Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is a Norwegian

Norwegians

Norwegians constitute both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in United States, Canada and Brazil.-History:Towards the end of the 3rd...

 musician and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. He is best known for his work as guitarist in the Norwegian pop band A-ha

A-ha

A-ha were a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket , Magne Furuholmen , and Pål Waaktaar...

. He has written or co-written most of the band's biggest hits, including "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

"The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is a song by Norwegian pop band A-ha. It was released as the third single from the band's debut album, Hunting High and Low. In many countries the single was not as successful as the band's previous, "Take on Me", which hit #1 in the U.S. and several countries around...

", "Hunting High and Low", "Take on Me

Take on Me

"Take on Me" is a song by the Norwegian pop band A-ha. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Alan Tarney for the group's first studio album Hunting High and Low, released in 1985...

", the James Bond theme

James Bond Theme

The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in almost every James Bond film....

 "The Living Daylights

The Living Daylights (song)

"The Living Daylights" is the song performed by A-ha for the James Bond film of the same name. It was co-written by guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Bond composer John Barry.-Origin and recording:...

" and the ballad "Summer Moved On

Summer Moved On

"Summer Moved On" is a song by A-ha which became their first single in more than 6 years. The album Minor Earth Major Sky was released in the UK on 22 May 2000, having been released in much of Europe on 27 March. The song was originally hastily written after A-ha agreed to a one-time reunion at the...

". In addition, Waaktaar-Savoy is also a painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

.

A-ha

Paul is the 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-Price-Concert. 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

How Can I Sleep With Your Voice In My Head

How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head is a live album released in 2003 by Norwegian band A-ha.-Track listing:#"Forever Not Yours" — 4:33#"Minor Earth Major Sky" — 5:41#"Manhattan Skyline" — 5:50#"I've Been Losing You" — 4:09...

, which was released in March 2003.

In 2004 the compilation album The Singles: 1984-2004 was released their last album with WEA. After that A-ha signed to Universal. Analogue

Analogue (album)

Analogue is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released in 2005.-Track listing:#"Celice" – 3:41#"Don't Do Me Any Favours" – 3:51...

was released in 2005. The title-track entered the UK-charts on #10. The band's ninth studio album, "Foot of the Mountain

Foot of the Mountain

Foot of the Mountain is the ninth and final studio album by the Norwegian pop band A-ha. It was released on 19 June 2009 and reached #1 on the German Album Chart and #2 on the Norwegian Album Chart...

" was released in 2009.

Paul has said "Morten is totally different from me. When we first came to London together, he burned all my clothes and re-dressed me from head to toe. I don't care much about clothes, whereas he's always very interested in them. He has given me self-confidence, encourages me to talk to people, not to be afraid and to use the abilities I have. Morten is actually the only one in Norway who had as much ambition as I did. I guess we both have big egos. In a way, we're each sitting in our own little world, while Mags is more down to earth. Mags often has to mediate between Morten and me... It's good that we're so different and still respect each other. The tension between us is creative. No one sings like Morten. He's got what it takes and I have great faith in him."

Savoy

With his wife, he has produced many CDs as the band Savoy. In 2001 Waaktaar released his fourth studio album, "Reasons to stay indoors", which was again a big success in Norway. On 30 August 2004, Savoy released their fifth studio album called 'Savoy' through their own label, Eleventeen Records.

Together with his wife, and drummer Frode Unneland, he has performed in the band Savoy

Savoy (band)

Savoy are a Norwegian-American rock trio consisting of Paul Waaktaar-Savoy , Lauren Savoy and Frode Unneland...

