Iconic Australian singer-songwriter John Paul Young has shared his thoughts on the ongoing Love Is In The Aircopyright trial.
The trial began in Sydney in March, with songwriter Harry Vanda and co-writer George Young’s estate accusing American duo Glass Candy of ripping off the hit in their 2011 single Warm In The Winter, an altered version of which was used in a three-year advertising campaign by Air France.
Speaking with The Music about his new autobiography, John Paul Young said he had no doubts of the similarities between the two tracks.
“We’re still waiting to find out [the verdict], but I really believe that there’s something to be spoken of there,” he said.
“It’s very similar to, ‘Love is in the air / Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh’, and that to me is too close… When you put those exact words with the ‘Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh’ at the end, even though the notes aren’t the same, it just adds up to sounding like my track.”
Young joined Harry Vanda in court as the case kicked off, describing the experience as “weird”.
“I went there with [Warren] ‘Pig’ Morgan, my keyboard player, and that was his big remark, he said, ‘This is hysterical, watching these barristers try to explain music in words.’ And it really was.
“It was very difficult to watch, difficult to ascertain which way they’re going to go with it. Like he said, trying to explain music in words is a very difficult thing.”
JPY: The Autobiography is out now via New Holland Publishers, with John Paul Young & The Allstar Band’s Vanda & Young Songbook Tour continuing next month.
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