A-ha’s TAKE ON ME -their sketchy video, their sketchy translations, their wrestling, their employment interview techniques, insect life cycles, and shying (shiny?) alien shape-shifting body-snatchers

<p>1984 - Apple’s first Macintosh computer is launched (priced at $2,500). Michael Jackson is rushed to hospital with second degree burns from fireworks while filming a Pepsi commercial. The first untethered spacewalk is made by Astronauts. The mockumentary, <em>This is Spinal Tap</em>, is released. Torvill and Dean win the first perfect-score gold medal for ice skating. Comedian Tommy Cooper dies live on TV, suffering a massive heart attack, which is mistaken as part of his act. Princess Diana gives birth to Harry. <em>Happy Days</em> is cancelled after 11 seasons. <em>Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends</em> is first broadcast, narrated by Ringo Starr. 36 pop musicians from across Britain and Ireland form Band Aid and record <em>Do They Know It’s Christmas</em> to raise money for Ethiopian famine victims.<br> ... and Norwegian synth-pop band, A-ha, knock up their first version of <em>TAKE ON ME</em>, though it will take two more versions, another year, and a new video clip before it becomes a hit.</p> <p>What does it have to say? What interpretations have fallen between its translation from Norwegian to English? Is Falsetto a language of its own? Are Norwegians predominantly dark, sad, or wet?</p> <p>To explore this, we discuss: Job interviews; herring sortation and safety; stalking or romance (again); prayers on your death-bed; Norwegian courtship rituals, alien shape-shifters; narcissism; regulation unitards; sperm donation; issues of consent; the Kama Sutra; kids' obsession with Minecraft; insect life cycles; Frankenstein; Yoda (again); motorcycle racing as a metaphor for sex; Altered States; George Costanza; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; The Thing; the Norwegian for "touch me" or "toe me"; enchanted flutes; Lego cakes; Weezer; Real Big Fish; Toto's Africa (again); Nelson Mandela; Car Alarms and bamboo socks.</p> <p>Take on our regular segments: Misheard Lyrics, Internet Theories, Listener Comments, and more.</p> <p>Would you like to appear (well, vocally) on the show? Do you have a pop song or ear-worm fro