The 7" release of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." features a shady group-shot (Magne, Morten and Pål) by Jonathan Lennard. In the lower left corner, a black a-ha-logo is printed on the image of a light brown piece of paper that seemingly is attached to the background by two pieces of beige tape. The song title is written in white across the top part of the sleeve.

The background of the reverse is white and light `brown paper' effect (the brown covers just over half of the sleeve), and the effect of using tape as an adhesive is repeated by placing a beige piece of tape on the mid right side. All information is written in black letters, and a small picture of the "Hunting High And Low" album is placed in the lower middle position.

The 7" version of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is slightly edited (4:42) and some sounds are different. This is fairly obvious at the beginning, just a second before Morten starts to sing "I reached inside myself..". The flip of this single release is the non-album track "Driftwood" (2:58) produced by a-ha. The 7" is available with different coloured labels including white, silver, blue and also copie(s) exisit which in error do not have a label at all!

Also available is a limited edition (12,000 copies pressed) sun-shaped picture disc featuring the same track listing as the regular release. The disc has individual pictures of the band members in the middle of the red, yellow and orange sun-image. The reverse is red with all information in yellow letters.

In order for the release to be complete the original 10" PVC sleeve and "a-ha The Sun Always Shines On TV W8846P"-sticker should both be intact. A tasty collectors item is the extremely limited edition uncut disc which offers neither official PVC or sticker, but actually is a 12"-sized jewel of an item for the fortunate few.

Last, and this time least, is a 7" square flexi disc with an introduction by a-ha followed by the "U.S. Dance Mix" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (4:33). The disc which offers a yellow and orange sun-image plus individual pictures of the band members features black and pink titles.

 

The disc came free with the 29th March '86 issue of the English music magazine "No. 1". The previous week the same magazine offered a 7"-sized 6-page booklet "a-ha person 2 person" featuring answers to questions and additional information on the band members.

The cover of the UK 12" is the same as the 7" except that it mentions the extended version and the b-side on both front and reverse. There are two different UK 12" releases available of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V."-single. However the difference can not be detected by just looking at the cover. Some copies come with a "U.S. Steve Thompson Dance Mix"-sticker but not even this detail gives away the difference. When listening to and measuring the times of the tracks the differences become evident. While the so called "U.S. Steve Thompson Dance Mix" (8:25) starts off with a percussion drum beat (grooves finish approx. 1.5cm from record centre), the shorter extended version (7:09) which is the rarer one, features a slow piano intro. before the steady drum beat commences (grooves finish approx. 2.5cm from centre of record).

Some of the 12"-releases [the rarer 7:09 edition - TBC] come with a limited edition poster featuring a multicolour group-shot (Morten, Magne and Pål from left to right pictured in full length) by Robert Erdmann. The 24"x36" poster promotes the "hunting high and low"-album in white letters and larger a-ha logo in red.

There is a UK DJ promo 7" which comes in a brown WB sleeve. Side 1 features the Radio Edit, side 2 features the 7" edit.

There is a mis-press Madonna release of "Borderline" which has a-ha's "Driftwood" recorded on the B-side rather than the correct B-side "Physical Attraction". The labels state that the disc plays Madonna on both sides, but the give-away is the a-ha catalogue number "W8846-B" scratched into the vinyl on the B-side.

Variations

Argentina

Promo 7" without picture sleeve which has The Sun Always Shines On TV by a-ha on one side and a track by Sheila E on the other. No further details.

Australia

The 7" has the same front picture sleeve as the UK release except for the fact that the song title is placed slightly lower and the text itself is more compressed. The reverse features a different, lighter shade of `brown paper' and only the song title "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is mentioned. In addition the Australian release does not have a picture of the album.

Brazil

There is a promotional 12" featuring other artists as well as a-ha.

Canada

The 7" promo comes is a paper WEA sleeve. The white disc label has "promotional only not for sale" printed on it.

France

The 7" has a slightly different cover (back and front). The front of the sleeve has the same design, but has "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." printed in much larger print across the top and there is an orange a-ha-logo in the top right hand corner. The reverse of the sleeve is white with a large picture of the album "Hunting High And Low" and only "The Sun Always Shines On T.V. Produced By Alan Tarney" written above it excluding the track listing.

Germany

The 7" is identical to the Australian release. Some promotional copies come with a product fact sheet with information in German.

The 12" is quite different from the UK release. The front has a beige background on which the same group-shot is placed. The black a-ha-logo is placed on the beige background along with the title of the song. The a-ha-logo has been underlined with a red crayon and another piece tape has been placed next to the logo. In addition a small red, white and blue Norwegian flag has been included in the lower right hand corner. The "piece of tape" on the back of the sleeve is smaller and on the left hand side rather than the right, the `brown paper' used is of a slightly different style, covering nearer 3/4 of the sleeve and the album picture has been omitted. The 12" includes an additional track, the "Instrumental Version" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (6:40) (note: track length quoted incorrectly as 5:46 on the sleeve).

Southern Ireland

The 7" was released in Southern Ireland under the UK cat number with an identical sleeve, but the record labels differ slightly with "ATV music", a different layout and track times are shown.

Italy

There is a Warner / Elektra jukebox promo 7" available with b-side "Holding Back The Years" by Simply Red. The disc comes in a generic sleeve. As with most juke-box releases, the disc has a large cut-out hole in the centre. Some copies of this promo come in a regular "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." picture sleeve.

