Air Supply
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Air Supply | ||
|---|---|---|
 The cover of Air Supply's Lost in Love album.
left to right: Russell Hitchcock, Ralph Cooper, Cristin Barker, David Moyse, Graham Russell |
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Australia | |
| Genre(s) | Soft-rock | |
| Years active | 1976 - Present | |
| Label(s) | Arista, BMG, Giant | |
| Website | AirSupply-Online.com | |
| Members | ||
| Russel Hitchcock Graham Russell |
||
| Former members | ||
| Chrissie Hammond Jeremy Paul Frank Esler-Smith David Moyse Rex Goh David Green Ralph Cooper |
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Air Supply is a duo of soft rock musicians who had a succession of hits worldwide through the late 1970s and early 1980s. It consists of English guitarist and vocalist Graham Russell (b. 1 June 1950, Sherwood, Nottingham, England) and Australian lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock (b. 15 June 1949, Melbourne, Australia).
Contents |
[edit] History
The duo met in May of 1975 while performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, "Jesus Christ Superstar".Although widely thought to be gay, they are not(they cleared this up at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls Ontario, on March 24th, 2007). Later that year, the duo, along with Chrissie Hammond, formed Air Supply as a five-man group. Hammond left the band and was replaced by Jeremy Paul in time for the group's first Australian hit single, "Love and Other Bruises". It was followed by a self-titled debut album that reached gold in Australia. Singles during this period included "Empty Pages" and "Do What You Do". The group were invited to open for Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia; he was so impressed by their performance that he invited them to be the opening act during his tour of the United States. During this tour, Jeremy Paul left the band. He later played with the original lineup of the Divinyls, led by Chrissie Amphlett.
Eager to prove that they could still succeed as a duo, the group released the album "Love and Other Bruises", which included re-recordings of many of their earlier hits. Although their music was met with some success, Graham Russell on the 1995 DVD recalls 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.
Hitchcock and Russell started out fresh again in 1978 and the band that was to record almost all of the hit records was formed. It featured Frank Esler-Smith (arranger and keyboardist), David Moyse and Rex Goh (guitars) as well as the rhythm section of David Green (bass) and Ralph Cooper (drums).
In 1979, the band released "Life Support", a concept album that included a picture disc on its first printing. Produced by Charles Fisher, it was recorded in the tiny Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, Australia where, as Graham recalls on the 2005 DVD, he had half an inch between the end of his guitar and the studio wall. It was on this album that a five-and-a-half minute version of "Lost in Love" was introduced to Australian audiences. Written by Russell in fifteen minutes, the song caught the attention of music mogul Clive Davis and his record label, Arista, remixed the song and released it as a single in the United States.
Their 1980 album, "Lost In Love", contained three U.S. Top Five singles, including the title track, plus "Every Woman In The World" and "All Out of Love" (sample). "All Out of Love" was to be the band's only Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom, where it hit #11. It was quickly followed by three more hit albums, "The One That You Love", "Now and Forever" and "Greatest Hits".
In 1983, they had a #2 hit in the U.S. with "Making Love Out of Nothing At All", written by Jim Steinman. Air Supply released their first live video, "Air Supply Live in Hawaii". During the mid-1980s, they had one semi-major Billboard hit with "Just as I Am" and couple of very minor hits. Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas album before taking a break with studio recordings. During this time, Russell Hitchcock released his self-titled debut album.
On August 21, 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 Brothers. The recording contains their hit single "Without You", along with singles for "Stronger Than the Night" (with a music video announcing that Air Supply were back) and "Stop the Tears". Inside the album is a note about Russell Hitchcock's and Graham Russell's original Musical Director of their meeting place during the "Jesus Christ Superstar" (and long time Band Member/Orchestrator): "This Album is Dedicated To The Memory Of Frank Esler-Smith."
The official fan club released "The Earth Is World Tour" video, a rare collector's item that contains live footage from the band's tour throughout the world in support of the album.
The album was followed by "The Vanishing Race" in 1993, which was supported by the hit single "Goodbye" produced by David Foster, (Barbra Streisand, the rock band "Chicago", Josh Groban, and Celine Dion) with lyrics written by a former ex-girlfriend of Elvis Presley(David Foster's current wife) Linda Thompson--which, although not popular in the United States, gained a large following outside the country, leading to another world tour. "It's Never Too Late" was another single released from the album. 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 Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers.
It was during this period that they became popular in south-eastern 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 Chinese album charts for 16 weeks.
They continued to tour and 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, 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 July 7, 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 July 8 had to be content with Graham performing acoustically for them, as there was no electricity.
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. December 2, 2006 saw the duo perfom 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.
