Mental As Anything - Live It Up

"Live It Up" is an upbeat song with an interesting history from a cool, quirky band from Australia.  Mental As Anything were an art rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976.  The group would go on to have significant success in their home market, with three top 10 albums and twenty (!) top 40 singles.  The band is also noteworthy for their odd and humorous videos.

Their 1985 release, Fundamental, proved to be Mental As Anything's biggest success.  The LP peaked at #3 on the Australian album charts, while the "Live It Up" single hit #2 on the singles charts.  It's easy to see why, as it's a great pop song with a fantastic hook.

The song then won the lottery as it was picked for the Crocodile Dundee film and soundtrack.  Dundee became an international phenomenon; it was also the second highest grossing film in the U.S. in 1986 (slightly behind Top Gun). "Live It Up" was re-released and would go on to have significant international success, reaching #3 in the UK, for example.

While the band's success faded over time, they remained an active working band through 2019, when Greedy Smith, the last remaining original member, died unexpectedly of a heart attack.

In spite of the global success of "Live It Up," Mental As Anything never broke through in the U.S., making this an eighties rare video.

Cool trivia fact: In 2020, "Live It Up" was adopted by fans of the Glasgow, Scotland soccer team Rangers FC, who pushed in to #1 on the UK iTunes charts in December of that year.