Almost by accident, the Austrian band Opus found themselves in the UK Top 10 in 1985 thanks to an innocuous singalong number made memorable by the crowd that was joining in.
Live Is Life was a brand new track that the band performed at a gig in the Austrian town of Oberwart in 1984. The instant hook of “na-na na-na na” got such a response from the audience that the audio was snicked off the recording and issued worldwide as a single in June 1985. UK DJs began to play it, and the song worked its way into the Top 40, eventually peaking at No.6.
Britain had recent form for allowing casually slung together bits of European audienceparticipation pop into the charts, thanks to the Art Company’s exploits a year before, and Opus ended up with one of the anthems of the summer. The melody was basic but utterly irresistible, and an English lyric, however banal, aided the cause greatly. It went to No.1 in Canada and made the Top 40 in the US, while mainland Europe bought it in droves.
Unsurprisingly, no follow-ups were successful outside of Austria but Live Is Life has been regularly used and adapted for commercials around the world.