a-ha’s ‘Scoundrel Days’ turns 40 on 6 October
a-ha’s second album “Scoundrel Days” turns 40 on 6 October. The 1986 Warner Bros. Records release includes the singles “I’ve Been Losing You” and “Cry Wolf.”
a-ha‘s second studio album, “Scoundrel Days,” turns 40 this year. The Norwegian band released the record on 6 October 1986 through Warner Bros. Records in the US, with WEA International handling distribution elsewhere. Recording took place in early 1986 at RG Jones Recording Studios in Wimbledon, south-west London.
“Scoundrel Days” runs ten tracks and just under 39 minutes. Alan Tarney produced and mixed most of the album, while Magne Furuholmen and PÃ¥l Waaktaar self-produced “I’ve Been Losing You,” “Maybe, Maybe” and “Soft Rains of April.” Gerry Kitchingham engineered the sessions, with additional mixing by John Hudson. The tracklist runs “Scoundrel Days,” “The Swing of Things,” “I’ve Been Losing You,” “October,” “Manhattan Skyline,” “Cry Wolf,” “We’re Looking for the Whales,” “The Weight of the Wind,” “Maybe, Maybe” and “Soft Rains of April.”
The album was preceded by the single “I’ve Been Losing You,” released on 22 September 1986, which reached number one in Norway and number eight in the UK. “Cry Wolf” followed on 24 November 1986 and reached the top five in the UK, Poland and Ireland. “Manhattan Skyline” was issued as a single in February 1987, peaking at number 13 in the UK. “Scoundrel Days” reached number one in Norway and number two on the UK Albums Chart, and was certified platinum in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, New Zealand and Norway. Rhino Records released an expanded two-disc edition on 6 July 2010, adding extended mixes, demos, B-sides and live tracks.
About a-ha
a-ha formed in Oslo, Norway, in 1982 as a trio of Morten Harket on vocals, Magne Furuholmen on keyboards and PÃ¥l Waaktaar on guitars. Warner Bros. Records signed the band, and a-ha released its debut album, “Hunting High and Low,” in 1985. The title track and “Take On Me” became international hits, the latter reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in October 1985.
The band returned to RG Jones Recording Studios in Wimbledon in early 1986 to record its follow-up, “Scoundrel Days,” released on 6 October 1986. a-ha continued with “Stay on These Roads” (1988), “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” (1990) and “Memorial Beach” (1993) before going on hiatus. The group reformed in the late 1990s and released “Minor Earth Major Sky” (2000), “Lifelines” (2002), “Analogue” (2005), “Foot of the Mountain” (2009), “Cast in Steel” (2015) and “True North” (2022). The current touring lineup adds Karl-Oluf Wennerberg on drums and Erik Ljunggren on keyboards, both since 2009, and Even Ormestad on bass since 2015. Forty years after its release, “Scoundrel Days” remains the second entry in a catalogue that now spans eleven studio albums.
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