Together, Hitchcock, Russell and Paul formed Air Supply. The group's first single, "Love and Other Bruises", was released in November, 1976 and peaked at #6 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in January 1977. It was followed by 'Air Supply', their debut album, in December, which reached #17 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and achieved gold in Australia. 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 (later of The Divinyls) and keyboardist, arranger Adrian Scott.
Other singles were "If You Knew Me", "Empty Pages" and "Feel the Breeze" but none reached the Top 40. A national tour followed with Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and Scott joined by Nigel Macara (ex-Tamam Shud, Ariel) on drums and Brenton White (ex-Skintight) on guitar. Brenton White rehearsed but did not perform with Air Supply. Their second album, 'The Whole Thing's Started', also produced by Dawkins, was released in July 1977 with White replaced on lead guitar by Alan Kendall. 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.
From late 1977, the group supported Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia—he invited them to continue to the 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 the US on Columbia Records with Jimmy Horowitz producing. During the tour, Paul left the band with a new line-up of Hitchcock, Macara, and Russell, plus Rex Goh on guitar, Joey Carbone on keyboards, Robin LeMesurier on lead guitar and Howard Sukimoto on bass guitar. Jeremy Paul, in 1980, recruited fellow former Air Supply bandmate Mark McEntee in the lineup of Divinyls, fronted by Chrissie Amphlett.
Air Supply performed in London supporting Chicago and Boz Scaggs. 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, Russell, and Macara with George Terry and Joey Murcia on guitar, George Bitzer on keyboards and Harold Cowart on bass guitar. However, by mid-1978, only Hitchcock and Russell remained in the line-up, backed by Ralph Cooper (ex-Windchase) on drums and former Sailor members Brian Hamilton on bass guitar and vocals and David Moyse on guitar.
In April 1979, the band released 'Life Support', a concept album which included a picture disc on its first printing. The album was recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, Australia. The album had a five-and-a-half minute version of "Lost in Love", written by Graham Russell in 15 minutes; it was released as a single and peaked at #13 in Australia and #13 in New Zealand. 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. In late November 1979 Russell was embroiled in a bitter court case with Samuel Nay over accusations of assault at a backstage meet and greet in Oklahoma. Nay would later pass away during the court case and all charges were dropped. The lineup for the album kept Hitchcock, Russell, Cooper, and Moyse, and added Criston Barker (bass) and Frank Esler-Smith (keyboards/orchestra arrangements) with help from other session musicians. Esler-Smith had previously known Hitchcock and Russell from working with them in Jesus Christ Superstar.
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 5 singles, including the title track which peaked at #3 on Billboard Hot 100 and #11 in the United Kingdom Singles Chart. The other US Top 5 singles were "Every Woman in the World" (#5) and "All Out of Love" (#2). Both singles were Top 10 in Australia with "All Out of Love" reaching #17 in the Netherlands. The album kept the same lineup as before, with Hitchcock, Russell, Cooper, Moyse, Barker and Esler-Smith. The album sold three million copies in the US and peaked at #22 on Billboard 200. In 1981, Air Supply released 'The One That You Love', produced by Russell, David Foster, and Harry Maslin with the title track issued as a single which went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It also featured two other Top 5 hits, "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" and "Sweet Dreams". A fourth single, "I'll Never Get Enough" was released in Japan and achieved Top 10 status. By the recording for this album, Barker left and was replaced by David Green. Also, previous Air Supply guitarist Rex Goh returned for the album, co-writing "I'll Never Get Enough" with Russell. Their next album 'Now And Forever', released in 1982 with the same seven-piece lineup (Hitchcock, Russell, Moyse, Goh, Esler-Smith, Green, and Cooper), continued the group's popularity with the Top 5 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 #2, and the album eventually sold 7 million copies. That same year, Air Supply also released their first live video, Air Supply Live in Hawaii. In 1984, their song "I Can Wait Forever" was featured in a scene of the blockbuster movie Ghostbusters and was included in the soundtrack album. By the mid-1980s, Goh, Moyse, and Green had all left the lineup, and the band's 1985 self-titled album featured Don Cromwell and former Babys member Wally Stocker filling the bass and guitar roles, respectively. This album included a Top 20 Billboard hit with "Just as I Am" as well as a cover of the Jennifer Rush song "The Power of Love."
