Mental as Anything’s Live It Up tops British iTunes charts 35 years after song’s release
A year after the death of frontman Greedy Smith, Mental As Anything is at the top of the charts ... and it’s all because of UK football fans.
A year after the death of Mental as Anything frontman Greedy Smith, the Sydney pop band’s signature song Live It Up has reached No 1 on the British iTunes music chart ahead of Mariah Carey.
Originally released in 1985, the single’s surprising chart resurgence has been led by fans of the Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers.
They were in there for us. pic.twitter.com/Od99YdwuV5
— Union Bears (@UnionBears_07) October 19, 2020
On October 20, Live It Up was the uplifting soundtrack to a video posted on Twitter by fan group Union Bears celebrating Rangers defender Connor Goldson and goading fans of rival club Celtic.
The clip went viral, attracting nearly 350,000 views on Twitter alone, and the song has since become as an unofficial anthem for Rangers followers.
Since then, a social media campaign led by the hashtag #LiveItUpChristmasNumberOne is calling on Rangers fans to continue buying the song on iTunes in an attempt to reach No 1 on the British pop chart in the week of Christmas Day.
Managed by former England national captain Steven Gerrard, Rangers are currently on a 25-game unbeaten streak and lead the Scottish Premiership by 13 points as the team looks to secure a record 55th title.
#LiveItUpChristmasNumberOne 🎄
— Michael Seafarer (@SeafarerMichael) December 6, 2020
How it started. How it’s going. pic.twitter.com/R7sVzCKplS
Live It Up reached No 2 in Australia before becoming a hit overseas, including No 2 in Britain, after the track was used in the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee.
Led by singer, songwriter and keyboardist Andrew “Greedy” Smith, the band formed in Sydney in 1976 and had a string of hits in its distinctive new-wave pop style. Smith died of a heart attack on December 2, 2019, aged 63.
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