Air Supply still a success after nearly 50 years
via Salamanca Press
SALAMANCA — The iconic soft-rock duo Air Supply is bringing its trademark sound to the Seneca Allegany Event Center Saturday night at 8 p.m.
Led by lead singer Russell Hitchcock with his soaring tenor voice and his original sidekick Graham Russell, still on guitar and still penning songs, the six-member band will take their fans, whom they affectionately call “Air Heads,” down memory lane to the band’s heyday in the ’80s.
Accompanied by their band, Aaron McLain on lead guitar, Mirko Tessandori on piano, keyboards and vocals, Pavel Valdman on drums and Doug Gild on bass, the iconic Australian-English soft-rock duo has a staying power that has kept them performing since 1975 and they are still going strong.
With love in the names of most of their hit songs, it’s been all about love since the duo’s 1980s heyday. Their Top 10 hit songs include “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All,” “All Out Of Love,” “Lost In Love,” “Lonely Is The Night,” “The One That You Love,” “Even The Nights Are Better,” “Sweet Dreams,” “The Power Of Love,” “Here I Am” and “Faith in Love.”
Russell told the Portland Press Herald that he loves to play all the Air Supply hits during their live shows, but “All Out Of Love” is a standout for a few reasons.
“It’s really been our most famous song. It’s been played on the radio seven million times in America alone,” he told the press. “I know the song touches people, and they’re waiting for it and I just have to play two notes on the guitar and boom, they go off.”
It all began in May 1975 when Russell and Hitchcock met on the first day of rehearsals for the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in Sydney. After meeting that night in Sydney, Hitchcock, an Australian native, and a British Russell became instant friends honing their vocal skills and harmonies while playing in coffee bars, pizza parlors and anywhere they could.
Before the end of their two-year stint in the show, Air Supply formed and hit the Australian charts big with the single, “Love and Other Bruises” in 1977.
By January 2020, Air Supply was said to be in the Top 5 of ”Greatest Aussie Bands” of all time in the company of AC/DC, The Bee Gees and INXS, according to the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun.
Now in their 47th year of performing romantic soft-rock, Hitchcock, 73, and Russell, 72, continue to tour the world with their concerts. They were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
According to an article in The Republic newspaper, Hitchcock still battles stage fright before every performance. He sometimes fought it with just a bit of merlot beforehand in the past. Now, he reminds himself that it will pass and he’s usually OK about three songs into the performance. He told The Republic that he never wants to write, and Russell said he has no desire to be lead vocalist which has resulted in their effortless blending for 47 years.
In addition to their live performance in Salamanca, Air Supply has a full touring schedule this month and through December at venues in Mexico, New Jersey, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore before doing more live shows in the states in 2023.
