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a-ha / Take On Me blue vinyl 7″

By Paul Sinclair

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38

a-ha‘s debut single ‘Take On Me’ has been reissued as a limited edition blue vinyl seven-inch single to coincide with the band’s Hunting High and Low tour and to tie in with the launch of a new documentary The Making Of… Take On Me.

The single topped the charts around the world (although not in the UK) in 1985 and continues to be constantly referenced culturally, in films, TV and online.

In 2015, a Record Store Day seven-inch picture disc was released for the 30th anniversary. That edition featured a live version of ‘Take On Me’ as the B-side, whereas this new single includes on the flipside what is described as a previously unreleased alternative mix of the 1984 version of the song (produced by Tony Mansfield).

The new Making of Take On Me documentary is being released piecemeal fashion on YouTube and the first two episodes are a fantastic deep dive into the origins of the song and the creation of that video, and there is more to come. Watch parts one and two.

The blue vinyl seven-inch is a limited edition that is exclusively available via Warner Music’s Rhino stores. It is out now and can be ordered via the links below.

  1. Take On Me (Alan Tarney 1985 single version)
  2. Take On Me (Tony Mansfield 1984 version) alternate mix

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38 Comments

38 thoughts on “a-ha / Take On Me blue vinyl 7″”

  1. I too would love to know what the exact version on the B-side is. I have a few versions of Tony Mansfield’s original, but am hoping that this B-side is one that’s NOT yet been included on the Hunting High & Low re-issues. Like other posters here, I’m a huge fan of TM’s work and hope that he is well since his disappearance from the music scene.

  2. Can anyone review the distinctiveness of the Alternate Mix? From Chis Hopkins’ comment I take it it’s somewhere closer to the sound of the demo than the 1984 mix, but if so how so?

    I would happily pay for it, but as I don’t have my turntable set up it would just add to the stacks and piles of stuff I’ve never listened to and I still wouldn’t know what it sounds like.

    Now, if they would only start giving digital copies with vinyl purchases…

  3. If they would have put on the video version on as the A side, I think it would have tied in better considering the new documentaries were timed with this release. Plus it would have given another reason for people who bought the anniversary edition on record store day to buy this one. New packaging, colored vinyl and rare versions are nice but not enough for this fan to buy this one.

  4. Bought a copy last week from the official record store. They charged £4.09 for postage and unbelievably “handling”. How else were they supposed to put the record in the packet? What was really annoying though was the fact it was sent in the flimsiest cardboard envelope. I am amazed the record didn’t get damaged in transit. Why they couldn’t send it in a proper 7″ record miler with protectors for that price is beyond me. When I complained to them they said they would mention it to their mailing department. Thanks for the after thought!

    1. Just received mine from the UK Rhino store. It also came in a flimsy outsized cardboard envelope with no protection. The postage was £4.10 which is more than Recordstore/The Sound of Vinyl charge for sending an LP in a proper LP mailer. Maybe as they don’t sell many 7 inch singles they just charged the LP rate. Are Rhino owned by the Universal Music Group (Recordstore and the Sound of Vinyl are)? The websites for all 3 are the same although with different colouring. The type of packing (which is crucial to the condition your record is going to be when you receive it through the post) is such a lottery these days. I ordered 3 singles from Rough Trade at different times all with a release date of within a week of each other and all 3 came in totally different mailers including 2 posted on the same day.

  5. I got this a few days ago, I kind of wish it was in a standard 7″ sleeve, it would be more authentic although I acknowledge there were all kinds of wierd and wonderful sleeve gimmicks in the 80s. I do think of A-ha more of a picture disc band (the nature of being pretty) but this release is much better than the RSD &” pic disc.

  6. Somebody mentioned the producer of the A-Ha B-side Tony Mansfield. Just thought I’d add that this is the same guy who wrote,produced and fronted New Musik,one of my favourite bands of the very early 80’s. Sanctuary didn’t chart very high when released ,but is a pop classic that I still love loads And From A to B is a very solid LP with 4 ace charting singles too. I too often wonder why Tony Mansfield has kind of disappeared from the music scene and has never produced,written or released any music for many years.

    1. Thanks ken, maybe s d.e can do a searching for sugerman type documentary, searching for Mansfield,i too really liked new musik,if you look at captain sensible happy talk,top of the pops,its Tony Mansfield who is strumming the guitar in the t.o t.p studio,happy hunting..

    3. New Musik should have been a huge success as they had all the elements of other 80s artists (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Thompson Twins, Human League, Depeche Mode etc.) plus excellent songs. For some reason they just didn’t click. I bought a couple of their singles back then have picked up their 3 albums on CD as they finally became available.

      Mansfield worked with A-ha, Captain Sensible, Aztec Camera, B-52s, and Naked Eyes but appears to have not been producing anything since the early 2000s (according to Discogs).

  7. Wouldn’ t it have been better to give a new release to “The Sun Always Shines on TV” for a change?
    A 7″ or 12″ with some alternate versions, etc. on the B-side.
    I think it never got a rerelease, if I am not mistaken.
    Really majestic, as Simon said.

  11. Thanks for clarifying that the b-side is previously unreleased. I couldn’t tell if “alternate mix” meant a genuine alternate version of Tony Mansfield’s mix, or if that was just the label’s way of saying “this is a different version than the one on the a-side that you’re so familiar with.” :)

  13. Tony Mansfield produced two of my favourite records ever,the first two captain sensible albums,he seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth,can anybody shed any light on his where abouts, asked the captain this myself and even he dident know,told me that he went a bit weird, probably not short of a few bob as he produced a lot of ah,ha,just very interested to know wot has become of him,man was a keyboard genius,just listen to Brenda parts 1and 2 ,thanks in advance. John.

      2. Yeah, Bunty Bailey. An amazing leap of faith from the suits at Warners to back a song which had stiffed twice with half a million pound video! I never bought it but I did buy “The Sun always…” on 7” & that great b side “Driftwood”.

  17. Worth pointing out it’s FREE Postage if you spend over £25. Only have to spend just over a tenner on top of the price of the item if you take into account the saving on P+P !!!

    1. No, it was a mix that wasn’t considered for those sets as it wouldn’t have fit aesthetically on discs 3 or 4 and there wasn’t space on disc 2. Sometimes things fall into place and a mix finds a natural home. Guess you can’t please everyone though.

      1. Did not “fit aesthetically”? I disagree. Would fit better with the other early versions than the “video edit”. (It was also a bit far-fetched to label the “video edit” as “previously unreleased”.)

  21. Blimey…Magne doing a pretty perfect Pierce Brosnan impression. For a bunch of lads who have been around since the early 80s they look terrific. Ever since I first saw him in Five daughters I always thought Sean Harris should have played Pål. Good knows who would play Morten, maybe Morten himself. No one has those cheeks.

    Nice story, thanks for pointing it out Paul.
    £10 for a Blue 7″ though, not for me but I am sure it will still fly off the shelves and I am sure as others will point out…… The definitive box set of Hunting High and Low was not quite definitive then? Another unreleased version crawls out of the woodwork. It’s still a great set though, one of my favorites and pretty much, to me at any rate, the Gold standard of how a single album SDE should be done

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