Air Supply
 Formed
in Australia around the partnership of Russell Hitchcock and Graham
Russell, soft-rockers Air Supply turned out a solid string of seven US
Top 5 singles. The duo first came together in Sydney, Australia
(originally with Chrissie Hammond, later of Cheetah) during 1976 while
performing in a production of the
Tim Rice and
Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus
Christ Superstar.
Joined by bass player/vocalist
Jeremy Paul, they were only successful locally at first, notably with
the hit single Love And Other Bruises (October 1976), until
1977 when they left for a North American tour supporting Rod
Stewart.
Jeremy Paul left at the end of
1977 and later formed Divinyls with former Air Supply guitarist Mark
McEntee. The band went through a number of line-up changes before
finally stabilizing in 1978 with two ex-members of Sailor (David Moyse
and Brian Hamilton). This line-up issued the album Life Support
which produced the singles Lost In Love, Bring Out The Magic
and Just Another Woman.
Signing with Arista Records in
1980, the band's next album included three US Top 5 hits with the
title track, All Out Of Love (also their only substantial UK
success, reaching number 11) and Every Woman In The World. The
US number 10 album
The One That You Love (1981)
yielded three more major American Top 5 singles, with the Number 1
title track, Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) and
Sweet Dreams.
Even The Nights Are Better
reached US number 5 in 1982, but the attendant
Now And Forever was a poor
collection. In 1983 they achieved their second US number 2 with
Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, taken from their hugely
popular
Greatest Hits album.
The 1985 album Air Supply
produced just one US hit, Just As I Am (June 1985), and two
flops - The Power Of Love and Lonely Is The Night,
before the group disbanded.
Russell Hitchcock embarked on
an average solo career until new Air Supply albums surfaced in the
early 1990s. Neither The Earth Is . . . or The Vanishing
Race resulted in any chart success, though both sold well in Asia.
Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock continued to resurrect Air Supply
periodically in order to play the American and (more lucrative) Asian
concert circuits with considerable success. Air Supply also played six
sell-out concerts in mainland China, at 20,000-seat auditoriums.
| The
Band |
Graham Russell
Vocals, guitar
Russell Hitchcock
Vocals
Jeremy Paul
Vocals, bass
Chrissie Hammond
Vocals
Mark McEntee
Guitar
Adrian Scott
Keyboards
Jeff Browne
Drums
Brenton White
Guitar
|
Nigel Macara
Drums
Rex Goh
Guitar
Robin LeMesurier
Guitar
Howard Sukimoto
Bass
Joey Carbone
Keyboards
Ken Francis
Guitar
Bill Putt
Bass
Rick Mellick
Keyboards
|
David Moyse
Guitar
Brian Hamilton
Bass
Ralph Cooper
Drums
Criston Barker
Bass
Frank Esler-Smith
Keyboards
David Green
Bass
Ken Rarick
Keyboards
Wally Stocker
Guitar
Don Cromwell
Bass |
|
