Take On Me

Take On Me - 1st release (19.10.84)

The first edition of "Take On Me" comes in a silver and white sleeve. The front features a black and white group-shot with Magne, Pål and Morten (seen from the left to the right). The a-ha logo is printed in a deep blue colour in the upper right hand corner, while "take on me" is written in the same colour in the lower right corner.

The flip which is all silver features 3 individual shots of Magne, Pål and Morten seen from the top to the bottom left side. Titles "take on me" and "and you tell me" are written in black.

This single was only released in Europe and flopped everywhere except from in Norway where it peaked at no. 3. The record is quite rare and features the original (3:10) and quite different version of the song produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff with a-ha. The B-side is "And You Tell Me" (1:48).

As with most releases, there exist mispressings of the 7" release, such as one which has the same "Take On Me" disc sticker on both sides of the disc and one which has a regular "Take On Me" label on the a-side and a white WEA label on the b-side which is missing the titles. Promotional copies which just include a promo "Lizard Approved + tel. number" sticker on the cover also exist.

The 12"-record is identical to the 7"-release except for the additional information concerning the tracks. On the front sleeve "Long Version" is printed in silver under the title and on the reverse, the tracks are listed as "Take On Me" (long version) (3:44) and "Stop! And Make Your Mind Up" (2:57). Neither of these two tracks can be found anywhere else, a fact which explains the high collector value. While the former track was produced by Tony Mansfield and remixed by John Ratcliff, the latter was produced by a-ha with John Ratcliff. Even though the song was accompanied by a unique video (not the cartoon) a picture disc was never released.

An even rarer promotional edition of the 12" comes with a fold out poster (24"x24") featuring a shot of the band (Pål, Morten and Mags) where Morten has his arms around the other two. The a-ha logo is printed in white in the top right hand corner.

Variations

Spain: The promo 7" comes in the same sleeve as the regular release, but has "Disco Promocional Prohibida Su Venta" printed on the label.
It seems that the Spanish 12" release fails to include the "Demo Version" of "And You Tell Me", even though this track is listed on the record sleeve! - Information to be confirmed.

New Zealand: The 7" of the first release of Take On Me was also available in New Zealand. It doesn't have a pictures sleeve, but comes in a blue and white wea sleeve.

7"

12"

Take On Me - second release (05.04.85)

The second edition of "Take On Me" features a black and white group-shot (Magne, Pål and Morten) by Just Loomis. The a-ha-logo plus the song-title are both written in white and are placed in the upper left and upper right corners respectively.

The reverse contains another black and white group-shot with a woman thrown in for good measure (Morten, mysterious woman, Magne and Pål). The background is white and all information is printed in black.

This version of "Take On Me" (3:46) produced by Alan Tarney was the one that eventually caught on.

A real collector's item is the 7" one-sided acetate test pressing which features only the album version of "Take On Me". It comes in a plain sleeve and the vinyl features a silver label without any titles. Again, there exists promotional copies of the 7" which feature the "Lizard" promo sticker on the cover.

The picture sleeve of the 12" edition is identical to the 7" release except for the additional information on the other tracks on the front and reverse. It is worth noticing that there are slight variations in the shades of dark colour of both the 7" and 12" ranging from the spined pitch black Spanish 12" sleeve to the dark navy blue of the thinner UK and Australian editions. The 12" release features an extended version of "Take On Me" (4:41) that was also produced by Alan Tarney. In addition the tracks present on the 7" are included.

Although the second edition of "Take On Me" is in increasing demand, it is both easier to get hold of and a lot cheaper than the first release.

Variations

Argentina: Promo 7" without picture sleeve which has Take On Me by a-ha on one side and a track by Prince on the other. No further details.

Australia: The 7" and 12"-releases are identical to the U.S. releases (see below).

Brazil: There is a promo 12" which comes in a yellow WEA sleeve. It features the extended version of "Take On Me" (side 2, track 2). The disc label claims that "The Sun Always Shines On TV" is the second track on side 2, but this is incorrect.

Canada: The Canadian 7" comes in a white paper WEA company sleeve.

Equador: The 7" doesn't come with a picture sleeve.

Japan: The 7" has a picture insert similar to the USA sleeve (see below), but with red and black Japanese writing across the top of the front and whiter in colour. The reverse has the lyrics for "Take On Me", a different a-ha picture and additional Japanese text in black.

There are two different WEA 12" promo releases. One features the album version of "Take On Me", the other features the extended version. Both vinyls include other artists besides a-ha.

Mexico: The 7" comes in a white and grey wea sleeve. The titles are written in Spanish as "Tomane" and "El amor es razon". There is also a rare Mexican 12" which comes in a unique sleeve. The front of the sleeve is white with a thick black border around the edge. A band shot (Morten, Mags, Pål) with a red a-ha logo and white "hunting high and low" text at the bottom has been rotated and printed at an angle so that the top left corner is disappearing off the side of the sleeve. A thick black 'shadow' has been placed along the bottom and right hand sides of the picture. In the top right hand corner "Tomame" has been printed in red with "Take On Me" in blue underneath and "remix" in red underneath that.

The reverse of the sleeve features the same picture (but full length) which has been printed on the left hand side, but not rotated. The right hand side of the sleeve is black with track details in red and white font. In addition, the "Hunting High And Low" album sleeve has been printed at the bottom of the picture. On the disc label, the track has been labeled as "Take On Me / Tomame"

Peru: The Peru 7" comes in a white paper sleeve with the text "EL VIRREY" INDUSTRIAS MUSICALES S.A. and an address printed in blue along the bottom. The disc label is light brown with the tracks written as "Tomame" and "El Amor Es La Razon" with the English titles in smaller letters underneath.

