The single was performed by the Swingers; the group's frontman Phil Judd was previously a member of Split Enz.
Although the band had several hit songs in New Zealand, "Counting the Beat" was their only major chart success in Australia, and they are considered a one-hit wonder in that country.
[1] Between its recording and release, Buster Stiggs had left the band and joined Australian rock group Models.
On its eventual release in February, the song was an immediate hit, reaching #1 in Australia on 2 March 1981 and in New Zealand that May (where it spent 9 weeks in the top two).
The crowd at the end of the song were not actors but instead people on a 'surprise' drinking bus.