COLDPLAY - MARTIN: 'I'M A BIG FAN OF A-HA'

COLDPLAY frontman CHRIS MARTIN credits 1980s Norwegian pop band A-HA with inspiring him to form his own band.

The TAKE ON ME stars are now considered unfashionable in most countries, but Martin has championed the Scandinavian heart-throbs as being amongst the greatest songwriters of all time.

And the YELLOW rocker, 28, admits the chiselled teen heroes were a great source of inspiration for Coldplay.

He says, "I found myself in Amsterdam the other day and I put A-Ha's first record on.

"I just remembered how much I loved it. It's incredible songwriting.

"Everyone asks what inspired us, what we've been trying to steal from and what we listened to as we were growing up - the first band I ever loved was A-Ha."