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Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock first met in 1974, during an
Australian production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Both had
auditioned and secured roles as apostles in the production. On
break time between rehearsals, Graham would sit by himself and
play his guitar. It didn’t take long before a curious Russell
wandered over one day and began to sing along with Graham’s tunes,
and the two quickly discovered a smooth musical harmony as well as
a friendship that would prove to endure over the years. They began
singing in the local coffeehouses in Australia, sometimes for
their meals, and often performing soft, mellow love songs, which
were contrary to ‘hard rock’ and ‘glam rock’, both of which were
popular then. They formed their own group, dubbing it ‘Air
Supply’, a name that Graham says ‘came to him in a dream...on a
billboard.’ He thought of their music as a ‘breath of fresh air’,
and indeed it was. It was also a hit! After the completion of
‘Superstar’ in 1975, they joined up with Frank Esler-Smith (music
director of ‘Superstar’) as well as Jeremy Paul, signed a contract
with CBS records, and released their first big hit, Love & Other
Bruises in 1976, which also saw them rank on the Australian music
charts at a whopping #5! This they followed with a gold record
from the self-titled album Air Supply, and in 1977, scored another
big hit, Do What You Do, from their second album The Whole Thing’s
Started. The same year, their good friend Rod Stewart asked them
to join him on a tour through the United States and Canada; this
opportunity would provide the stepping stones that would see Air
Supply begin to reach their famous status in America. It was also
during this time that Jeremy Paul left them (later joining the
DeVinyls) and the band got rearranged. In April 1979, they
released Life Support in Australia, their third album. One of the
songs, Lost In Love charted immediately, upon its release, within
the top 20. Meanwhile in America, Clive Davis at Arista signed Air
Supply to a $1.5 million international deal, and released a
revised, more ‘hip’ version of Lost In Love in the United States,
and in February 1980, the song had already reached #3 on
Billboard’s chart hits. This song was the first of seven
consecutive singles to enter the American top 5. Over the next
three years, Air Supply produced hit after chart-rating hit: All
Out Of Love, Every Woman In The World, Just Another Woman, The One
That You Love, Here I Am, Sweet Dreams, Even The Nights Are
Better, and the Jim - Steinman - penned song smash hit Making Love
Out Of Nothing At All, which remained at the #2 spot on Billboard
for 3 weeks. After a 2-year break, they came back in 1985 with the
single Just As I Am, on yet another self-titled album, followed
the very next year by another album, Hearts In Motion, and
followed still by The Christmas Album. There would then be another
break, one in which Graham Russell would return to England to
create the rock opera ‘Sherwood’, and Russell Hitchcock would
release his solo album, the self-titled Russell Hitchcock. The
late 80’s saw a break from the Arista label, and 1991 saw Air
Supply come back strong, and under a new label: Giant released The
Earth Is. This album has a theme to it, mainly the preservation of
peace and love through out the world. Thus began a trend where
they would release another album, every other year. In 1993, they
released The Vanishing Race, an album dedicated to the education
of the world as to the plight of the Native American Indian. Then,
in 1995, News From Nowhere which features songs that seem to have
a ‘timeless, never-ending love’ quality about them. As well as new
music styles, Air Supply was still incorporating their soft,
mellow sound into their work in the 90’s, with very beautiful and
intriguing results, and all largely due to the fantastic
songwriting ability of Graham, and the 3 1/2 octave range of
Russell. Also, a Greatest Hits Live album was produced in Taipei,
Taiwan in 1995, followed up by the latest album, Book of Love, in
1997. It is full of acoustic and instrumental talents as well as
the traditional harmonies which made Air Supply famous initially.
Along the way, they produced a CD-Rom, entitled As Close As This,
2 Laser Discs, a Karaoke video, and numerous other videos. There
is even another album in the works as this is written. So, what is
to come next from this fantastic group? We shall all have to wait,
but one thing is certain, it will definitely contain more of the
soft, melodic harmony of Graham and Russell, filled with the
acoustical talents of a great band, and be instantly bought up by
the fans, who have yet still will ‘Never Get Enough’ of Air
Supply! |
