As a child born in the 70s but raised in the 80s, I have an infinite appreciation and love for the decade of “Just Say No”, the introduction of the Rubiks Cube, the Pac-Man video game, the eruption of Mount St Helens, the debut of MTV, Chernobyl, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, the Iran-Contra Affair, everyone copying either Don Johnson’s MIAMI VICE look or Jennifer Beal’s FLASHDANCE look, the failure to rescue the hostages in Tehran, the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, The Simpsons, Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ABC Friday night TGIF line up – okay not all those things were good things but I remember them and they resonated with me. They have now fueled and inspired newer things like THE GOLDBERGS and STRANGER THINGS, all steeped in a decade I have a fond but hazy devotion to. There was a recent debate of whether the music of the 90s was better than that of the 80s but I will table that discussion for another time.

One thing musically that cannot be disputed or taken from the 80s is the absolute genius of A-ha’s “Take on Me’ – a song and video that are as catchy today as it was when released in 1984. The reason that I am going to now wax poetics over this 35 year old song is that I recently introduced it to my kids off YouTube and they were mesmerized. The music video I remember, which I later found out was not the original video as the song was re-released, looks as cool and relevant as it did when I first saw it. It combined live-action and pencil-sketch animation to tell the story of a young woman in a cafe who is suddenly sucked into the comic book world of the hero, played by the band’s lead singer, who invites her in and serenades her as scenes of the rest of the band, his 2 racing opponents and what’s happening in the real world at the cafe, plays itself out. It’s funny because some videos of that time now look dated and even their production values have been lost but this video still looks crisp and plays well even to this generation of kids who are being brought up in a time where everything has to go fast, fast, fast. My kids silently and carefully watched the video and you could tell it resonated (who doesn’t love a good love story?) and they asked to watch it over and over and over again. I was happy to oblige as its a favorite of my youth and I got a real kick out of sharing it with them now.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then this song and video will live on in perpetuity from the parodies like FAMILY GUY’s “Breaking Out Is Hard To Do” episode to being featured in movies like DEADPOOL 2 in its original and remade version and being cleverly used in advertisements. This is great and makes me a happy girl so play on I say and I hope more people come to know and love it as much as not only I but my kiddos do too.

And if you want to know more info on the band and how its been covered by others and the detailed history of it, check out the Wiki page here.