Opus (band)
| opus | |
|---|---|
 Opus in Vienna (2008) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| founding | 1973 |
| resolution | 2021 (planned) |
| Website | www.opus.at |
| Founding members | |
| Ewald Pfleger | |
| Kurt René Plisnier | |
Electric bass |
Walter Bachkönig (until 1980) |
| Last occupation | |
Vocals, electric guitar , songwriter
|
Ewald Pfleger |
Keyboard |
Kurt-René Plisnier |
| Günter Grasmuck (since 1974) | |
singing |
Herwig Rüdisser (since 1978) |
| former members | |
Electric bass |
Niki Gruber (1980–1990) |
| Guest musicians / band members | |
guitar |
Hans Pallier (1974–1980) |
Singing, percussion |
Günter Timischl (1983–1985) |
Electric bass |
Wolfram Abt (1990-2008) |
Electric bass |
Erich Buchebner |
Electric bass |
Mischa Krausz |
Backing vocals |
Corry Gass |
Backing vocals |
Inez Furtlehner |
Opus is an Austrian rock band from Judendorf in Styria , which had an international number one hit in 1985 called Live Is Life . In Germany, too, the song was the best- selling single record this year .
In August 2020, the band announced their planned dissolution on December 21, 2021 - on this day there will be a last concert in the Graz Opera.
Band members
Herwig Rüdisser ( Herwig Tremschnig ) is the lead singer of the band. He originally came from Klagenfurt and learned the piano from the age of eight; when I was ten, guitar was added. In 1972 he won the HELP competition with the band GFS . This was followed by training as a graphic designer and the move to Graz . In 1978 he became the singer of Opus, with whom he has recorded 13 studio albums so far.
Ewald Pfleger comes from Burgenland and has lived in Graz since 1978. From 1973 he studied geography and history for five years at the University of Vienna and was involved in founding Opus.
Kurt René Plisnier began making music in 1963 when he took piano lessons at the Stegersbach Music School . In 1972 he joined the previous Opus band. Three years later he graduated from high school in Fürstenfeld and began studying at the Graz University of Music.
Günter Grasmuck studied music and performing arts after graduating from high school. In 1974 he became a member of the recently founded band Opus . He was also involved with two other Styrian bands, STS and EAV , and with the Kurt Gober Band (KGB). He also works as a producer for international artists.
history
The 13-year-old Walter “Walt” Bachkönig had developed a passion for music due to his musical training with the “ Vienna Boys 'Choir ”, which was reflected in the founding of a small band in the basement of his parents' house in Stegersbach. In the beginning, the band consisted of a drum kit made from empty glue cans from the Stegersbacher shirt factory and a bass guitar with amplifier and an electric organ that was given for Christmas. Opus-Pokus began with drummer Peter “Stevie” Stipsits and a few amateur guitarists. The cellar became a magnet for young musicians from southern Burgenland and Styria . In 1973 “Walt” brought in the pianist Kurt “Kusche” Plisnier. With him the improvised sessions became melodies. The young musicians turned classical music like Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's " Bumblebee Flight " into rock music and began to write their own songs. Most of the time bands like Deep Purple or Colosseum were covered. In addition, own compositions were recorded. The name "Opus" was found in the "Stowasser" during the Latin homework of "Walt" 's sister, Edith Bachkönig. There were first appearances in inns and in the cellar of the castle in Stegersbach. In 1974 the drummer Günter Grasmuck and the guitarist Hans Pallier joined the band. The latter left the band after six years. A first big success was the victory in the Styrian band competition. In 1978 the band brought the first Austrian Rock Festival to life. At the end of this year the whole band moved to Graz, shortly afterwards the singer Herwig Rüdisser joined them.
In 1980 the first record, Daydreams, was recorded, which was released under the Phonogram label . The producer was Peter Janda. The bassist Walter Bachkönig left the group a short time later to devote himself to classical music projects; Niki Gruber followed him.
breakthrough
1981 Opus met the successful producer Peter Müller , with whom they recorded the LP Eleven . This placed in the top 10 of the Austrian charts, was even able to achieve airplay with some songs and was awarded gold. The band also received the Austrian Journalism Prize. This was followed by national appearances and gigs in Germany.
