio8892]

Timeless song and vid. You will never get anything as creative as this

[@michaelcroteau5919]

Watching that as a 6 year old in 1986 was BANANAS.

[@i.m.7710]

Great video and your reactions are priceless!!!!!! It’s so easy to miss things in this video if you look away for an instant! Lol. I first watched it on mtv with my teenagers. We were blown away. No KZbin in the nineties, we had to wait until mtv played it again. The drawings captivated me the most. But all of it is amazing. I love it that your romance had a connection to the title. Kismet!💃🏽🕺🏾

[@Cobalt-Jester]

Both me and my GF are SFX artists... We have no idea how they did that in the 80s.

[@jeffshang4540]

I love how you guys are so into the song and story in the video. So sincere

[@drakeil]

The one thing I liked is the way he ending mimicked the same scene from "Altered States" with the hero struggling to bring himself back to reality.

[@squint04]

The follow up to this video is "The Sun Always Shines On TV" Morton can't stay and has to go back into the comics!!

[@fionataylor4269]

Yes this is when the world was good , great reaction!

[@joekickass7521]

if possible, please give the acoustic version of this a listen. it’s so good

[@ChrissyCancilla]

♥♥♥ loved it back in the day and love it just as much today ☺

[@olijadu]

monumentally ahead of its time . it still holds strong today, and may even still be ahead of today. brilliant video , brilliant art, brilliant song

[@sdev2749]

loved that song as a teenager - came out when I was 17

[@rorygrime1202]

The guy couldn't leave the comic world. This video was state of the art in 1985 when it was released.

[@michaeltaylor8835]

This video was technically way ahead of its time. Like Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel

[@CofyjunkyPNW]

Fact: It's the ONLY video of its kind. So the band and the video creators will always have that history, despite A-ha being a OHW in the U.S.

[@angierucinski5694]

Thank you for your lovely reaction, this video is now approaching 2 Billion views. It's a marvel isn't it? Yes, it was released in 1985.

[@toddmurphy664]

I love AHA and now love Mel and Shawn!! So cool and you two are so positive and telling it like it is! So good! 1985 friends!

[@diablo4166]

☆LONG LIVE THE 80'S☆

[@victorramsey5575]

I was in high school when this video was being played every few hours on MTV. My girlfriend at that time looked identical to the girl in this video. People would stop and stare at her wherever we went. It was weird but fun too. ahhh.... good times.....

[@tertialqueen8677]

This was so much fun! Mid-thirties when this came out! ❤️

[@davidh.8798]

This video was a sensation in 1984, and was made on tech significantly less powerful than your smartphone. Significantly! I can't believe how well it still stands up.

[@penname5766]

Norwegian band. The girl is English - this video was filmed in England.

[@NicoruAmarfi]

Love your reactions. So sweet and honest and positive.

[@woodchucknation]

Great reaction to the video. Was awesome watching it the first time myself back in 1985 on Friday Night Videos.

[@Deborahtunes]

Definitely one of the best videos in the 80's. Even if a person wasn't much for the song itself, the video was so cool, we watched it anyway. Came out in 1985, my senior year of highschool...

[@fernandof.2225]

feedback: this song/video is part of music history. Is meant to be watch without blinking, paying attention to the story, to every sketch, and listen to the music, without bopping around. Is a love story. The guy ended crossing to her World, which cause all the sweating at the end.

[@joecampbell2496]

💕 You guys, 💕 that You discovered this VIDEO!! Without the video, the song is catchy as you could want. This might only be trailing THRILLER in my opinion as best video of all time. Amazing in and out of the comic, a concise, exciting adventure that both adds texture to the experience and allow the music to add the anxiety in tempo. Great reaction, Loves!

[@timmmcdonald4143]

As epic as the video is, and it is the best of all time because it’s not just a music video, it transcends as a piece of art film that is this simplistic coherent story extremely well thought out and unique start to finish. As great as that is, the video came out like two years after the song debuts in America. At least the first time I heard it. And as terrible as the midi techno pop laced track is, the vocal is truly one of the most epic performances I ever heard captured on audio. Before the day of digitally fixing vocals, I was a vocalist who had larger range than most my contemporaries in other bands, and there is no way I could touch this range and control of vocal performance. Truly humbling. Just jaw dropping for us who performed and recorded when we heard this thing. To me, the video being the best ever made by the time it came out was just the cherry on top to the single because of that lead vocal. I believe the song was debut in 1984. I grew up in Cleveland Ohio and WMMS did not play culture club or much techno and stuff of this nature, yet they played the shit out of this song. Truly one of the 1980’s greatest recordings.