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Love Is in the Air" is a 1977 disco song sung by
John Paul Young. The song was written by George Young and Harry Vanda and it became Young's only worldwide hit in 1978, peaking at No. 2 on the Australian charts and No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 7 on the pop chart and spent two weeks at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart, his only US top 40 hit.
John Paul Young said of the recording, "We actually did 'Love Is in the Air' because we needed something for the German market. 'Standing in the Rain' became a hit in the clubs over there and then on the charts, so we needed a follow-up. I'd been to Germany and heard the music. It was electronic mania, all clicks and electronic buzzes. So George and Harry gave it the treatment."
"Love Is in the Air" was covered in Canada by Quebec artist Martin Stevens (born Roger Prud'homme), and had the distinction of sharing Toronto's CHUM (AM) Top 30 chart, the premier pop chart in Canada, with John Paul Young's version.
Stevens's version debuted on the October 7, 1978, chart at no. 11, six weeks after John Paul Young's version which was no. 12 at that point. Next week they shared the 10th place position, and were listed at the same position for the remainder of both versions' run of the CHUM chart. Both versions stayed on the chart until the end of November.
"Love Is in the Air" was covered by Tom Jones in 1979 and by Gary Barlow under the stage name of Kurtis Rush in 1989. "Love Is in the Air" was the theme song to Baz Luhrmann's 1992 debut feature film Strictly Ballroom. In 1997, the song was covered by Krush featuring Simon Green. In 2007, the song was also covered by Rupert Everett and Colin Firth for the movie St. Trinian's.
Young performed the song at the Closing Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The song is regularly sung at football matches by supporters of Dundee United, who have adopted it as an unofficial anthem for their club. The song was covered by Cher in 1998 for her epic Believe album, however it was never released and still remains unreleased today.
