a-ha: ranking highs and lows

• Episode 22: Sondre Lerche's top 36 a-ha songs

  ‘And when she’s ranking by my side / Eyes closed, all knowledge trapped inside’Dear a-ha friends,We couldn’t be happier to set a new “personal best” when it comes to podcast episode length than with this latest edition of ‘a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows’. We are joined by none other than Sondre Lerche, one of Norway’s finest songwriters and artists and - importantly - an a-ha fan since the tender age of 4!In this latest episode he tells us about the tremendous impact a-ha had on him growing up, how he has both been inspired by a-ha but also consciously distanced himself from them as he was finding his own identity as an artist.In this episode you’ll experience true passion, discussions about sexy and not so sexy songs, if it matters or not that Morten is beautiful, why album closers are such important songs, which a-ha song that made Sondre cry on the train very recently (train ticket prices might have been a factor, but still), how Sondre feels about Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton, how some wine resulted in an impromptu cover of an a-ha song at a party, and much, much more. And why is Daddy wearing leather?Sondre is a great storyteller, knowledgeable about music, generous with his time, humorous, and just a lovely guest to have on the show. We hope you’ll enjoy it whether you take it in one big bite or nibble at it in bite sizes.Let’s continue to make this 40-year anniversary of Hunting High and Low a special one and keep celebrating the wonderful music of a-ha. We will do our best at least – and this time with Sondre Lerche!All the best,JP, Jesper and Peter the Producer‘I’ve done all I can do / All the rankings I’ve sent through’

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• Episode 21: From Basslines to Backstage - Jørun "JB" Bøgeberg ranks his biggest moments with a-ha

  ‘Hey listen honey, something you should rank / This can’t wait’Dear a-ha friends,We are extremely proud to share this new episode of ‘a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows’ with you. We had the chance to catch up with Jørun Bøgeberg – a-ha’s bass player from 1990 to 1994, all-round cool dude and one of the nicest guys you’re likely to meet.In this episode, Jørun kindly shares his favourite moments from his time with a-ha, and we are just there for the ride. Among other things, you will hear a great impression of Magne, you will hear about a fake bass part that Jørun got credited for, and you’ll also learn which a-ha song he was likely the first person ever to listen to. You’ll hear a salad being prepared in the background, and you will find out if missing a couple of bass notes on stage at an a-ha concert has consequences.There are a couple of phone calls from Morten to Jørun at odd times, and we ALMOST tell you where you can find a real collector’s item. There are, of course, also memories of some great shows in South America, we play some lesser-known sound bites, and Jørun tries to decide if he played on a much-beloved demo song.In addition to that, you get some cool insights into working with our favourite trio, a new take on how a-ha felt about those 90s albums, and the modest party culture within the band despite some major achievements. And what is the story behind the nickname “Boogieberg”?We had a blast with Jørun, and we hope you’ll enjoy the episode and the stories from someone who’s played with a-ha on some of our absolute favourite albums and tours.As always, please like, subscribe, share, give us some nice reviews where you listen to your podcasts and all that algorithm-related tech stuff to make sure we get the episode out to as many a-ha fans as possible. Sharing is caring, and we do care a lot about a-ha!Let’s continue to make this 40-year anniversary of Hunting High and Low a special one and keep celebrating the wonderful music of a-ha. We will do our best at least – and this time with Jørun Bøgeberg!All the best,JP, Jesper and Peter the Producer‘You say you want to rank / You’re not the only one / Not the only one’

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• Episode 20: The 20 best a-ha songs chosen by guest star Ørjan Nilsson