. Savoy have achieved great success in Norway, selling over 300,000 records. They have been nominated for Spellemannsprisen (Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

) four times and have won three times. The song "Velvet" appears in the film One Night at McCool's

One Night at McCool's

One Night at McCool's is a 2001 American dark comedy/neo-noir film, directed by Harald Zwart and starring Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, Reba McEntire and Andrew Dice Clay.-Plot:...

and "Whalebone" appears in the highly acclaimed Norwegian film Hawaii, Oslo

Hawaii, Oslo

Hawaii, Oslo is a Norwegian film from 2004. It was directed by Erik Poppe after a script by Harald Rosenløw Eeg. The music was composed by John Erik Kaada and Bugge Wesseltoft. The film was well received by critics, and was awarded two Amanda Awards in 2005....

.

Weathervane

With Jimmy Gnecco

Jimmy Gnecco

James Francis "Jimmy" Gnecco III is an American musician. He is the vocalist for the rock band Ours as well as a solo artist with his release of The Heart.-Early life:...

he presented Weathervane as a new project in June 2011. Their self-titled single (Weathervane) will be on the soundtrack for the movie Headhunters (based on the book "Hodejegerne" of Jo Nesbø

Jo Nesbø

Jo Nesbø is an Edgar Award nominated Norwegian author and musician. As of September 2008 more than one and a half million copies of his novels have been sold in Norway, and his work has been translated into over forty languages....

).

Painting

Waaktaar-Savoy has painted all his life. His trademark is not starting to paint until the canvas has been fitted with a frame. This trait was played upon in his debut and so far sole exhibition "Rammer" (meaning "Frames" in Norwegian) in Lillehammer

Lillehammer

is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, Norway in 1998.

Descriptions by the rest of A-ha

Magne Furuholmen describes Waaktaar-Savoy thus: "Pål is the person who has meant most to me in my musical development and yet he’s the one person I find it most difficult to say anything sensible about. He has incredible will-power and a watchful eye, always searching for material he can use creatively. In a way, I have idolized Pål for years and I still depend on him to help me sort out my own ideas.”

Morten Harket describes Waaktaar-Savoy thus: "Pål has unbelievable self-discipline and is a workaholic. He can keep working on what appears to be the same thing over and over again. While I go crazy when I have to go over a song hundreds of times, he can sit with it for hours, trying to find exactly the right mix to achieve the sound he wants. Pål is really the driving force behind A-ha. He’s one of the few real artists on the pop rock scene. It's always exciting to hear what he's written.”

Personal life

Waaktaar-Savoy was born in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 in 1961 and grew up in the Manglerud

Manglerud

Manglerud was a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway up to January 1, 2004, when it became part of the borough of Østensjø. Manglerud was built in the 1960s as a suburb to Oslo, connected by the Oslo T-bane metro system.-Floorball:...

 suburb. He is a distant relative of Norwegian footballer Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Morten Gamst Pedersen is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Norway national football team.-Tromsø IL:...

.
He is married to American filmmaker and musician Lauren Waaktaar-Savoy

Lauren Savoy

Lauren Waaktaar-Savoy is an American musician, composer, director and photographer.She was born in 1968 in Boston, Massachusetts.Since 1995, she has played with husband Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and drummer Frode Unneland in the group Savoy....

 and has one child, True August Waaktaar-Savoy (b. 1999) together with her. The family divides its time between New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Oslo, Norway.

