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 stabilising 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 #11) and Every Woman In The World.
The US #10 album The One That You Love (1981) yielded three more major American Top 5 singles, with the Number One title track, Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You) and Sweet Dreams.
Even The Nights Are Better reached US #5 in 1982, but the attendant Now And Forever was a poor collection. In 1983 they achieved their second US #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.
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
