A-ha's 'Take On Me' is a landmark of the 1980s, but it actually failed twice before becoming a hit. The original 1984 version was a commercial flop. It wasn't until the song was re-recorded and paired with a revolutionary music video that it conquered the world. The video used a technique called rotoscoping, where live-action footage is traced frame-by-frame to create a pencil-sketch animation. It took over 16 weeks to complete the 3,000 hand-drawn frames. The song is famous for Morten Harket’s incredible vocal range, specifically the two-and-a-half octave leap to a high E in the final chorus. It remains the most successful song ever released by a Norwegian act, topping the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. The music video has now surpassed 1.5 billion views on YouTube, remaining one of the most iconic pieces of visual media from the MTV era.