Japan

The 7" has a picture-sheet with the same photo as its European counterparts. Naturally there is some additional Japanese writing and both price and catalogue number are placed in the upper left corner. The reverse features the lyrics in English to "The Sun Always Shines On T.V.", a black and white group-shot, album picture plus additional printed autographs and drawings by the band-members. Some copies of the 7" come with a fold-out questionnaire which features a small black and white group-shot and album cover on the front and large black and white group-shot on the reverse.

Peru

The Peru 7" comes in a white Peruvian printed record sleeve with the text "EL VIRREY" INDUSTRIAS MUSICALES S.A. and an address printed in purple along the bottom. The disc label is white light brown with the tracks written as "El Sol Siempre Brilla En T.V." and "Madera Flotante", with the English titles in smaller letters underneath.

 

The 7" promo edition comes in a white paper sleeve with the text "EL VIRREY" INDUSTRIAS MUSICALES S.A. and an address printed in blue along the bottom. The disc label is white with the tracks listed in a similar way as the regular release. At the top of the label is a black WB-logo and the text "DISCO DE PROMOCION PROHIBIDA SU VENTA".

The Philippines

The 7" comes in a white paper sleeve. The disc has a white label with the title printed at the top. A WB-logo is printed on the left hand side with other information to the right and below.

The Philippines 12" of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." has similar sleeve to the U.S. release. The 12" was released in 1986 and plays at 33RPM.

Portugal

The sleeve of the 7"-release is similar to the UK 7" except that the reverse of the sleeve is printed in black and white.

Spain

The front of the picture sleeve of the 7" differs only slightly from the UK release in that the writing of the title "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is more compressed, also the sleeve is textured. However, the reverse varies considerably with its grey background, light grey piece of tape, no picture and finally, mentioning of only the title track. The front cover of the 12" is the same as the UK release except for the fact that "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." is the only track mentioned, plus the type of letters used are slightly different. The reverse of the picture sleeve is similar to the German edition except for the fact that there is a grey background for the information of the track listings. This grey background covers more than 2/3 of the reverse while the rest is white. In addition there is a 1/2 centimetre white strip at the very bottom of the sleeve on which the country of origin is printed. The tracks are the same as on the German release.

Taiwan

There is a three track cassette single featuring the Steve Thompson extended version, the instrumental (5:46) and Driftwood. The front cover features the same band shot as the UK release, but the picture is printed in landscape fashion and the titles are missing. The spine and folded part of the insert are beige with black titles. The cassette is black with white titles.

USA

The regular 7" release has the same sleeve as the Australian edition. The 7" promo comes in the same sleeve as the regular release, but has the same track on both sides of the disc.

The sleeve for the 12" is the same as the German edition except for the text "Specially-Priced Maxi-Single" which is printed in capital letters in the upper left hand corner. The 12" features the same 3 tracks as the German edition (note: track length of the instrumental version is quoted incorrectly as 5:46 long on the sleeve and disc label).

The U.S. test pressing has white "Test pressing from speciality records corporation" standard printed labels with details including date 11-9-85 hand written on. It features the "Album Version" on side B in place of the Instrumental version.

There is also a promo US "Disconet DJ" 12" which features a different mix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (8:55) "edit by Steve & Raull" plus tracks by eight other artists, the 12" plays at 33 1/3 RPM. This 12" comes in a plain white sleeve. The disc labels are dark pink and orange with black and white text.

There is a "Disconet Dance Classics Volume #3" CD featuring the same mix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (track 6) and eight other tracks by various artists. This CD was released in the late 80's. The disc is silver with black titles.

There are two different DJ promo only double 12" "Hot Trackss" sets featuring "The Sun Always Shines On TV". The first is Series 5, issue 1 and features the Hot tracks DJ remix of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." plus tracks by other artists. The

The second set, series 5 issue 4, features a medley "The Sun Always Shines (In The Morning Time)" (8:46 - listed as 8:36) of various artists including the instrumental version of "The Sun Always Shines On TV" with vocals from other artists over the top. The medley is mixed by Ernie Pezzuto and Michael Tobin. This track is the first on side 1 of the second disc. Tracks are: Love's On Fire (Aleem feat. Leroy Burgees); All Played Out (L.I.F.E.); Shake N' Roll (Davina Rock); Sex Train (Sex Execs); The Sun Always Shines (In The Morning Time) medley feat. Let Me Go (Heaven 17), Work For Love (Ministry), The Sun Always Shines On TV (a-ha), I Can't Wait (Nu Shooz), The Heat In Me (Linda Clifford), In The Morning Time (Tramaine), In The River (I-Level); Bad Boy (Miami Sound Machine); Birdland (Zino feat. Jolo).

In America there is a "Back To Back Hits" 7" which features "Take On Me" (3:46) and the single version of "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." (4:42) (printed as 4:30 on the 7"). The 7" doesn't come with a picture sleeve. This 7" was released in 1985.

This "Back Trax" release is also available on cassette which comes in a card slip case. The front of the sleeve features a green-tone picture of some recording equipment. A-HA is printed in black letters at the top with "Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." printed in black letters below. Between the two track titles is a large yellow "+" symbol. Back Trax is printed in black and white at the bottom of the sleeve. A black sticker on the front mentions that the release is "Also available as a CD single". The reverse of the sleeve shows a similar picture, but purple toned. The tracks are printed in black in a similar format to that on the front sleeve. The Back Trax and WB logos are printed at the top with additional track and copyright information lower down. The "Back Trax" range was released in 1993. The cassette itself is black with white text with one track on each side (Take On Me on Side 1 and The Sun Always Shines On T.V. on Side 2).

Zimbabwe

The 7" doesn't come with a picture sleeve.

7"

12"

CD

Cassette