1980s group Aha come out of retirement

In the case of Cher, she has had about 14 farewell tours and is apparently plotting a new album and tour.

Simply Red bowed out with a ‘last ever’ concert at the O2 in London back in 2010. For fans who couldn’t get tickets for the emotional farewell, the whole concert was released on DVD. Five years on Simply Red are about to embark on a massive European tour. I did ask their management if there would be refunds for anyone who bought tickets for that ‘last ever’ show. I was told there wouldn’t be refunds.

Aha also embraced their last ever tour in 2010 and fans scrambled for tickets to see the lads one final time. They were adamant after the farewell tour they would never perform together again. At the time, keyboard player Magne Furuholmen told a Norwegian newspaper that “an ABBA reunion is more likely than us getting back together.”

Well ABBA are still estranged, but Aha would have Maggie turning in her grave, as they have performed a 
U-turn. Like Simply Red, they have announced a major world tour for next year and are about to release a new studio album.

Maybe they just got bored. Perhaps they just couldn’t live without each other. They have a song called ‘Cry Wolf’ and It is a bit like ‘The boy who cried wolf.’ The next time they announce a split it will be as believable as a drove of airborne pigs circling the west end of Morecambe.

The thing I like about Aha is they haven’t just gone on a nostalgia trip and peddled out the old 80s hits. The return came about in a simple, organic way, as band member Paul Waaktaar explained. “It started off very easy and low-key, with Morten dropping by my studio at various occasions, and I would show him songs I was working on. He would sing on the songs he felt a connection with and leave the ones that didn’t and it just went like that until we had done 10 or 12 songs,” he said.

Their new album, ‘Cast in Steel’, is out in September.