Track One - Take On Me

The first three tapes I "bought" (probably my mother bought them for me) were:

• A-ha - Hunting High and Low
• Elton John - Too Low for Zero, and
• Sting - Dream of the Blue Turtles

They were bought at a electronics shop that doubled as a LP and cassette store in the Paraparaumu shops. A rotund man with little hair and a rather dull white shirt and brown pants sold them to us. My evaluation of these three tapes was as follows:

• Sting - The singles were good but the other tracks were a bit "difficult"
• Elton John - Naff
• A-ha - Wonderful!

A great many girls at my high school wore a little collection of leather wristbands in honour of the frankly pretty dishy Morton Harkett. Nowadays Take On Me is probably considered one of the signature tunes of the 80s. Curiously it had to be released about three times before it became a hit. The third time it had the still "nifty" animated video attached to it.

The lyrics are sweet:

We're talking away / I don't know what / I'm to say I'll say it anyway / Today's another day to find you / Shying away / I'll be coming for your love, OK?

I always liked the delivery of the line: Slowly learning that life is ok. Although I was around that time slowly learning the opposite, Morton sounded convincing. It's a song that still appeals to my rather naive and romantic ideas about love. It's a song with an endearing shyness.

You're all the things I've got toremember.