"Live Is Life" | ||||
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Single by Opus | ||||
from the album Live Is Life/ Up and Down (U.S. version) | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 1984 [1] | |||
Genre | Reggae [2] | |||
Length | 4:14 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Peter Müller | |||
Opus singles chronology | ||||
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Alternative covers | ||||
"Live Is Life" is a 1984 song by Austrian pop rock band Opus. It was released as the first single from their first live album, Live Is Life (1984),and was also included on the US version of their fourth studio album, Up and Down (1984). The song was a European number-one hit in the summer of 1985,and also reached number one in Canada and the top 40 in the US in 1986. It has been covered by many artists.
After having released several singles,"Live Is Life" achieved huge success in 1985,topping the charts of many countries,including Austria (eight weeks),West Germany,France (seven weeks) and Sweden (four weeks).
The song was created during a concert in Oberwart,on 2 September 1984,while the group celebrated its eleventh anniversary. It was recorded in a live version with the audience singing along in the verses. In the lyrics,the song expresses "the enthusiastic attachment of the group to the stage". [3] The song was performed during the 1985 charity campaign,"Austria für Afrika".
In 1994,on the occasion of the 1994 FIFA World Cup,Opus released another version of "Live Is Life",which made it again into the top ten in Austria.[ citation needed ] The song was re-recorded once more by the group in 2008,both in a solo version and featuring Jerry.[ citation needed ]
On 19 April 1989,during the warming up in Munich before the UEFA Cup semi-final return between FC Bayern Munich and S.S.C. Napoli,Diego Maradona performed an impromptu keepie uppie exhibition synchronized to the rhythm of "Live Is Life",as the song happened to be playing over the stadium's loudspeakers during warm-ups.
Some confusion persists by those who dispute that it took place in Munich. Among others,Jürgen Klinsmann claimed that it happened during the final in Stuttgart:
There were 70,000 people in the stadium and Maradona went on the field. We’re on the other side of the field,warming up like Germans:seriously,focused. There's music playing,the song "Live is Life",and to the rhythm of the song Maradona started juggling the ball. So we stopped our warm-up. What's this guy doing? He's juggling off his shoulders. And we couldn't warm up anymore because we had to watch this guy. [4]
Belgian sports anchor Frank Raes,who edited the video and distributed it via YouTube,has asserted that this warm up took place just before the semifinal in Munich. By 2013,Raes' video clip had garnered almost two million views on YouTube. [4] The 25th anniversary of Maradona's warming up was noted internationally,with newspapers commenting on his skills and on the transformative effect he had on Napoli and southern Italy. [5] [6]
1985 release
1994 release
| 2008 release
2011 version
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Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada) [35] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
France (SNEP) [36] | Gold | 500,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [37] | Gold | 500,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [38] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [39] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [40] | Silver | 250,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
"Live Is Life (Here We Go)" | ||||
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Single by Hermes House Band featuring DJ Ötzi | ||||
from the album Today Is the Day | ||||
B-side | "Remix" | |||
Released | 2002 | |||
Genre | Europop | |||
Length | 3:30 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Hermes House Band singles chronology | ||||
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The Hermes House Band and DJ Ötzi released a version of the song in 2002. The single had its highest peak position in France, where it reached number two for five weeks. [41] The song was used as a soundtrack for the German youth film Das Jahr der ersten Küsse. [42] As of August 2014, the song was the 23rd best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 537,000 units sold. [43]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Sales and certifications
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A well known version of the song was done by the Slovenian art collective Laibach, titled "Opus Dei," in a distinctly darker and militaristic style. It is one of Laibach's most well-known songs.
The song was covered by Stargo, whose version reached number 10 in France in 1985. [60] Sofia Carson's "Love Is the Name" features an interpolation of "Live Is Life". [61]
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