Paul Waaktaar-Savoy — Acting | Biography, Movies & Career

Biography

Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (born Pål Gamst, 6 September 1961) is a Norwegian musician and songwriter. He is best known for his work as the main songwriter and guitarist in the Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha, which has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. He has written or co-written most of the band's biggest hits, including "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", "Hunting High and Low", "Take On Me", the 1987 James Bond theme "The Living Daylights" and the ballad "Summer Moved On". In addition, he is also a painter.

Waaktaar-Savoy was named a Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success.

Waaktaar-Savoy was born to the Gamst family on 6 September 1961 in Tonsenhagen, Norway, at the outskirts of Oslo, and was raised in Oslo's Manglerud district with his older sister Tonje. His birth name is Pål Gamst; in the Norwegian language, an acceptable alternate spelling of his first name is Paal. His father was a pharmacist, and his mother worked at the phone company. He is a distant relative of Norwegian footballer Morten Gamst Pedersen.

His parents appreciated classical music, and encouraged young Pål first to learn the flute, then to study music composition when his performance skill revealed him to be a child prodigy. He admired the music of American rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, and hoped one day to write a rock opera similar to Hair. He used his mother's family name, Waaktaar, in his stage name, to become Pål Waaktaar. He also enjoyed reading and painting. He was a loner, not social at school, and was unsuccessful attracting girlfriends in his teens.

Pål Waaktaar, as he was then known, was lead singer, guitarist and songwriter in the Norwegian rock band Bridges, along with keyboardist Magne Furuholmen (with whom he later formed a-ha with singer Morten Harket), drummers Erik Hagelien and Øystein Jevanord, and bassist Viggo Bondi. In 1980, Bridges released their first album, the self-financed LP Fakkeltog. Although the title is Norwegian (meaning torchlight procession), the songs are in English. At the request of Harket, a-ha performed the Fakkeltog song "The Vacant" (renamed "Sox of the Fox") during their 2017 MTV Unplugged performance, released as MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice.

An unreleased Bridges song called "Miss Eerie" later evolved into "Lesson One" and then into the a-ha hit "Take On Me".

In 2018, Bridges' second album, Våkenatt ("Wakeful Night"), was released. The album was recorded in late 1980 and early 1981, but was discarded after Paul and Magne Furuholmen decided to go to London, which made Viggo Bondi and Øystein Jevanord to leave the group.

Waaktaar-Savoy is the lead guitarist and main songwriter for a-ha, one of the most successful bands of the 1980s. Once "Q Magazine" named him as one of the best unknown lyricists of his generation. a-ha performed "Summer Moved On" live at the Nobel-Peace-Prize-Concert following a hiatus. After this, they decided to record a new album and, in 2000, a-ha had the comeback of the year, followed by a sold-out tour. The a-ha album "Lifelines" was released in 2002. The following tour was documented in a-ha's second official live album, How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head, which was released in March 2003. ...

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