Live It Up (Mental As Anything song)

"Live It Up" is a song by Australian rock band Mental As Anything, released in May 1985 in Australia and then in Europe and the United States in 1986 and 1987 after the song's appearance in the film Crocodile Dundee. At the 1985 Countdown Australian Music Awards, the song won Best Single.^[2]

"Live It Up"
Single by Mental As Anything
from the album Fundamental
B-side	"Good Friday"
Released	20 May 1985 (1985-05-20)^[1]
Length	4:15 (album version) 3:50 (radio version)
Label	WEA (Australia) Epic (Europe) Columbia (US)
Songwriter(s)	Greedy Smith
Producer(s)	Richard Gottehrer
Mental As Anything singles chronology
"You're So Strong" (1985) "Live It Up" (1985) "Date with Destiny" (1985)
Music video
"Live It Up" on YouTube

Background

"Live It Up" was written by Mental As Anything keyboardist and singer Greedy Smith.^[3] Smith did not initially think the song would be a hit when he wrote it, but became more confident as the song was completed; he explained, "You know when I felt that was going to be a hit? When we finished mixing it. It took about half an hour to write in my head. But then two years to get it right. We had no idea of how big it would be."^[4]

After the song's success, Smith did not seek to directly replicate its style. He later said, "it's not about duplicating the song, you have to duplicate all the conditions around it. Which is an art in itself. It's not really that possible. It's a bit like cricket. You can't understand how a team can win or lose, but it's just the vibe of it as Michael Caton would say."^[4]

Release and reception

"Live It Up" appears on the band's 1985 album, Fundamental. It was released in Australia as the album's second single in May 1985 and quickly climbed the Kent Music Report chart to peak at No. 2 for three weeks behind Madonna's "Angel / Into the Groove". It spent 12 weeks in the Top 10, becoming the fourth biggest-selling single of 1985 in Australia.

The single was later released in 1986 and 1987 in Europe after it was featured in the hit film Crocodile Dundee. "Live It Up" is the band's most successful and most popular song, reaching the top 20 in various countries. The song peaked at No. 2 in Ireland, No. 3 in the UK,^[5] No. 4 in Norway, No. 6 in Germany and New Zealand, No. 15 in Austria and No. 20 in Sweden.

Greedy Smith later recounted the single's success. "And I remember when 'Live It Up' went to number three in the UK… that was a special moment. It had been a hit in Australia but nobody was interested over there and in Europe. Then, when Crocodile Dundee came out, our record company over there said 'Let's put the poster on the single pack. After that, it was a huge hit. So we were very grateful to have a bit of a go around there."^[6]

"Live It Up" has been placed in the collection of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive, with the song being described as "wistful and yet danceable".^[7] The song was also used in the 2018 horror film, The Strangers: Prey at Night.

In 2020, the song became an unofficial anthem of Glasgow based football team Rangers FC to mock their city rivals Celtic FC and in December 2020 after the clubs ultras group The Union Bears featured it in a video on their social media accounts mocking Celtic for losing the Glasgow derby. Rangers fans began a campaign to get the song to number one in the UK charts for Christmas.^[8]

Live performances

"Live It Up" remains a mainstay of Mental As Anything's live setlist. Greedy Smith explained, "We mainly concentrate on the songs that people know off the radio: 'If You Leave Me', 'Too Many Times', 'Live It Up', 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Rock and Roll Music'."^[9]

Track listings

7-inch version - Regular Records (RRSP 746)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Live It Up"	Greedy Smith	3:36
2.	"Good Friday"	Martin Plaza	4:27

12-inch version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Live It Up" (extended remix)	Greedy Smith	6:06
2.	"Three Steps to Your Place"	Reg Mombassa	3:00
3.	"Good Friday"	Martin Plaza	4:27

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Live It Up" Chart (1985–1987) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[10] 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)^[11] 15 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[12] 40 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)^[13] 20 Ireland (IRMA)^[14] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[15] 42 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[16] 6 Norway (VG-lista)^[17] 4 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[18] 20 UK Singles (OCC)^[19] 3 West Germany (Official German Charts)^[20] 6 Chart (2020) Peak position Scotland (OCC)^[21] 71

Year-end charts 1985 year-end chart performance for "Live It Up" Chart (1985) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[22] 4 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[23] 25 1987 year-end chart performance for "Live It Up" Chart (1987) Position European Hot 100 Singles (Music & Media)^[24] 78 Norway Spring Period (VG-Lista)^[25] 3 UK Singles (OCC)^[26] 31 West Germany (Official German Charts)^[27] 58

References

1. "Kent Music Report No 567 – 20 May 1985 > Singles: New Releases". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 6 December 2019 – via Imgur.
2. "Australian Music Awards". Ron Jeff. Retrieved 16 December 2010.
3. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up". TV80s. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
4. Collins, Matt (15 April 2019). "PODCAST: Iconic Aussie musician is 'the worst show-off'". South Burnett Times. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
5. "Mental As Anything | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
6. Hamey, Sharyn (20 September 2009). "ROCK CLUB 40: INTERVIEW – GREEDY SMITH – MENTAL AS ANYTHING". mentalasanything.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
7. Australia, National Film and Sound Archive of (11 September 2018). "'Live it Up' - Mental As Anything". www.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
8. Cashmere, Paul (7 December 2020). "Mental As Anything 'Live It Up' Just Went To No 1 On The UK's iTunes Chart". Noise11.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
9. Niehaus, Jon (23 October 2014). "MENTAL AS ANYTHING – GREEDY TALKS". NQ Music Press. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p. 198. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
12. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
13. "European Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 17. 2 May 1987. p. 15. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Mental As Anything". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
15. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
16. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
17. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up". VG-lista. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
18. "Mental As Anything – Live It Up". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
19. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Mental As Anything – Live It Up". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
21. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
22. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 437. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
23. "End of Year Charts 1985". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
24. "European Charts of the Year 1987: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 51/52. 26 December 1987. p. 34. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
25. (in Norwegian). VG-Lista. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
26. "Gallup Year End Charts 1987: Singles". Record Mirror. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 23 January 1988. p. 36.
27. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 1987" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 12 May 2020.