[edit] Albums
- 1976: Air Supply [Rainbow Records]
- 1977: The Whole Thing Started [Epic Sony]
- 1977: Love & Other Bruises [Sony Music Entertainment]
- 1979: Life Support [Wizard]
- 1980: Lost in Love #22 US [EMI]
- 1981: The One That You Love #10 US [Arista Records]
- 1982: Now and Forever #25 US [Arista Records]
- 1983: Greatest Hits #7 US [Arista Records]
- 1983: Making Love... The Very Best Of Air Supply [Arista Records]
- 1985: Just As I Am #26 US [Arista Records]
- 1986: Hearts in Motion #84 US [Arista Records]
- 1986: Russell Hitchcock {Unreleased Album} [Title Unknown]
- 1987: The Christmas Album [Arista Records]
- 1987: Greatest Hits Vol. II [Arista Records]
- 1987: Russell Hitchcock (Solo Album)[Arista Records]
- 1991: The Earth Is... [Giant Records]
- 1992: Love Songs [BMG Music Taiwan]
- 1992: Greatest Hits Vol. 3 [BMG/Arista Records]
- 1993: The Air Supply Story Vol. 1 [BMG]
- 1993: The Air Supply Story Vol. 2 [BMG]
- 1993: The Vanishing Race [Giant Records]
- 1995: News from Nowhere [Giant Records]
- 1995: Now And Forever...Greatest Hits Live [Giant Records]
- 1996: As Close As This ... An Interactive Voyage into the Music of Air Supply [CD-Rom] [Giant Records]
- 1996: Once Upon A Time [Sony Music]
- 1997: The Book of Love [Giant Records]
- 1999: The Definitive Collection [Arista Records]
- 1999: The Ultimate Collection [Giant Records]
- 1999: The Ultimate Collection....Millennium [Giant Records]
- 2001: Yours Truly [Giant Records]
- 2001: Sweet Dreams: The Encore Collection [BMG]
- 2002: The Best Of Air Supply [BMG]
- 2002: The Heart Of The Rose: A Rock Opera [Graham Russell project] [A Nice Pair]
- 2002: Celestine Travelers [Graham Russell project] [A Nice Pair]
- 2003: Across the Concrete Sky [A Nice Pear]
- 2003: Forever Love [BMG]
- 2003: Ultimate Air Supply [Arista Records]
- 2004: Platinum and Gold Collection [Arista Records]
- 2005: Love Songs [Arista Records]
- 2005: All Out Of Love Live [Cleopatra]
- 2005: It Was 30 Years Ago Today [Madacy Entertainment]
- 2005: The Singer and the Song [A Nice Pear]
- 2006: The Future [Graham Russell solo project]
- 2006: Zed [Forthcoming]
[edit] Singles
- 1980: Lost In Love #3 US
- 1980: All Out Of Love #2 US, #11 UK
- 1980: Every Woman In The World #5 US
- 1981: The One That You Love #1 US
- 1981: Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) #5 US
- 1982: Sweet Dreams #5 US
- 1982: Even The Nights Are Better #5 US, #44 UK
- 1982: Young Love #38 US
- 1983: Two Less Lonely People In The World #38 US
- 1983: Making Love Out Of Nothing At All #2 US, #80 UK
- 1985: Just As I Am #19 US
- 1985: The Power Of Love #64 US
- 1986: Lonely Is #76 US
- 1986: One More Chance#80 US
- 1991: Without You #48 US
- 1993: Goodbye #66 UK
- 1995: Someone #50 US
[edit] Cover versions
- In 1998, Air Supply's hit single "Lost In Love" was covered by New Zealand dance/pop group Deep Obsession. It reached #1 in New Zealand, which was a higher position than Air Supply's original in that country, although it failed to obtain the same popularity overseas.
- In 1999, it was remixed by Grammy Award-winning Cher producer Brian Rawling and released internationally on Deep Obsession's debut album "Infinity".
- In 2003, R&B group Jagged Edge covered the Air Supply single "All Out Of Love".
- In 2005, Carrie Underwood performed "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All" during the fourth season of American Idol.
- In 2006, Westlife, the internationally popular Irish vocal pop group, covered "All Out Of Love", a duet with Delta Goodrem in the band's latest album, " The Love Album", which debuted at #1 in the UK charts. Another version of the song was covered by Philippine actor Dennis Trillo.
[edit] Videos
The Names of the Videos Air Supply had made are:
- Love And Other bruises (1976)
- Lost in Love (1980)
- All Out Of love(1980)
- Every Woman In The World(1980)
- Even The Nights Are Better (1981)
- Young Love(1981)
- Here I Am(1982)
- Keeping The Love Alive(1982)
- The One That You Love(1982)
- Making Love Out Of Nothing At All (1983)
- Just As I Am(1985)
- The Power Of Love(1985)
- Lonely Is The Night (1986)
- One More Chance (1986)
- Stronger Than The Night (1991)
- Without You (1991)
- Stop The Tears (1991)
- It's Never Too Late(1993)
- Goodbye(1993)
- Someone(1995)
- Unchained Melody(1995)
- Always(1995)
- Strong Strong Wind (1997)
- You Are the Reason(2001)
[edit] Trivia
- Air Supply's 1982 single "Even The Nights Are Better" holds a dubious, albeit unofficial, chart record in the United States. After peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1982, the song fell to #6, and then from #6 all the way to #42, making it the song to take the biggest single-week drop out of the Top 40 during the "classic" era of the American Top 40. [1] No "recurrent rule" (a practice later adopted to eliminate older hits from the countdown even though they still technically qualified for the Top 40) was in place at that time, making such a big drop in the charts quite a rare occurrence. Although this is not an official record, AT40 host Casey Kasem announced it as such a few years later when answering a fan's chart trivia question on his show. Kasem had also announced that Hitchcock held the note for over twenty seconds at the end of "All out of Love" a record at the time for a top 40 song.
- Air Supply has often been compared to the 1990s musical duo Savage Garden, due to them both being musical duos from Australia who sang mostly love songs.
- Air Supply Vocalist Graham Russell recently made an appearance in Believe The Movie, a comedy about Multi Level Marketing.
- In late 2006, Comcast released a TV commercial which parodied the 1980 "All Out of Love" video.