 

The promo copy comes in paper sleeve and has the same catalogue number. The label is paler in colour and has the WEA logo and "Disco De Promocion Prohibida Su Venta" printed at the top.

Philippines: There is a unique 12" promo which comes in a picture sleeve. The cover is black and red in colour with a unique band shot in the centre (Morten, Pål, Mags). The picture has been placed over the top of a mauve irregular shape which resembles a piece of torn paper. A red a-ha logo is placed in the top right hand corner with the title in white in the bottom left. The reverse of the sleeve is grey and light blue, again with a torn paper affect where the two colours meet. A large 'etched' a-ha logo (similar to that used on the front of the U.S. 12" promo) is positioned at the top of the sleeve. In the bottom section is additional text plus a small black and white picture of the band (Morten, På, Mags).

Portugal: The 7" has the same sleeve as USA release (see below), the only difference in the back of the sleeve is the track listing as it has b-side "And You Tell Me" (printed as "Andy You Tell Me") instead of "Love Is Reason". This record features the original version of "Take On Me" on it's A-side.

South Africa: The 7" has the same sleeve as the USA release (see below). Other copies can be found in a blue, red and white WEA paper sleeve.

Spain: The 7" has the same sleeve as the USA release (see below). The promo edition has the same sleeve as the regular release, but has "Disco Promocional Prohibida Su Venta" printed on the label.

USA: The first edition of "Take On Me" released in the States features a sleeve different from the regular UK release. The black and white group-shot is identical, but has been reduced in size and placed on a white background. A red and black a-ha-logo is printed in the upper right corner while the catalogue number is listed in the upper left corner. There are also some `black crayon' scribbles and blue lines drawn haphazardly on the front and back of the sleeve. Finally the title has been written in very small letters in the lower right corner of the sleeve. The reverse features a reduced size group-shot with the names of the guys written underneath it, while only "Take On Me" is listed as a track. The catalogue number is printed in red in the lower right corner. The U.S. promotional copy has the same track on both sides but otherwise the picture sleeve is identical to its regular counterpart.

The 12" - release has the same sleeve as the U.S. 7" [Item to be confirmed]. The 12" promo comes in a special custom sleeve which is mostly white with the same black and white group-shot placed in the bottom half of the sleeve, a large grey a-ha-logo in the top half and some black smudged `scribbles' lower down.

The reverse of the picture sleeve is plain white. Playing at 33 1/3 RPM, the record has the extended version on side a, while the flip presents the single version.

7"

12"

Take On Me - third release (16.09.85)

The third release of "Take On Me" in Europe featured the same tracks as the second edition. However, the picture sleeve had undergone some serious changes and now showed a multicolour group-shot (Morten, Pål and Magne) by Robert Erdmann. A red logo is placed on a grey background in the upper left corner, while "Take On Me" is written in small letters to the upper right. In addition a blue crayon-like line has been drawn underlining the song title.

There is a limited edition available with identical front and reverse picture sleeve, only that this sleeve folds out and reveals a fact-file with vital information and individual pictures of Pål, Morten and Magne, four thin pages with excerpts from the video plus another colour band-shot (Morten, Magne and Pål) .

The 12" release is identical to its 7" counterpart, but naturally features the additional information on the different track listing. On this occasion no picture disc was released, nor do we find evidence of any limited poster-editions.

Variations

Brazil: The Brazilian 12" promo sampler "Best of the Past - Vol. III" was released in 1993. It features the Alan Tarney version of "Take On Me" plus tracks by other artists. The 12" comes in a colour picture sleeve with a drawing of the band (Pål, Morten, Mags) by a Brazilian artist.
The title "Best of the Past" is printed inside a large dark star in the bottom left hand corner. A picture of the band Chicago is in the bottom right hand corner of the sleeve. The reverse features adverts for the other two Volumes which also feature a-ha songs (Crying in the Rain and ?) plus drawings of the band and other artists.

France: The sleeve of the French 12" is glossy and laminated but is otherwise identical to the UK release.

Italy: There is an Italian Juke Box promo 7" which features Dream Accademy - Love Parade on Side 1 and a-ha - Take On Me (3:46) on Side 2. The 7" comes in a white sleeve with a dark green sticker at the top which mentions both artists (including the spelling mistake - AHA TAKE ON MER). On the label is the text "Ediz. Speciale Per Juxe Box".

 

Japan: This promo only 3" CD was given away free at "7-Eleven" stores in Japan (date of release unknown). The CD comes in a 3" bright blue card wallet sleeve with "a-ha" and "Take On Me" printed in white letters at the top. Below this text is a picture of the "Hunting High And Low" album.
The text "Presented by 7-Eleven" is printed in the bottom left hand corner and "Warner Music Japan" in the bottom right hand corner. The lyrics are printed on the back of the sleeve with some additional Japanese text along the bottom.

The disc is blue with silver text. a-ha and the title are printed at the top of the disc with the text "Relax with a beer and a great song to see how wonderful life can be." and "Presented by 7-Eleven" at the bottom of the disc. The CD was made in Taiwan.

USA: The cartoon sleeve 7" is released in America as a promo only and with the same sleeve except for the words "Promotional use only not for sale" printed inside the back cover.

7"

12"

CD