UK singer Paul Young belted out a number of big hits in the 1980s - but not Love Is In The Air, which he is often mistakenly credited with.

The song was a hit for 1970s Aussie rocker John Paul Young.

Paul Young was asked if he'd ever heard of the Scottish-born Aussie given their similarities in name.

"Have I ever!" Paul Young said.

"I still get radio stations around the world tweeting me saying, 'playing paulyoung, Love Is In The Air'. Sometimes I go 'it's not me'."

Despite the popularity of Love Is In The Air in Australia, he has no intention of breaking into his own version when he tours with fellow UK acts Go West, Nik Kershaw and the Cutting Crew in September.

The four acts will all sing a few songs each, with Young yet to settle on which of his hits he'll perform for the '80s Mania tour, which kicks-off on September 9 at Perth's Astor Theatre.

Young had a string of hit singles in the 1980s, including Love Of The Common People, Wherever I Lay My Hat, Come Back And Stay, and Oh Girl.

Among the top 10 hits he is most proud of is Every Time You Go Away, which was written by Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame.

"It was a good song anyway which Daryl Hall wrote, but the changes we made to it ... like leaving a gap between go and away, he didn't have a gap," Paul Young said.

"I didn't think twice about singing it that way but it did make the chorus better.

"My keyboard player came up with the intro and all those little things helped make it a perfect pop record out of all the ones I've done."

Young says it never ceases to amaze him just how popular eighties music is today, thanks to the introduction of MTV, which, Paul Young says, made music a visual art form as well.

"It's not just the videos that are still in people's minds but - unfortunately - how we looked," he said.

"In one respect I am lucky that I wasn't a new soul boy or a new romantic ... so if I made a fashion faux pas, it's purely a mistake on my part ... but I did have a mullet."

AAP