I’m Tom and I’m a music nerd.

Music has had a significant impact on my life and I always try to weave it into the fabric of my stories. It was the backdrop in The Potato Puff Surprise and it’s certainly sprinkled throughout Acapulco. I’m writing my third book and music will practically be a character in the story. I can’t wait to share more information with you. Stay tuned!

Anyway, there is a scene in The Potato Puff Surprise when my friends and I (way back in the 1980s) spend the day at an amusement park and “Take on Me” by A-ha is swirling around the Musik Express. Ultimately, I couldn’t convince my friend to get on the dizzying ride with me. However, it was fun to include “Take on Me” in the scene. And let’s be honest, it’s a quintessential ‘80s song.

The song went through various iterations and recordings before it became the cultural phenomenon it is today. I just recently discovered that A-ha appeared on MTV Unplugged in 2017 and performed a stripped-down version of the song. And despite the version also being on the Deadpool 2 soundtrack, I had never heard it before.

It’s a stunningly beautiful version of the song without the gratuitous synthesizers that made the ‘80s, well, the ‘80s. I hope you enjoy it.