Steve Markoff, Patricia Lazzara, and Allison Brewster Franzetti come together again on the A-Ha’s pop hit “Take On Me” with memorable results. I wasn’t a fan of the original when they first released and it still stands for me as a near-archetypal video for a network, MTV, with serious quality control issues, but my point of view has softened over time. I hear the skill behind its composition. I appreciate its infectious melody. “Take On Me” is a model of its form, the 80’s Top 40 pop song, but likewise reflects the solid across-the-board fundamentals the Scandinavian band brought to the song’s initial writing.
Franzetti’s piano is exquisite. Her capacity for bringing the melody to life and enriching it with inspired runs is the keystone making this song work. She varies her playing between fleet finger up-tempo sweeps and slower passages where her positioning of individual notes has precise, yet emotional, timing. Lazzara and Markoff ably fill in the spaces around her piano with their own melodic contributions – working in counterpoint but, as well, turning the composition in their own unique direction.
The construction of the piece is flawless. The musicians tackle its challenges with the polished care one expects from such lauded professionals. Breathing new life into classic songs with wholesale re-arrangements isn’t an especially new thing in popular music, but the material selected subverts traditional expectations about its worth and the musicians show five-star skill revamping it for modern audiences.
There is a conversation, in essence, occurring between the players. Franzetti leads the dialogue in a dance-like motion; the vision of this song the recording embraces is relatively far-flung from its more ebullient roots. There’s something much closer to elegiac emotion dominating the piece. It never has a melodramatic slant, the principals are far too canny for such excess. The dialogue between the three players is seamless and never goes on too long.
They’ve retained many of the characteristics making “Take on Me” such a pop powerhouse. It’s a song with no wasted motion in its original incarnation; Lazzara, Franzetti, and Markoff embrace the same approach. Listening to A-Ha’s version after all these years, I’m impressed with how each section locks into a larger overall theme. “Take on Me” never sounds overly plotted out – the song develops with just as much naturalness as we hear in the original.
You won’t miss a vocalist either. I never expected that this song would work as well as it does without a singer, but the piano and flute alike supply a suggestive vocal quality. Both casual and hardcore listeners will appreciate the song; it has substance and accessibility in a pairing. Instrumental music isn’t often a commercial success, there are exceptions, but “Take On Me” is a single deserving the widest possible audience. I expect Lazzara and Markoff may keep pursuing this musical direction, with Franzetti working alongside them, but I also have the feeling we’ll hear even more diverse efforts from them in the future. The talent is obvious, but it’s the way their talents are tailored towards one another that promises great things.
Chadwick Easton
The music of Steve Markoff & Patricia Lazzara has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com