The Academy Award nomination for
Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge in 2002 appears to have inspired Columbia Records to repackage its soundtrack album for the Australian director's debut feature, 1992's Strictly Ballroom, the story of a dance competition that first revealed his imaginative, eclectic style. That eclecticism is well on display on the album, which is anchored by excerpts from
David Hirschfelder's score, played by him with the Bogo Pogo Orchestra. Veteran Australian writer/producers Harry Vanda and George Young turn up, providing material for '70s Australian pop singer
John Paul Young, including a "Ballroom Mix" of his Top Ten 1978 hit, "Love Is in the Air," which leads off the album. Most of the music has a Spanish dance flavor, in keeping with the theme (and the plot necessities) of the film, including
Doris Day's "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps (Quizas Quizas Quizas)," but there is also room for a performance of
Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" by the film's female star Tara Morice along with Mark Williams, as well as an excerpt from The Blue Danube. The 2002 reissue of the album is re-sequenced and adds three brief tracks: "Os Quindins de Ya Ya" by
Stanley Black; "London Derriere" (i.e., "Londonderry Air," aka "Danny Boy") by Hirschfelder & the Bogo Pogo Orchestra; and a vintage recording of the 1930 pop standard "Happy Feet" by Jack Hilton & His Orchestra. The additions are minor, but the album remains a lively collection of varied dance music. ~ William Ruhlmann