The 7" release of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." features a shady group-shot (Magne, Morten and Pål) by Jonathan Lennard. In the lower left corner, a black a-ha-logo is printed on the image of a light brown piece of paper that seemingly is attached to the background by two pieces of beige tape. The song title is written in white across the top part of the sleeve.

The 7" version of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is slightly edited (4:42) and some sounds are different. This is fairly obvious at the beginning, just a second before Morten starts to sing "I reached inside myself..". The flip of this single release is the non-album track "Driftwood" (2:58) produced by a-ha. The 7" is available with different coloured labels including white, silver, blue and also copie(s) exisit which in error do not have a label at all!

Also available is a limited edition sun-shaped picture disc featuring the same track listing as the regular release. The disc has individual pictures of the band members in the middle of the red, yellow and orange sun-image. The reverse is red with all information in yellow letters.

Last, and this time least, is a 7" square flexi disc with an introduction by a-ha followed by the "U.S. Dance Mix" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (4:33). The disc which offers a yellow and orange sun-image plus individual pictures of the band members features black and pink titles. The disc came free with the 29th March '86 issue of the English music magazine "No. 1". The previous week the same magazine offered a 7"-sized 6-page booklet "a-ha person 2 person" featuring answers to questions and additional information on the band members.

The cover of the UK 12" is the same as the 7" except that it mentions the extended version and the b-side on both front and reverse. There are two different UK 12" releases available of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V."-single. However the difference can not be detected by just looking at the cover. Some copies come with a "U.S. Steve Thompson Dance Mix"-sticker but not even this detail gives away the difference. When listening to and measuring the times of the tracks the differences become evident. While the so called "U.S. Steve Thompson Dance Mix" (8:25) starts off with a percussion drum beat (grooves finish approx. 1.5cm from record centre), the shorter extended version (7:09) which is the rarer one, features a slow piano intro. before the steady drum beat commences (grooves finish approx. 2.5cm from centre of record).

Some of the 12"-releases [the rarer 7:09 edition - TBC] come with a limited edition poster featuring a multicolour group-shot (Morten, Magne and Pål from left to right pictured in full length) by Robert Erdmann. The 24"x36" poster promotes the "hunting high and low"-album in white letters and larger a-ha logo in red.

There is a UK DJ promo 7" which comes in a brown WB sleeve. Side 1 features the Radio Edit, side 2 features the 7" edit.

Variations

Argentina: Promo 7" without picture sleeve which has The Sun Always Shines On TV by a-ha on one side and a track by Sheila E on the other. No further details.

Australia: The 7" has the same front picture sleeve as the UK release except for the fact that the song title is placed slightly lower and the text itself is more compressed. The reverse features a different, lighter shade of `brown paper' and only the song title "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is mentioned. In addition the Australian release does not have a picture of the album.

Brazil: There is a promotional 12" featuring other artists as well as a-ha.

Canada: The 7" promo comes is a paper WEA sleeve. The white disc label has "promotional only not for sale" printed on it.

France: The 7" has a slightly different cover (back and front). The front of the sleeve has the same design, but has "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." printed in much larger print across the top and there is an orange a-ha-logo in the top right hand corner.
The reverse of the sleeve is white with a large picture of the album "Hunting High And Low" and only "The Sun Always Shines On T.V. Produced By Alan Tarney" written above it excluding the track listing.

Germany: The 7" is identical to the Australian release. Some promotional copies come with a product fact sheet with information in German. The 12" is quite different from the UK release. The front has a beige background on which the same group-shot is placed. The black a-ha-logo is placed on the beige background along with the title of the song. The a-ha-logo has been underlined with a red crayon and another piece tape has been placed next to the logo. In addition a small red, white and blue Norwegian flag has been included in the lower right hand corner. The "piece of tape" on the back of the sleeve is smaller and on the left hand side rather than the right, the `brown paper' used is of a slightly different style, covering nearer 3/4 of the sleeve and the album picture has been omitted. The 12" includes an additional track, the "Instrumental Version" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (6:40) (note: track length quoted incorrectly as 5:46 on the sleeve).

Italy: There is a Warner / Elektra jukebox promo 7" available with b-side "Holding Back The Years" by Simply Red. The disc comes in a generic sleeve. As with most juke-box releases, the disc has a large cut-out hole in the centre. Some copies of this promo come in a regular "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." picture sleeve.

Japan: The 7" has a picture-sheet with the same photo as its European counterparts. Naturally there is some additional Japanese writing and both price and catalogue number are placed in the upper left corner.

