Inception & Early Days
Air Supply was born when one afternoon, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock sat together and created a smash hit song that earned them number one spot on the national chart. From there onwards, there was no stopping the duo.
Russell and Hitchcock met for the first time on the production stage of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Because of their common interest in the music of The Beatles, they instantly became close friends. Soon after, they started to play in night clubs, pizza parlors and coffee bars. They developed a good repute because of their solid and original songs. After a few months, they produced a demo tape consisting of two songs, If You Knew Me and Love and Other Businesses. They distributed it among many recording companies in Sydney, being turned down by all – except one, CBS Records. The band released their self titled debut album in December of 1976, which was soon certified Gold.
Rise to Fame
After setting their feet in the industry, Air Supply came up with successful albums like, “The Whole Thing’s Started”, “Love & Other Businesses” and “Life Support” that earned them a huge fan following. The single from Life Support, ‘Lost in Love’ made it to the top ten on the Australian chart. Clive Davis, New York music industry’s chief executive came across the song and offered the duo a contract with Arista Records, which they accepted. By 1980, ‘Lost in Love’ had become world’s fastest selling single and had already won ‘Song of the Year Award’. Air Supply was at its peak during the 80s as another single, ‘All Out of Love’ climbed the charts even faster. This was followed by seven more Top Five songs, equaling their idol, The Beatle’s record of consecutive Top Five singles. The band released three albums in three years; ‘Lost in Love’, ‘The One That You Love’ and ‘Now and Forever’. The albums sold twenty million copies each.
90s & the New Century
In 1989, the duo decided to hit the studio again to record their new album “The Earth Is”, which came out in 1991. The album featured Without You, yet another hit song by Air Supply. It was followed by 1993’s ‘The Vanishing Race’, which included the smash hit Goodbye and managed to sell around four million copies. The band released ‘News from Nowhere’ in 1995. This album contained Asian songs, some of which made it to the top, including Always and Someone. This increased their popularity in the South Asian countries.
With the dawn of the new century, the band started to tour excessively. In 2000, a production company was founded in dedication to Air Supply. With “A Nice Pear” record label, the duo now had a complete hold over their creativity. From 2005 to 2010, Air Supply took a break. The silence broke with the release of “Mumbo Jumbo” in 2010. The same year Billboard Magazine stated in its edition, “still supplying hits after thirty five years”.
After decades of composing astounding music, the band continues to tour and record music. Wherever they go, they witness sold out venues as the fans of Air Supply continue to love their melodies.