| "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by a-ha | ||||
| from the album Hunting High and Low | ||||
| B-side | "Driftwood" | |||
| Released | November 1985 (US) 16 December 1985 (UK)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:45 (7" single version) 5:07 (album version) 7:09 (12" expanded version) 8:25 (12" dance version) 6:35 (instrumental version) | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Pål Waaktaar | |||
| Producer(s) | Alan Tarney | |||
| A-ha singles chronology | ||||
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| 2003 re-release singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." on YouTube | ||||
| 2003 cover | ||||
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"The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is a song by Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha, released as the third single from their debut studio album, Hunting High and Low (1985). The song was written by guitarist Pål Waaktaar. In some commercial markets the single was not as popular as their previous (debut) single "Take On Me", which had reached the top spot in the United States and several other countries around the world, but in the United Kingdom and Ireland it improved upon the number-two charting of "Take On Me", reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in January 1986, having been released there on 16 December 1985. Its success secured for the band the prestige of having number-one single status on both primary Anglo-American popular music charts on either side of the Atlantic.[2][3]
The song was re-released by the band as a live version in 2003 with some minor success in Eastern Europe. It has sold over five million copies worldwide.[4]
- ^ Smith, Robin (14 December 1985). "Index: Take on the Sun". Record Mirror. p. 6. ISSN 0144-5804.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 458. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ [1] Archived 10 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Buskin, Richard (March 2011). "Classic Tracks: A-ha - Take On Me". Sound On Sound magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2011.