The reverse features the lyrics in English to "The Sun Always Shines On T.V.", a black and white group-shot, album picture plus additional printed autographs and drawings by the band-members. Some copies of the 7" come with a fold-out questionnaire which features a small black and white group-shot and album cover on the front and large black and white group-shot on the reverse.

Peru: The Peru 7" comes in a white Peruvian printed record sleeve with the text "EL VIRREY" INDUSTRIAS MUSICALES S.A. and an address printed in purple along the bottom. The disc label is white light brown with the tracks written as "El Sol Siempre Brilla En T.V." and "Madera Flotante", with the English titles in smaller letters underneath.
The 7" promo edition 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 white with the tracks listed in a similar way as the regular release. At the top of the label is a black WB-logo and the text "DISCO DE PROMOCION PROHIBIDA SU VENTA".

The Philippines: The 7" comes in a white paper sleeve. The disc has a white label with the title printed at the top. A WB-logo is printed on the left hand side with other information to the right and below. The Philippines 12" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." has similar sleeve to the U.S. release. The 12" was released in 1986 and plays at 33RPM.

 

Spain: The front of the picture sleeve of the 7" differs only slightly from the UK release in that the writing of the title "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is more compressed, also the sleeve is textured. However, the reverse varies considerably with its grey background, light grey piece of tape, no picture and finally, mentioning of only the title track. The front cover of the 12" is the same as the UK release except for the fact that "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is the only track mentioned, plus the type of letters used are slightly different. The reverse of the picture sleeve is similar to the German edition except for the fact that there is a grey background for the information of the track listings. This grey background covers more than 2/3 of the reverse while the rest is white. In addition there is a 1/2 centimetre white strip at the very bottom of the sleeve on which the country of origin is printed. The tracks are the same as on the German release.

USA: The regular 7" release has the same sleeve as the Australian edition. The 7" promo comes in the same sleeve as the regular release, but has the same track on both sides of the disc.

The sleeve for the 12" is the same as the German edition except for the text "Specially-Priced Maxi-Single" which is printed in capital letters in the upper left hand corner. The 12" features the same 3 tracks as the German edition (note: track length of the instrumental version is quoted incorrectly as 5:46 long on the sleeve and disc label).

There is also a promo US "Disconet DJ" 12" which features a different mix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (8:55) "edit by Stephen and Paul" plus tracks by eight other artists, the 12" plays at 33 1/3 RPM. This 12" comes in a plain white sleeve. The disc labels are dark pink and orange with black and white text. There is a "Disconet Dance Classics Volume #3" CD featuring the same mix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (track 6) and eight other tracks by various artists. This CD was released in the late 80's. The disc is silver with black titles.

There are two different DJ promo only double 12" "Hot Trackss" sets featuring "The Sun Always Shines On TV". The first is Series 5, issue 1 and features the Hot tracks DJ remix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." plus tracks by other artists. The a-ha track (side B, track 1) is a remix by Mark "Hot Rod" Trollan of The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (9:02 - listed as 9:15). It comes in a red "Hot Tracks" sleeve and claims to be from 1982! Tracks include: The Best Of 1985 Top 40 Medley part 1 (Various artists), The Sun Always Shines On T.V. - Hot tracks DJ remix (a-ha), Temptation Eyes (Gino Soccio), You're My Heart, You're My Soul (Modern Talking), Rise Up (Yvonne Kay), One Hot Night (Zino feat. Brian Soares). Some issues come with a Hot Tracks newsletter.

The second set, series 5 issue 4, features a medley "The Sun Always Shines (In The Morning Time)" (8:46 - listed as 8:36) of various artists including the instrumental version of "The Sun Always Shines On TV" with vocals from other artists over the top. The medley is mixed by Ernie Pezzuto and Michael Tobin. This track is the first on side 1 of the second disc. Tracks are: Love's On Fire (Aleem feat. Leroy Burgees); All Played Out (L.I.F.E.); Shake N' Roll (Davina Rock); Sex Train (Sex Execs); The Sun Always Shines (In The Morning Time) medley feat. Let Me Go (Heaven 17), Work For Love (Ministry), The Sun Always Shines On TV (a-ha), I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz), The Heat In Me (Linda Clifford), In The Morning Time (Tramaine), In The River (I-Level); Bad Boy (Miami Sound Machine); Birdland (Zino feat. Jolo).

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

7"

12"

CD