They had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top Ten hits in the United States, in the early 1980s.
They formed in Australia in 1975 and have included various accompanying musicians and singers.
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 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. 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.
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.
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 No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] 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, "Keeping the Love Alive" 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 Want to Give It All" with Russell.
Russell and Hitchcock also from time to time were relief hosts on the music program Solid Gold. It is believed that they initially filled in when Andy Gibb was a no show for an episode that they performed on. However, Gibb's "no shows" soon became more frequent, which resulted in his termination. Even though this was not their usual job, the duo made an impression on producers and the audience who enjoyed their accents, and they were asked to host every so often until the show was cancelled.
Their next album Now and Forever, released in 1982 with the same seven-piece line-up (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. The Jim Steinman produced track "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" was released as a single and became Air Supply's last top 10 hit in the United States, at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Album sold 7 million copies in the United States.
Side A
A1. Lost In Love (3:51)
A2. Even The Nights Are Better (3:57)
A3. The One That You Love (4:17)
A4. Every Woman In The World (3:29)
A5. Chances (3:32)
Side B
B1. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All (5:15)
B2. All Out Of Love (4:01)
B3. Here I Am (3:46)
B4. Sweet Dreams (5:19)
Notes
Release: August 1983
Label: Arista Records
Genre: Soft Rock
Catalog# AL 88024
price: € 10,00
Vinyl: In Goede Staat
Cover: Licht Beschadigd
http://www.ad-vinylrecords.com/product/air-supply-greatest-hits-lp/
