Strictly Ballroom: JPY on 'Love Is in the Air'

Singer John Paul Young talks about re-recording 'Love Is in the Air' for the film soundtrack and how Strictly Ballroom revived the hit song. 

The use of the song in this film reflects a common strategy in contemporary cinema. That is, to use pop music that not only complements the film but with which audiences have developed an association.  

Filmgoers are likely to engage with well-known popular music tracks as they have already forged a connection with the artist, the song, or at the very least the musical style (in this case disco), outside the film context.

Such a strategy can intensify nostalgia and make the film memorable by engaging viewers in shared pleasures of reminiscence. It can also, as Young mentions, rebrand the music and open it up to new audiences.

Now, 30 years on from the film’s release in 1992, many people associate the song directly with the film itself – despite it already having achieved worldwide success in the 1970s.   

In 2017, the song was selected as one of the NFSA Sounds of Australia.