Angel (partially found MTV contest version of a-ha video; 1993)
Cover for the Angel CD Single
Status: Partially Found
A-ha (stylized a-ha) are a Norwegian pop trio formed in Oslo in 1982, consisting of guitarist Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, and singer Morten Harket. They quickly saw success with their 1985 debut album Hunting High And Low and especially its single Take On Me, greatly helped by its memorable music video. With two more albums in the 80's featuring several hit singles and the James Bond theme The Living Daylights, they continued a path of success and are still seen as one of, if not the largest musical act to come out of Norway.
Though they started the 90's strong, breaking a world record for concert attendance at the Rock In Rio festival and having several hits with their 1990 album East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon, the 90's did see a bit of a decline in a-ha's popularity. They had shifted their sound away from the synth-pop of their 80's records in favor of going into a more rock direction, creating the alt rock sound of their 1993 album Memorial Beach. The lead single, Dark Is The Night (or Dark Is The Night For All) was a hit, but the album did not match the success of their previous projects. This decline and turmoil within the band during the creation of the album would cause a brief hiatus, pausing after a final single in 1995 before returning again in 1998. Despite the hiatus and lack of commercial success, this album is still held in high regard amongst a-ha fans as an overlooked gem that stands out in their discography for its unique sound.
Angel
Angel (also called Angel In The Snow) was the second single from Memorial Beach. The song was written by Pål Waaktaar-Savoy as a wedding gift for his wife Lauren Savoy, making it one of a-ha's most personal tracks. Released on the 20th of August in Germany and 6th of September 1993 in the UK, it failed to chart very high, only reaching #41 on the UK charts, though it remains a fan favorite today.
To promote the song, a music video was produced in collaboration with MTV. In June 1993, MTV announced a competition to appear in the video for the next a-ha single. The winner would be Sabine Clement, a fan who now works on the band's official website. Filming for the video would begin in London on the 30th of August, scenes featuring Sabine as well as a-ha fanclub leader Larissa Bendel were shot on this day.[1]
The video was completed on the 8th of August and began seeing airplay on MTV quite soon after. Sabine and Larissa were seen in a very brief clip 2 minutes into the video as actress Jasmine Lewis drove past the two as they stood at the end of the road.[2] This cut of the video was believed to have only been shown on MTV Europe a couple times,[3] with other broadcasts showing a version where Sabine and Larissa's scene is replaced with clips of keyboardist Magne Furuholmen playing guitar. One found broadcast from the 17th of September on Norwegian channel NRK showed this cut without the contest winners.
Availability
No version of the Angel video had ever seen an official release until 2010, when the version without the contest winners was included on the 25 DVD. Given its scarce airings, it would seem unlikely for a recording, though at least two recordings from broadcasts are known to exist. Low resolution screenshots of these copies exist on old a-ha fansites, one of these sites including a download to a very low resolution ~50 second snippet which freezes on the scene with the concert winners. This clip is the only surviving video copy of this edit. There exists a rumored promotional tape featuring both edits though the existence of this tape is unconfirmed. The likelihood of an official release seems slim given the band's distaste for this period as well as focus on archival releases from the 80's albums, even then with little focus on video. The best case of the full video resurfacing is a tape from MTV Europe resurfacing with this edit of the video.
Gallery
Screenshot 1 (from a-hadiary.co.uk)
Screenshot 2 (from a-havideos.com)
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