The second album, the concept album Opusition, was presented in 1983 and, due to its great success in Austria, also released internationally: Shortly before, the band had gone on tour, which attracted a total of over 100,000 viewers. The highlight was the Ö3 open air concert in Vienna's West Stadium , where she performed alongside well-known artists such as Wolfgang Ambros and Rainhard Fendrich .
In 1984, after three months of studio work, the album Up and Down was released, again with Peter Müller. Another tour through Austria and Germany followed. Falco engaged the band's characteristic choir for his song Junge Roemer .
In 1985 Opus held a concert in the Liebenau stadium in Graz , which was attended by around 25,000 fans. Opus played with STS , the First General Uncertainty , the Kurt Gober Band , Wolfgang Ambros , Falco , Maria Bill and Wilfried , all of the greats of Austropop at the time .
International success with Live Is Life
After the LP Up and Down , the band members decided to release a live album. In the accompanying recording at a concert on September 24, 1984 in Oberwart , the song Live Is Life was performed for the first time , which Pfleger had written during his summer vacation in Ibiza. According to Pfleger, Live Is Life was not recorded at the very first performance because the tape was already full, which is why the title was played again as an encore and finally recorded. As a result, the audience already knew the song and could sing and clap along.
Live Is Life was subsequently released as a single for the live album and quickly became an international success: in 1985 the song became a number one hit in several countries including Austria , Germany , Sweden and France . The song was also successful in Great Britain and the United States , each receiving a gold record .
As a result, the band toured both the USA and countries of the Eastern Bloc, then played concerts in Central and South America. The success was so great that Opus was only the third Austrian band after Anton Karas and Falco to be distributed by the New York music store Tower Records .
The seventh album Opus could not repeat the success of its predecessor. The single Whiteland only managed a top 3 placement in Austria. The proceeds went to Greenpeace . The band completed other international concerts, but received less and less approval and withdrew from the music business for the time being.
return
In 1991 the band changed the record company and shortly afterwards released the album Walking on Air , which came 13th in the Ö3 Austria Top 40 . It should be the last placed album so far. The LP also contained the single Gimme Love , which was able to follow up on old successes in Austria.
In 1993 the group celebrated the 20th anniversary in Graz (guest was among others Falco) and recorded the live sampler Jubilée . Singles and tours in the 1990s, however, received little media attention.
Opus started the new millennium with an appearance at a ZDF New Year's Eve gala. After a two-year creative break, there were again international appearances and a new studio album entitled The Beat Goes On .
For the 35th anniversary, the band released the best-of Back to the Future . Shortly before that, the reggae reissue of Live Is Life was able to place itself in the Austrian charts. In addition to the rock version, the CD also contains a dancehall remix of the classic. On the occasion of the European Football Championship in 2008 , the song was marketed in Austria by Sony BMG .
In 2009 Günter Grasmuck, Ewald Pfleger, Kurt Rene Plisnier and Herwig Rüdisser (Tremschnig) were awarded the Great Decoration of Honor of the State of Styria . Also in 2009, Opus played some of their greatest hits at the Graz Opera accompanied by a classical orchestra under the direction of Christian Kolonovits . The concert was released as both audio and video recording under the title Tonight at the Opera . Worldwide, Opus is considered a one-hit wonder despite several nationally successful hits .
Worth mentioning
- The band Pur was originally called Opus and had to rename itself in 1985 after the success of Live is Life of the Austrian band.
- It was not uncommon for Falco to play bass as a surprise guest on the hit Flying High . Opus was involved in Falco's record Junge Roemer as a background.
