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Opus (Austrian band)

Austrian pop rock band

Summary

Austrian pop rock band

Field	Value
name	Opus
image	Opus 20080510 performing on Krieau stage, Vienna.jpg
caption	Opus performing in Vienna in 2008
image_size	250
landscape	Yes
background	group_or_band
origin	Graz, Austria
years_active	1973–2021
genre	Pop rock
label	Philips, OK Musica, RCA Victor, Polydor, Dino Music
website
current_members
past_members

Opus was an Austrian pop-rock group. It was formed in 1973 in Graz and disbanded in 2021. The band was mainly known for its 1985 single release, "Live Is Life", which reached the Top 10 in several European countries.

History

In 1985, Opus released "Live Is Life", which ranked first in various global charts. This included Canada, which ranked for seven weeks in late 1985 and early 1986. A live recording of the song made the Top 40 in the US in 1986. It ranked sixth in the UK Singles Chart on 3 August 1985, and stayed in the charts for 15 weeks.

Another standout track from Opus was the power ballad "Flyin' High", a live version of which appeared both on the Live is Life album, and a successful US release, Up and Down. At a concert in the mid-1980s, fellow Austrian rock star Falco joined Opus on stage for a rendition of "Flyin' High". On 24 November 2021, Opus performed the song in front of celebrating Austrian government officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group disbanded the same year on 21 December.

In popular culture

Cover versions of "Live is Life" have also been performed by Stargo, Laibach, the Hungarian band Tormentor, the Estonian band Kuldne Trio ("Laip on Laip"), Axxis, and Dolapdere Big Gang. Additionally, as a guest, DJ Ötzi released a version with the Hermes House Band in 2002, which reached #50 in the UK chart.

Band members

Current members

Herwig Rüdisser – vocals
Ewald Pfleger – guitar, backing vocals
Kurt-Rene Plisnier – keyboard
Günter Grasmuck – drums, percussion

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:125 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1973 till:21/12/2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:01/01/1973

BarData = bar:Rüdisser text:"Herwig Rüdisser" bar:Pfleger text:"Ewald Pfleger" bar:Plisnier text:"Kurt-René Plisnier" bar:Bachkönig text:"Walter Bachkönig" bar:Gruber text:"Niki Gruber" bar:Grasmuck text:"Günter Grasmuck"

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Rüdisser from:01/07/1978 till:end color:vocals bar:Rüdisser from:01/07/1978 till:end color:guitar width:3 bar:Pfleger from:01/01/1973 till:end color:guitar bar:Pfleger from:01/07/1978 till:end color:bvocals width:3 bar:Pfleger from:01/01/1973 till:01/07/1978 color:vocals width:3 bar:Plisnier from:01/01/1973 till:end color:keys bar:Bachkönig from:01/01/1973 till:01/07/1980 color:bass bar:Gruber from:01/07/1980 till:01/07/1991 color:bass bar:Grasmuck from:01/07/1974 till:end color:drums

LineData = at:01/01/1980 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1981 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1982 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1984 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1985 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1987 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1990 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1992 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1996 color:black layer:back at:01/01/2004 color:black layer:back at:11/11/2020 color:black layer:back

Discography

Studio albums

Daydreams (1980)
Eleven (1981)
The Opusition (1982)
Up and Down (1984)
Solo (1985)
Opus (1987)
Magical Touch (1990)
Walkin' on Air (1992)
Love, God & Radio (1996)
The Beat Goes On (2004)
Opus Magnum (2020)

Live albums

Live Is Life (1984)
Jubileé (1993)
Tonight at the Opera (2009)
Graz Liebenau (2013)

Compilation albums

Best of (1985)
Greatest Hits – The Power of Live Is Life (1998)
Flyin' Higher – Greatest Hits (2003)
Back to Future – The Ultimate Best-Of (2008)

Singles (selection)

Title	Release	Peak chart positions
Album
AUT	FRA	GER	ITA	NL	SWI	UK	US	"Flyin' High"	"Live Is Life"	"Flyin' High (live version)"	"Whiteland"	"Faster and Faster"	"Gimme Love"	"The Power of Live Is Life"	"Life Is Live (Live)"
1982	5	-	45	-	-	5	-	-
1985	1	1	1	6	3	2	6	32
1985	-	-	37	-	-	5	-	-
1987	3	-	-		39	-	-	-
1988	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2019	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

References

(21 December 2021). "El grupo austríaco Opus ("Live is Life") se retira después de 48 años".
[[Nanda Lwin. Lwin, Nanda]]. ''Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide'' (2000). Mississauga, Ont.: Music Data Canada
Roberts, David. (2006). "British Hit Singles & Albums". Guinness World Records Limited.
(May 2025). "Opus mit "Live is Life"". [[ORF (broadcaster).
Roberts, David. (2006). "British Hit Singles & Albums". Guinness World Records Limited.
"Home".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

austrian-pop-rock-music-groups english-language-austrian-musical-groups musical-groups-established-in-1973

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