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BIOGRAPHY
Graham Russell & Russell Hitchcock met on
May 12, 1975, the first day of rehearsals for “Jesus Christ
Superstar” in Sydney, Australia; they became instant friends
with their common love for The Beatles and, of course,
singing.
After the shows' performances at 10:30,
they would play pizza parlors, coffee bars and night clubs
with just one guitar and two voices. They quickly gained a
reputation for great harmonies and for original songs that
Graham was constantly writing. They made a demo on a cassette
of two songs, “Love and Other Bruises” and “If You Knew Me”
and took it to every record company in Sydney. Everyone turned
it down but one — CBS Records — who admired their unique
style. They made a single in one afternoon and it shot to
number one on the national charts. Air Supply was born! That
same year, they opened for Rod Stewart across Australia and
then throughout the U.S. and Canada playing all of the famous
huge venues before Rod would take the stage. They found new
fans, but did not break the U.S. market.
Back in Australia they had to start again
and made a record called “Life Support”. On this record were
some treasures of songs, including “Lost in Love” which went
top 10 in Australia and somehow found its way to music
industry executive Clive Davis in New York.
Clive immediately signed Air Supply to
Arista Records and in 1980, “Lost in Love” became the fastest
selling single in the world, leaping to the top of all of the
charts. Now Air Supply were on their way. The second single
was “All Out of Love,” and that went up the charts even
quicker. Seven top-five singles later, Air Supply at that time
had equaled The Beatles’ run of consecutive top five singles.
The albums “Lost in Love”, “The One That You Love”, “Now &
Forever”, and “The Greatest Hits” sold in excess of 20 million
copies. “Lost in Love” was named Song of the Year in 1980,
and, with the other singles, sold over 10 million copies.
The trademark sound of Russell Hitchcock’s
soaring tenor voice and Graham Russell’s simple yet majestic
songs created a unique sound that would forever be known as
Air Supply.
However, it is the live shows that always
hold audiences captive around the world. They were the first
Western group to tour China, Taiwan, and countless other
countries that before would not allow pop music across their
borders. In 1983 they recorded “Making Love Out of Nothing at
All” by Jim Steinman which solidified the group as a permanent
force in modern music. This song was released on “The Greatest
Hits” album which soared past 7 million copies.
“Lost in Love”, “All Out of Love”, “The One
That You Love”, “Sweet Dreams”, and “Making Love Out of
Nothing at All” have each achieved multi-million plays on the
radio.
In 1986 the group’s music was still playing
endlessly on radio. That same year, Graham was married to
actress Jodi Varble from Rochelle, Illinois, who also was his
leading lady in the video for “Making Love Out Of Nothing At
All.”
Air Supply began to tour with lavish
productions in places that no one had been before. In South
America and Asia they became a part of everyone’s life. In
1988, Air Supply was asked to participate in Australia’s
bicentennial celebration and to play for HRH Prince Charles
and HRH Princess Diana, where they learned both were already
ardent fans. This engagement would be one of their most
treasured moments in their career.
In 1989, they recorded “The Earth Is” album
selling over a million copies outside of the U.S. This album
was followed by “The Vanishing Race” CD and, with the singles
“Goodbye” and “It’s Never Too Late”, again saw multi-platinum
success. The following albums, “News from Nowhere”, “Yours
Truly”, and “Across the Concrete Sky” all gave their second
greatest hits album multi-platinum status as they traveled the
world each and every year.
In 2000, a new production company was
founded to be devoted to Air Supply’s entire future product,
called A Nice Pear, which gave them complete creative control.
In July 2005, their live DVD, “It Was 30
Years Ago Today” celebrated 30 years of success around the
world and in that same month, Air Supply smashed attendance
records when, in Cuba, at one show they played to 175,000
people. Also 2005 saw the release of “The Singer and the
Song”, an acoustic album of many of their big hits which
received critical acclaim.
Now in 2010, the world is waiting for the
brand new studio CD, “Mumbo Jumbo”. This 14-track concept CD
will be release on the Oddson label with the first single
being released in March. Complete with a concept short story,
“Mumbo Jumbo” will be a unique release. The album will be
available to all Airheads and also at the live shows in March,
but will not be released worldwide until April.
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