With A-ha

Year	Title	Label
1985	Hunting High and Low Hunting High and Low Hunting High and Low is the debut album by Norwegian new wave band A-ha. Released on 1 June 1985 through Warner Bros. Records, the album was a huge commercial success selling more than 10 million units worldwide, peaking at #15 in the United States Billboard 200 and reaching high positions on...	Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
1986	Scoundrel Days Scoundrel Days Scoundrel Days is the second full-length album by the new wave pop/rock band A-ha. It was released on 6 October 1986 through Warner Bros. Records...
1988	Stay on These Roads Stay on These Roads Stay on These Roads is the third full-length album by the rock band A-ha. It was released on 3 May 1988 through Warner Bros. Records.-Recording:...
1990	East of the Sun, West of the Moon East of the Sun, West of the Moon East of the Sun, West of the Moon is the fourth album, released in 1990 by Norwegian band A-ha. It was seen by many as a departure from their old radio friendly sound to a darker, moodier tone, and is named after a Norwegian fairy tale...
1993	Memorial Beach Memorial Beach Memorial Beach is the fifth album by Norwegian band A-ha, released in 1993.The album was recorded primarily at Prince’s Paisley Park studios outside Minneapolis in the U.S. Featured among the tracks is “Angel in the Snow,” a song Paul wrote for his bride, Lauren Savoy, as a wedding gift, and the...
2000	Minor Earth Major Sky Minor Earth Major Sky Minor Earth | Major Sky is the sixth album by Norwegian band a-ha, released in 2000. It sold 2 million copies worldwide.-Track listing:# Minor Earth Major Sky – 5:25 # Little Black Heart – 4:35...
2002	Lifelines Lifelines Lifelines is the seventh album released in 2002 by the Norwegian band A-ha. This album entered to top 10 album charts in 9 countries and 4 of those in top, selling over 1.5 million copies....
2005	Analogue Analogue (album) Analogue is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released in 2005.-Track listing:#"Celice" – 3:41#"Don't Do Me Any Favours" – 3:51...	Universal Music Group Universal Music Group Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
2009	Foot of the Mountain Foot of the Mountain Foot of the Mountain is the ninth and final studio album by the Norwegian pop band A-ha. It was released on 19 June 2009 and reached #1 on the German Album Chart and #2 on the Norwegian Album Chart...

With Savoy

Year	Title	Label
1996	Mary is Coming Mary is Coming This is based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.Mary Is Coming is the first album released by the band Savoy. It was a different sound from Paul Waaktaar-Savoy's previous band, a-ha, which had gone on hiatus. Savoy aimed to be more guitar-oriented. Mary Is Coming was recorded in Oslo and...	Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
1997	Lackluster Me Lackluster Me Lackluster Me is the second album released by the band Savoy. It was only officially released in Norway and Sweden. It sold a total of 15,000 copies there and received a Spellmanprisen nomination for best rock album. "Sycamore Leaves" was previously recorded by a-ha on their 1990 album East of...	EMI EMI Records EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
1999	Mountains of Time Mountains of time Mountains Of Time is the third album released by the band Savoy. It is the only original Savoy studio album officially released outside of Scandinavia so far, but only in central and Western Europe. There was a limited edition with a second CD called The Bovarnick Twins, which was an EP of...
2001	Reasons to Stay Indoors Reasons to Stay Indoors Reasons To Stay Indoors is the fourth album from the Norwegian group Savoy, released Monday 8 October 2001 in Norway and the 25 February 2002 in Sweden. This disc is, like Mountains Of Time, one of the most acclaimed of Savoy...
2004	Savoy Savoy (album) Savoy is the fifth album from the Norwegian group of the same name, released 30 October 2004 in Norway. Like their two previous releases, there was a regular edition and limited edition. However, this time, the limited edition bonus CD has been substituted with a DVD with the videos for "Isotope"...	Eleventeen Records
2007	Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 is a compilation album from the Norwegian group of the same name, released Monday 6 August 2007 in Norway. It was released 12 May 2008 in the UK by Genepool Records. Disc one contains three all-new tracks and re-recordings of earlier tracks. Disc 2 contains the original...	Universal

With Weathervane

Year	Title	Label
2011	Weathervane (Single)	Universal Music Norway

Awards awarded to Savoy

Year	Award	Result
1999	Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen is an award presented to Norwegian musicians for their contributions.-Operation:The award was established on the initiative of International Federation of the Phonographic Industry , an organization that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide... awarded in the category "Popgroup" for "Mountains of Time"
2001	Spellemannprisen awarded in the category "Popgroup" for "Reasons to Stay Indoors"

External links

• http://www.A-ha.com
• http://www.outofbluecomesgreen.com