Air Supply

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.

Air Supply are an Australian soft rock duo, consisting of singer-songwriter and guitarist Graham Russell and lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock. They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980's. They formed in Australia in 1975 and have included various accompanying musicians and singers. The Australian Recording Industry Association(ARIA) inducted Air Supply into their Hall of Fame on 1 December 2013 at the annual ARIA Awards.

History
Formation and early years: 1975–1980


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. With Hammond and Hitchcock on vocals and Russell on guitar, they formed a harmony vocal group in Melbourne, while the show was still playing. Hammond left the vocal group to form Cheetah and was replaced by Jeremy Paul (ex-Soffrok and later Divinyls) on bass guitar and vocals in 1976. 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 No. 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 No. 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 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 (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.[4] 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, which 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. Paul, in 1980, recruited fellow former Air Supply bandmate McEntee in the line-up 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 checked 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 (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. 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 No. 13 in Australia and No. 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 line-up 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.




Air Supply 1976


Air Supply is the debut album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply which was released on CBS Records in December 1976. The album peaked at No. 17 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. It includes the single, "Love and Other Bruises" released ahead of the album in October which reached No. 6 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The second single, "Empty Pages", issued in February 1977 did not reach the Top 40. The album reached gold status in Australia. It wasn't until the album Lost In Love that the band broke through international charts.


1. Feel the Breeze
2. I Don't Believe You
3. Empty Pages
4. What a Life
5. Secret Agent
6. The Weight Is My Soul
7. Love and Other Bruises
8. It's Not Easy
9. We Are All Alone
10. Strangers in Love
11. Ain't It a Shame"







The Whole Thing's Started - 1977

The Whole Thing's Started is the second studio album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply, it was released in July 1977. The first single "Do What You Do" was released ahead of the album in June, "That's How the Whole Thing Started" followed in October and "Do It Again" appeared in February 1978. Neither the album nor the singles peaked into the Australian Kent Music Report Top 40 charts.

Track listing

1. Teach Me to Run
2. Do It Again
3. Do What You Do
4. There's Nothing I Can Do
5. Ready for You
6. That's How the Whole Thing Started
7. Love Comes to Me
8. The Answer Lies
9. It's Automatic
10.The End of the Line

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Love & Other Bruises

Love & Other Bruises is the third studio album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply. It was the group's debut album in America. The album met modest success in Australia, with the single "Love and Other Bruises" reaching #6 on Australian charts. The album compiled re-recorded versions of some of their past singles, such as "What a Life", "Feel the Breeze" and "Empty Pages", from their self-titled debut album, and "Do It Again", "End of the Line" and "That's How the Whole Thing Started" from the album The Whole Thing's Started. "Who Will Love Me Now" and Does It Matter" were new songs written for this specific album.

The album was recorded in America while the band were touring in support of Rod Stewart and designed specifically for the American market. Air Supply's touring band was not utilized on the record. Lead vocalists Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock sang their parts to tracks laid down by American studio musicians. Jeremy Paul, Air Supply's bass player and third lead vocalist was relegated to backing vocal duties for the recording sessions. This led to his leaving the band after the album's release.

The album and single failed to chart in America and the band's next album would be recorded in Australia, as were its first two records

Track listing


01. Love and Other Bruises
02. What a Life
03. Feel the Breeze
04.Who Will Love Me Now
05. Do It Again
06. The End of the Line
07. Ready for You
08. Empty Pages
09. Does It Matter
10. That's How the Whole Thing Started








Life Support 1979



Life Support is the fourth studio album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply, released in 1979. The album contains the original version of the later hit single "Lost in Love", which peaked at #1 on Australian charts. "Just Another Woman" would also be re-released on the album Lost in Love.

It was also initially released in picture disc format.

Track listing

01. Give Me Love
02. Looking Out for Something Outside
03. Lost in Love
04. I Just Like the Feeling
05. More Than Natural
06. Just Another Woman
07. Bring Out the Magic
08. I Don't Want to Lose You