  ‘I went down to the ranking / Like a lamb to the slaughter’Dear a-ha friends,We are very proud to share with you this episode of ‘a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows’. Not only is it episode 20, but it is also our first episode to feature a guest star and guest ranker - none other than Norwegian journalist and author Ørjan Nilsson, the man behind three excellent books about our beloved a-ha members. Ørjan kindly agreed to create his very own list of the 20 best a-ha songs as well as sharing some interesting anecdotes about the book writing process.In this episode you can hear stories about police permits, which a-ha song is like a hand, why it’s Samantha Fox’s fault that young Ørjan had to listen to Scoundrel Days in his dad’s car, and how Ørjan ended up in Take On Me-producer Alan Tarney’s studio listening to an unreleased album by Morten. Honestly, if Ørjan wasn’t such a pleasure to talk to, we would have turned his microphone off out of sheer envy.There’s also the story about Morten lying on the couch (“lying” as in Morten being positioned horizontally, not as in him not telling the truth) while Ørjan reads to him. There are countless memories from a-ha concerts and life as an a-ha fan, and we get to hear about Ørjan’s fascination with celebrities and sports stars who hit rock bottom. There’s also a dog, and for once JP and Jesper do a bit less of the talking, so what’s not to like?We hope you’ll like the episode - we had a lot of fun making it at least - and as always please like, subscribe, share and all that algorithm jazz to make sure we get the episode out to as many a-ha fans as possible.Let’s make this 40-year anniversary of Hunting High and Low a special one and keep celebrating the wonderful music of a-ha. We will do our best - and this time with excellent contribution from Ørjan!All the best,JP, Jesper and Peter the Producer‘Ranking works a wrinkle over time’

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• Episode 19: Ranking the Magne album 'Living With Ourselves'

  “You’re hoping for rankings / Well, just look around / Everyone here is standing in line”Dear a-ha friends,It’s time we made good on our promise to record a new episode of ‘a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows’ - as far as we know the world’s only (and therefore arguably: best) podcast solely dedicated to the wonderful music of a-ha and their related solo projects. And this episode is of course a ranking of the songs from Magne’s new album ‘living with ourselves’ (and in case anyone is wondering: Yes, every cell in our bodies screams for us to begin the words with capital letters, but we can’t argue with artists, can we? Maybe we can).Anyway, it’s not a secret that we are rather fond of ‘living with ourselves’ so if you decided to press Play on this episode hoping to listen to three angry middle-aged men (us, not a-ha), you’ll be unpleasantly surprised. However, you will get to hear about currency exchange rates, Peter the Producer’s sneaky musical adventures as a young boy, a conversation at work that maybe robbed Jesper of a treasured item, and the idea for a band called “a-heatles” and a single called “Gospel from a Beatle”.We also speculate what it takes for a Magne to be a John, if 400.000 NOK is enough to send three people to Southern France to record an album, and how much time a-ha owes us back. We also talk a little about Depeche Mode, Babybird, Sting, and Tom Waits, and we talk a fair bit about a-ha and of course a lot about Magne.We hope you’ll like the episode and that it might even inspire a few of you who haven’t listened to the album yet - or only a few times - to give it some more spins (or streams, probably). And as always: we appreciate all the comments we get from you guys and guysettes so keep ‘em coming. Please also make sure to like, subscribe, share and whatever else it takes to become friends with the algorithm.We’ll surely find something else to rank eventually - this is a year to celebrate after all - so we’ll certainly be back. Until then!All the best,JP, Jesper and Peter the Producer“Your life is a podcast / The rankings are you”

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• Episode 18: Ranking the music videos (part 2 - From 20 to 1)

  In this episode we rank the 20 best music videos from a-ha. We also consider taking up synchronised swimming, we recall a sad day in 1991, and we have lengthy discussions about feet. We also hear about a cool gadget in Jesper’s teenage room, we discuss plot holes, find the optimal role for Morten in Hollywood, and speculate if slow-cooked wolf is a delicacy.We also do some book research, speculate who would get rescued on Noah’s ark today, recount JP’s stellar performance in a remake of a classic video, and use the word “cool” way too much. We also speculate who normally gets the idea to have Morten appear semi-naked in so many videos.There are also more cars, more girls and more animals in this episode, and we try to assess the chances of a-ha getting nominated for an Academy Award, and JP’s pronunciation of the word “tour” sounds increasingly like the German word for “door”. We also argue a bit about the top ranked video (a pointless argument, really), and we discuss if a-ha has done any good to the perception of what it means to be a nurse.Among all that we manage to also rank 20 videos, so there should still be plenty of a-ha related content to keep the listener engaged (we hope). It’s all sprinkled with the usual loving stabs at each other, Peter the Producer’s ability to cut through the discussions, and most of all: Love of a-ha, their music and their videos!We of course also have a Facebook page and an Instagram account where you can leave a comment or stay informed about upcoming episodes.

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