Song · a-ha
“The Sun Always Shines On Tv” by a-ha
From the EP Twelve Inch Club (1985)
“The Sun Always Shines On Tv” by a-ha appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1985 and 1999. It was first released in 1985 on the EP Twelve Inch Club. Its best result is #63 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #132 alternative song of 1985 and #5,856 alternative song of all time.
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"The Sun Always Shines on T.V." was the third single from a-ha's debut album Hunting High and Low, and it landed in Britain on 16 December 1985 with the tough job of following "Take On Me". Guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy wrote it and Alan Tarney produced it, and it's a big, brooding slab of synth-pop drama.
In some markets it couldn't match its predecessor, but Britain and Ireland went the other way. "Take On Me" had stalled at number two in the UK; this one sat at number one there for two weeks in January 1986, and since "Take On Me" had already topped the US chart, the Norwegian band could claim number-one singles on both sides of the Atlantic. It has sold over five million copies, and a live version released in 2003 did modest business in Eastern Europe.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 63 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 643 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
Also listed as: The Sun Always Shines on TV.
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