- For the big tattoo on the occasion of the departure of the German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière , the staff music corps of the German Armed Forces played the song Live is Life on January 8, 2014 .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1982 | Eleven | - |
AT6 (24 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: March 1982
|
| 1983 | Opusition | - |
AT16 (2 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: January 1983
|
| 1984 | Up and Down | - |
AT12 (10 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: May 1984
|
| Live is life |
DE5 (24 weeks) DE |
AT1 (34 weeks) AT |
CH4 (28 weeks) CH |
- | - |
First published: December 1984
|
|
| 1985 | Best of | - |
AT11 (16 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: June 1985
|
| solo | - |
AT8 (8 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: September 1985
|
|
| 1987 | opus | - |
AT7 (8 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: October 1987
|
| 1990 | Magical touch | - |
AT26 (3 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: March 1990
|
| 1992 | Walking On Air | - |
AT13 (16 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: May 1992
|
| 2008 | Back to the Future: The Ultimate Best Of | - |
AT43 (2 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: May 2008
|
| 2013 | Graz Liebenau 1985 | - |
AT18 (5 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: November 2013
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
More albums
- 1980: Daydreams
- 1993: Jubileé
- 1996: Love, God and Radio
- 2004: The Beat Goes On
- 2010: Tonight at the Opera
Compilations
- 1984: 1984
- 1985: Best Of
- 1989: highlights
- 1994: Best Of
- 1997: The greatest hits from 15 years
- 1998: The Power of Live is Life (Greatest Hits)
- 1998: Master Series
- 1999: Flying Higher Greatest Hits
- 2000: Millennium Edition
- 2002: Live is Life
- 2008: Back to Future - The Ultimate Best Of
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1982 | Flyin 'high eleven |
DE37 (14 weeks) DE |
AT5 (12 weeks) AT |
CH5 (10 weeks) CH |
- | - |
First published: June 1982
|
| 1984 |
Live Is Life Live Is Life |
DE1  (27 weeks)DE |
AT1 (25 weeks) AT |
CH2 (21 weeks) CH |
UK6th  (16 weeks)UK |
US32 (16 weeks) US |
First published: December 1984
|
| 1987 | Whiteland Opus |
- |
AT3 (14 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: October 1987
|
| 1988 | Faster and Faster Opus |
- |
AT12 (12 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: February 1988
|
| 1992 | Gimme Love Walking On Air |
- |
AT9 (12 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: May 1992
|
| 1994 | The Power of Live Is Life | - |
AT3 (11 weeks) AT |
- | - | - |
First published: May 1994
|
Awards for music sales
|
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
 platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
|
Germany (BVMI)
|
- |
gold1
|
- | 250,000 | musikindustrie.de |
 France (SNEP)
|
- |
gold1
|
- | 500,000 | Individual evidence |
 Canada (MC)
|
- |
gold1
|
2 × platinum2
|
250,000 | musiccanada.com |
 Spain (Promusicae)
|
- |
2 × gold2
|
- | 75,000 | mediafire.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
silver1
|
- | - | 250,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
silver1
|
5 × gold5
|
2 × platinum2
|
||
literature
- Reinhold Westphal: Opus. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 4, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7001-3046-5 .
Web links
- Official website
- Opus on MusicBrainz (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ STS - Heart Connected Live
- ↑ Wolfram Abt (1969–2008) An exceptional musician fell silent. on musikergilde.at, accessed on November 27, 2013
- ↑ opus-fanpage.com ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ A musical journey to Styria - Günter Grasmuck in conversation. ( Memento from June 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Youtube, August 30, 2013.
- ↑ a b orf.at - Opus received "Great Badge of Honor" . Article dated September 7, 2009, accessed August 12, 2015.
- ↑ a b State of Styria: Great decoration for the pop group "Opus" . Article dated September 10, 2009, accessed August 12, 2015.
- ↑ Bernd Melichar: Opus and "Live Ist Life": Ibiza, Oberwart and around the world . In: www.kleinezeitung.at . August 1, 2014 ( kleinezeitung.at [accessed November 27, 2018]).
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK
- ^ A b European Gold & Platinum Awards 1986. Music & Media, December 27, 1986, accessed on April 15, 2020 (English, PDF file, page 34).
