Air Supply
The cover of Air Supply's "Lost in Love" album, 1980 - l to r - Russell Hitchcock, Ralph Cooper, Cristin Barker, David Moyse, Graham Russell
Air Supply is a duo of pop musicians, consisting of English guitarist/vocalist Graham Russell (b. 1 June 1950, Sherwood, Nottingham, England) and main lead vocalist Australian Russell Hitchcock (b. 15 June 1949, Melbourne, Australia), who had a succession of soft-rock ballad hits throughout the English-speaking world through the late 1970s and early 1980s. The duo met in May, 1975, when performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.
Later that year, the duo, along with Chrissie Hammond, formed Air Supply as a five-man group. Hammond left the band, to be replaced by Jeremy Paul in time for the group's first Australian hit single, "Love and Other Bruises." This single was followed by a self-titled debut album that reached Gold status in Australia, numerous other top 40 hits, and an American tour opening for Rod Stewart. Jeremy Paul left the band during this tour.
Hitchcock and Russell effectively 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) and 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. It was on this album that a five-and-a-half minute version of Lost in Love was introduced to Australian audiences. Written by Graham Russell in fifteen minutes, the song caught the attention of music mogul Clive Davis, and his record label remixed the song and released it as a single in America.
Their 1980 album "Lost In Love" released their music to an American audience for the first time, and contained three US Top Five singles, including the title track, "Every Woman In The World", and "All Out of Love" (sample). It was quickly followed by three more hit albums, "The One That You Love," "Now and Forever," and "Greatest Hits."
In 1983 they had #2 hit in the U.S. with "Making Love Out of Nothing at All". During the mid-1980s they also had one semi-major Billboard hit with "Just as I Am" and couple of very minor Billboard "hits" with "The Power of Love", "Lonely Is the Night", and "One More Chance". Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas album before taking a break with studio recordings, instead touring live. During this time, Russell Hitchcock released his self-titled debut album.
In 1991 the duo regrouped and recorded "The Earth Is," containing their hit single "Without You". The album was followed by "The Vanishing Race" in 1993, and "News from Nowhere" in 1995. 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, "It Was Thirty Years Ago Today," which was recorded at the Casino Rama in Canada.
Parodies
The earnestness of the music and lyrics have made Air Supply an object of parody long after their success on the pop charts. Air Supply is made reference to in Fox's animated series Family Guy in the episode "Emission Impossible", when Stewie Griffin makes inquiries to his onboard computer regarding the status of his shrinking vessel. In The Simpsons, the music is referred to as "wuss rock" by Homer Simpson. The duo was also parodied in an episode of Saturday Night Live, where they are portrayed as homosexual lovers, who are not recognized by the audience they are performing in front of despite their boasts of musical success.
Albums
- 1976: Air Supply [Rainbow Records]
- 1977: The Whole Thing Started
- 1977: Love & Other Bruises
- 1979: Life Support
- 1980: Lost in Love
- 1981: The One That You Love
- 1982: Now and Forever
- 1983: Greatest Hits
- 1983: Making Love... The Very Best Of Air Supply
- 1985: Air Supply [Arista]
- 1986: Hearts in Motion
- 1987: The Christmas Album
- 1987: Russell Hitchcock (Solo Album)
- 1991: The Earth Is...
- 1993: The Vanishing Race
- 1995: News from Nowhere
- 1995: Greatest Hits Live - Now And Forever
- 1997: The Book of Love
- 1999: The Definitive Collection
- 2001: Sweet Dreams - The Encore Collection
- 2001: Yours Truly
- 2002: The Ultimate Collection: Millennium
- 2003: Across the Concrete Sky
- 2003: Forever Love
- 2003: The Ultimate Collection
- 2004: Platinum and Gold Collection
- 2005: Love Songs
- 2005: All Out Of Love Live
- 2005: It Was 30 Years Ago Today
- 2005: The Singer and the Song