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Magne Furuholmen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Magne Furuholmen, also known as Mags, is a Norwegian musician and visual artist, born in 1962. He is the keyboardist of a-ha. Around 1980 he played with guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy in the Norwegian band Bridges, which in 1980 released the self-financed album Fakkeltog, with English-language songs. In 1982 the two formed a-ha with the singer Morten Harket.

Music and breakthrough

As early as the age of fifteen Furuholmen came up with the synthesizer riff of Take On Me. According to him, it was Harket who insisted that the band use that riff. Take On Me became a-ha's first and biggest hit, and the song is among the most streamed songs of the twentieth century. With Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen wrote many other a-ha songs, such as Stay on These Roads, Manhattan Skyline, Cry Wolf and Foot of the Mountain. In Manhattan Skyline he wrote the quiet section and Waaktaar-Savoy the rock section. A-ha sold more than fifty million albums. Outside the band Furuholmen made film music with Timbersound and solo albums such as Past Perfect Future Tense (2004) and A Dot of Black in the Blue of Your Bliss (2008).

Influence

Furuholmen is also a well-known artist, with exhibitions in Norway, England and elsewhere in Europe, and a large park of ceramic sculptures near Oslo. In 2012 the three members of a-ha were made knights of the Order of St. Olav. Furuholmen shows how in the 1980s the synthesizer could become the melodic heart of a pop song.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Take On Me by a-ha and notice the fast, skipping synthesizer riff at the start, which Furuholmen came up with as a teenager. Hear how that riff keeps returning between the verses and how Morten Harket's voice climbs ever higher in the chorus.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists