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Air Supply

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This article is about the Australian soft rock band. For their debut 1976 album, see Air Supply (1976 album). For their 1985 album, see Air Supply (1985 album). For other uses, see Air Supply (disambiguation).

Air Supply
Two man standing at microphones, both are shown facing slightly to the right. Male at left has a guitar and is resting his left arm over it. The second male is shorter and has a moustache.
Graham Russell (left) and Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply, 2006
Background information
OriginMelbourne, Australia
GenresPop rock, soft rock, adult comtemporary
Years active1975–present
LabelsArista, Giant, A Nice Pair
MembersRussell Hitchcock
Graham Russell
Past membersChristo Pellani
Chrissie Hammond
Jeremy Paul
Mark McEntee
Mike Zerbe
Frank Esler-Smith
David Moyse
Rex Goh
David Green
Ralph Cooper
Howard Smith
Websitewww.airsupplymusic.com

Air Supply is an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of Graham Russell as guitarist and singer-songwriter and Russell Hitchcock as lead vocalist. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s. They formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1975 and have included various accompanying musicians and singers.

History

Formation and early years: 1975–79

Chrissie Hammond, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell met in May 1975 while performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.[1][2] With Hammond and Hitchcock on vocals and Russell on guitar, they formed Air Supply as a harmony vocal group in Melbourne.[3] Hammond left to form Cheetah and was replaced by Jeremy Paul (ex-Soffrok) on bass guitar and vocals in 1976.[1] The group's first single, "Love and Other Bruises", peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in January 1977.[4] It was followed by Air Supply, their debut album, in December, which reached No. 17 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and achieved gold in Australia.[1][4] The album was produced by Peter Dawkins (Spectrum, Ross Ryan) with Air Supply line-up as Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and drummer Jeff Browne, guitarist Mark McEntee and keyboardist, arranger Adrian Scott.[1][2] Other singles were "If You Knew Me", "Empty Pages" and "Feel the Breeze" but none reached the Top 40.[4] A national tour followed with Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and Scott joined by Nigel Macara (ex-Tamam Shud, Ariel) on drums and Brenton White (Skintight) on guitar.[1][2]

Their second album, The Whole Thing's Started, also produced by Dawkins,[3] was released in July 1977 with White replaced on lead guitar by Rex Goh.[1] The album spawned the singles "Do What You Do" (June), "That's How the Whole Thing Started" (October) and "Do It Again" (February 1978) but neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40.[4] From late 1977, the group supported Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia—he invited them to continue on to United States and Canada. Their third album, Love & Other Bruises, included re-recordings of some earlier tracks, was made mid-tour in Los Angeles in July–August and released later that year in US on Columbia Records with Jimmy Horowitz producing.[3] During the tour, Paul left the band with a new the line-up of Goh, Hitchcock, Macara, and Russell, plus Joey Carbone on keyboards, Robin LeMesurier on lead guitar and Howard Sukimoto on bass guitar.[2] Paul, in 1980, joined fellow Air Supply bandmate McEntee in the lineup of Divinyls, fronted by Chrissie Amphlett. Air Supply performed in London supporting Chicago and Boz Scaggs.[1]

Although their music had some commercial success, Russell claimed, on a 1995 DVD, that he and Hitchcock were so poor that they were reduced to checking the backs of hotel sofas for change so that they could buy bread to make toast. By early 1978 the line-up was Hitchcock, Macara and Russell, with Ken Francis on guitar, Rick Mellick on keyboards and Bill Putt (Spectrum, Ariel) on bass guitar.[1][2] However, by mid-1978, only Hitchcock and Russell remained in the line-up backed by Ralph Cooper (Windchase) on drums, Brian Hamilton (ex-Sailor) on bass guitar and vocals, and David Moyse (Sailor) on guitar.[1][2]

In April 1979, the band released Life Support, a concept album which included a picture disc on its first printing. Session musicians included Mike Bukowsky on brass, Tommy Emmanuel on guitar, Frank Esler-Smith as arranger and keyboardist, Geoff Oakes on brass, Coz Russo on keyboards and Peter Walker (ex-Bakery) on guitar.[1][2] Esler-Smith had been the orchestral arranger for the production of Jesus Christ Superstar where Hitchcock and Russell had initially met, and he would maintain a long association with Air Supply throughout his life. Produced by Charles Fisher (Radio Birdman, Ol' 55), the album was recorded in the Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, Australia where, as Russell recalled on the 2005 DVD, he had half an inch between the end of his guitar and the studio wall. The album had a five-and-a-half minute version of "Lost in Love", written by Russell in fifteen minutes; it was released as a single and peaked at No. 13 in Australia and No. 13 in New Zealand.[4][5] The track caught the attention of Arista Records boss Clive Davis, who remixed the song and released it as a single in the US early the next year.

1980s

All Out of Love
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A re-recorded and remixed version of "Lost in Love" was released internationally as a single in January 1980 on Arista Records. The associated album, Lost in Love, appeared in March and contained three US Top Five singles, including the title track which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 in the United Kingdom Singles Chart.[6][7] The album was produced by former teen steel guitarist, Robie Porter (Daddy Cool, Rick Springfield) for his Wizard Records label. The other US Top Five singles were "Every Woman in the World" (No. 5) and "All Out of Love" (No. 2).[6] Both singles were Top 10 in Australia with "All Out of Love" reaching No. 17 in Netherlands.[4][8] During 1980, the line-up of Hitchcock, Russell, Esler-Smith, Cooper, and Moyse was augmented by David Green on bass guitar, with Goh returning on lead guitar in 1981.[3] The album sold two million copies in the US and peaked at No. 22 on Billboard 200.[9]

In 1981 Air Supply released The One That You Love, with title track issued as a single which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] It also featured two other Top Ten hits, "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) was written by Norman Saleet" and "Sweet Dreams". A fourth single "I'll Never Get Enough", co-written by Jeanne Napoli, Gary Portnoy and Judy Quay, was released in Japan and achieved Top 10 status. Their next album, in 1982, Now And Forever, continued the group's popularity with the Top 10 hit, "Even the Nights Are Better" and two Top 40 singles "Young Love" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World". In 1983, they released their "Greatest Hits" album with a new single, "Making Love out of Nothing at All", written by Jim Steinman. The song was one of their biggest hits ever spending three weeks at number 2, and the album eventually sold 5 million copies. In 1984, their song "I Can Wait Forever" was included in a scene in the blockbuster movie Ghostbusters, and was included on the soundtrack album.

Air Supply released their first live video, Air Supply Live in Hawaii. In 1985, they had one semi-major Billboard hit with "Just as I Am" and a couple of minor hits. Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas album before taking a break from studio recordings. During this time, Hitchcock released his self-titled album in 1988 which was not a big seller. However, he did have the single "Swear to Your Heart" in 1990 from the movie soundtrack for Arachnophobia which received significant airplay.

1990s

On 21 August 1989, using their old producer and welcoming the return of drummer Ralph Cooper, the duo decided to enter the studio again to record The Earth Is, which was released in 1991 by Giant Records under Warner Bros. Records. The recording contains their hit single "Without You," along with singles for "Stronger Than the Night" (with a music video announcing that Air Supply was back) and "Stop the Tears". Inside the album is a note about Hitchcock and Russell's original Musical Director of their meeting place during Jesus Christ Superstar (and long time Band Member/Orchestrator): "This Album is Dedicated to the Memory of Frank Esler-Smith." Esler-Smith had died earlier that year (1991) from pneumonia.

The official fan club released The Earth is World Tour video, a rare collector's item that contains live footage from the band's global tour in support of the album.

The album was followed by The Vanishing Race in 1993,[10] which was supported by the hit single "Goodbye" produced by David Foster, with lyrics by Linda Thompson--which, although not popular in the United States, was critically praised and gained a large following outside the country, especially in Asia where in many countries they would reach number No. 1. This would lead to another world tour in 1993 which included Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Dick Smith. "It's Never too Late" was another single released from the Vanishing Race. The album itself was dedicated to the plight of the American Indians, the "Vanishing Race" of the album's title.

Their third album of the decade, News from Nowhere, was released in 1995. It contained the Asian hit singles "Someone", "Always", and a cover of "Unchained Melody", a song made famous by Al Hibbler.

Their popularity continued to soar in Southeast Asian countries, culminating in the release of Now and Forever: Greatest Hits Live, a CD and DVD recording of a live concert in Taipei, Taiwan, also in 1995, which stayed at the top of the Taiwanese album charts for 16 weeks.

2000s

Air Supply at the Subic Convention Center, Philippines on 12 June 2008.
Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply at the Max Pavilion in Singapore, 19 June 2009.

They continued to tour heavily throughout Asia and in select venues in the U.S. as well as record into the new millennium, releasing the more adult contemporary-titled The Book of Love (1997), Yours Truly (2001), and Across the Concrete Sky (2003). In 2005, they once again released a live CD/DVD recording; also in 2005 they performed in Havana, Cuba, becoming one of the first foreign bands invited to perform in the country. They were booked to perform two concerts, and played the first show on 7 July, the day before Hurricane Dennis hit the country. In high winds, their first concert had an audience of 175,000. Due to the hurricane, they could not play the second show. Fans staying at the same hotel as Air Supply on 8 July had to be content with Russell performing acoustically for them, as there was no electricity.

Their songs were featured in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Wedding Date and Bad Company (2002 film).

In 2006, they released an acoustic album, The Singer and the Song, and are gearing up for the release of their first studio album in three years, Zed. In support of the acoustic album, they made their first trip to India in May 2006. 2 December 2006 saw the duo perform to a capacity crowd in Kingston, Jamaica. This was their second visit to Jamaica, having performed at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in January 2006. They also have been seen endorsing Time–Life's Classic Soft-Rock Collection. In 2007, Russell released his first adult contemporary solo album called The Future.

Russell recently made an appearance in Believe, a comedy about Multi-Level Marketing.

In 2008, Air Supply was named as the number 83 best musical act of all time in the Billboard Hot 100's 50 year anniversary edition. This was based purely on their performance on the charts.

They appeared on the 19 December 2008, edition of Don't Forget the Lyrics.

On 4 May 2010, they released their latest album titled "Mumbo Jumbo" featuring 14 new tracks.

An ex-member of their backing band, Criston Barker, became a spokesperson for Hepatitis Australia.

The music video for All Out of Love is seen briefly in the 2010 Australian film Animal Kingdom.

Discography

Main articles: Air Supply discography, Russell Hitchcock, and Graham Russell

References

General
  • Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Air Supply > Biography". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1865080721. Retrieved 4 January 2010. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
  • Spencer, Chris (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)[11] Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry for 'Air Supply'. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Spencer et al. Air Supply entry.
  3. ^ a b c d Holmgren, Magnus; Thornton, Mary Ann; Padgett, Chris. "Air Supply". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  5. ^ "Discography Air Supply". New Zealand charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  6. ^ a b c "Air Supply > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Air Supply". Chart Stats. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Discografie Air Supply". Dutch charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2010. Note: Some information in Dutch.
  9. ^ "Air Supply > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Discography Air Supply". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
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