The band then had a couple of minor hits ("Lonely Is the Night" and "One More Chance") from the album 'Hearts in Motion' released in 1986. Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas Album (containing the holiday single "The Eyes of a Child") before taking a break as a band. 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.
Members
Russell Hitchcock (vocals, percussion), Graham Russell (guitar, vocals), Jeremy Paul (bass, vocals), Nigel Macara (drums), Mark McEntee (guitar), Adrian Scott (keyboards), Jeff Browne (drums), David Moyse (guitar), Criston Barker (bass), Ralph Cooper (drums), Rex Goh (guitar), Tim Gaze (guitar), Dave Green (bass), Frank Esler-Smith (keyboards), Don Cromwell (bass), Tim Godwin (guitar), Wally Stocker (guitar), Greg Hilfman (keyboards), Jed Moss (piano), Cliff Rehrig (bass), Mark Williams (drums)
SINGLES
Love and Other Bruises
| 4 OCT '76 | #6 |
Empty Pages
| 7 FEB '77 | #43 |
Do What You Do
| 27 JUN '77 | #45 |
Do What You Do | 1977 |
That's How The Whole Thing Started | 1977 |
Do It Again | 1978 |
Bring Out The Magic | 1978 |
Lost in Love
| 21 MAY '79 | #13 |
Just Another Woman | 1979 |
All Out of Love
| 21 JUL '80 | #9 |
Every Woman in the World
| 15 DEC '80 | #8 |
The One That You Love
| 22 JUN '81 | #10 |
Here I Am
| 2 NOV '81 | #43 |
Even the Nights Are Better
| 21 JUN '82 | #35 |
I'm Late Again | 1982 |
Two Less Lonely People in the World
| 24 JAN '83 | #46 |
Making Love Out of Nothing at All
| 5 SEP '83 | #45 |
Now And Forever | 1983 |
| 4 NOV '85 | #79 |
The Power Of Love | 1986 |
ALBUMS
Air Supply | DEC 76 | #17 |
The Whole Thing's Started | 28 JUL 77 | #32 |
Life Support | APR 79 | #27 |
Lost In Love | 03 MAR 80 | #21 |
The One That You Love | JUL 81 | #10 |
Now And Forever | JUN 82 | #27 |
Air Supply | FEB 85 | #88 |
Hearts In Motion | AUG 86 |
The Christmas Album | NOV 87 |
The Earth Is.. | JUL 91 |
The Vanishing Race | MAY 93 |
The Book Of Love | DEC 97 |
Yours Truly | JUN 01 |
| Across The Concrete Sky | JUL 03 |
Mumbo Jumbo | MAY 10 |
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Supply
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
Russell and Hitchcock fantastic solo album in 1988.
ReplyDeleteAir Supply had a great album in 1993 'vanishing race' which featuring the amazing "goodbye".
I am not trying to tell everyone what to listen to, nor change their mind about it. However, the way I view Air Supply, is that they are simply a vacuous band with no substance. The power lies behind Frizzy the singer...you could punch the singer in the nose and he'd still get up and sing. Following that, slap him a couple of times, push him over and he'd get up again and keep singing. You could hit the guy with a piece of wood, and he'd rise up in a bloody mess, STILL be singing the same song AND holding the same note. I see in the above comment, that Air Supply featured an amazing track named 'Goodbye'. Along with the album title, I really would like Air Supply to take that song literally and vanish away from the music scene entirely. Air Supply are a legitimately boring band and I needed to vent publicly about it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your time.
Sometimes, that is what we need. It is dependable and always there.
Delete