Via tnonline.com

Air Supply formed nearly 50 years ago in Melbourne, Australia, will showcase its catalog of love songs during a performance Saturday at the State Theatre, Northampton Street, Easton.

The duo consists of singer-songwriter/guitarist Graham Russell and lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock. Though Air Supply’s soft-rock sound never entralled critics, the duo’s live shows have a harder, more agressive rock edge.

Performing some 13o concerts annually with a backing band, the pair recorded its recent live set, 2019’s “The Lost in Love Experience,” with the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

An iconic performance….

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Via Variety.com

Robert Luketic will direct “All Out of Love: The Air Supply Story” for Altit Media Group. The film follows the two founding members of Air Supply, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, as they pursue their musical dreams, ultimately breaking big with such chart-toppers as “Every Woman in the World,” “Lost in Love” and, the film’s title song, “All Out of Love.”

In Luketic, the project gets a director with a proven box office track record — Luketic oversaw both “Legally Blonde” films, two of the biggest hits of Reese Witherspoon’s career, as well as the Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda comedy, “Monster-In-Law,” another commercial success.

Casting on the film, which features a script from BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Stuart Beattie (“Pirates of the Caribbean,” Baz Luhrman’s “Australia”), is currently underway. 

Altit Media Group’s Dean Altit will produce, while Barry Seigel, Jesse Weiner, Julia Xu, and Johnny Hsu will serve as executive producers. Filming is set to take place in Australia and the U.K. during the first quarter of 2025. The film will be released to celebrate the band’s 50th anniversary.

Luketic’s other credits include the “The Ugly Truth,” a rom-com with  Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, and the heist drama “21.”  On TV, Luketic has directed episodes of “Jane the Virgin” on The CW and “Schmigadoon!” on Apple TV+.

Air Supply found major success with seven top-five singles in a row. The band has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and played over 5,000 shows. Other hits include “Here I Am,” “Even the Nights Are Better” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.”

“’All Out of Love’ is an emotional and triumphant testament to the musical genius of two Australians, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, who are behind some of the world’s greatest love songs,” Luketic said. “I firmly believe that this is a story that everyone should know, and I can’t wait to bring it to life.”

Altit recently wrapped production on “Home Sweet Home Rebirth” starring Michele Morrone and Urassaya Sperbund, adapted from the video game franchise “Home Sweet Home.” His recent credits include “Not Without Hope” starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel, “The Misfits” starring Pierce Brosnan, and “The Good Neighbor” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Luketic is represented by CAA, Mosaic, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Via Ajc.com

Credit: Denise Truscello

Russell Hitchcock (left) and Graham Russell of Air Supply. Photo by Denise Truscello

Their first year-plus was nothing short of magical.

While they toured in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” they were restricted from promoting themselves. But Russell and Hitchcock wrote and recorded songs and played some gigs while keeping their identities on the down low. They even released a single, “Love and Other Bruises,” which caught on with radio in Australia and became a chart-topping hit in 1976. This led to recording a self-titled debut album, which went to the top of the country’s album charts right as the duo was wrapping up their stint in the musical.

“It was so bizarre. We just left ‘Superstar’ a couple of days (earlier). We have the No. 1 single, and the next week we had the No. 1 album,” Russell said. “And one of our very first shows, because it was at the end of the year (1976) and we had this big hit single, they asked us to perform at the (Sydney) Opera House on the steps for 90,000 people. But we weren’t the only band on the bill. There were other big Australian bands. But for us, we were like ‘Oh my God!’ We hardly had put the band together. We didn’t know what we were doing. We had a good set. We played all of the songs from the first album, which at that point had only just come out. So for us, we thought ‘Oh my, this is great. This is how it happens all the time.’”

That good fortune continued. Rod Stewart had an Australian tour booked and he had taken note that Air Supply had the country’s No. 1 single and album. So he asked Air Supply to open for him on that tour. Things meshed and soon Russell and Hitchcock were off to America and Canada, extending their run as openers on Stewart’s tour.

Then came the reality check.

“We toured with Rod and we thought we’d come back to a hero’s welcome, ticker tape and the whole thing,” Russell said. “But they had forgotten about us.”

The pair couldn’t get gigs. Russell tried to sell some of his songs, to no avail, and before long they were basically dirt poor.

“But the great thing about that, which we didn’t realize at the time, was this. It made us dig in,” Russell said. “We didn’t give up and say ‘Oh, that was great, playing with Rod, we had a big album, a big single. And now we’re going to get a regular job.’ No, we dug in. We dug in the trenches and we said ‘No, we’re going to get back there’ because we’d already been to the U.S. with Rod, obviously, and we wanted to get back there. We didn’t want to be the biggest band in Australia. We wanted to be the biggest band in the world.”

So Russell set out to write new songs, and that group of 15 or so included such familiar tunes as “All Out of Love,” “Chances,” “The Woman You Love” and “Lost In Love.” The latter song was released as a single in Australia in 1979, and the magic returned.

“It was a big hit again (in Australia),” Russell said. “But we still didn’t make any money. It wasn’t until Clive heard the record, and unknown to us, bought the record, bought the rights, and released it. We didn’t even know. But we were glad when we found out. The first time we saw it or knew about it, it was in the Billboard (singles chart), it came in at #72 or something.”

Clive was Clive Davis, the record industry legend known for helping to launch the careers of Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston and numerous others. He was president of Arista Records at the time. At that point, Davis had yet to contact Russell or Hitchcock. So Russell took the initiative.

“I called him up and I said ‘Is this Clive Davis?’ He said ‘Yes.’ I said ‘This is Graham Russell from Air Supply.’ And I actually reversed the charges. I didn’t have any money,” Russell recalled. “He said ‘Where are you?’ I said ‘I’m in France because I went to a publishing convention, which I missed because I got sick.’ He said ‘What are you doing there? Get back to Australia. We need that album straight away.’ And that was my introduction to Clive.”

It turned out Davis had big plans for Air Supply. On his way back to Australia, Russell stopped off in Los Angeles to meet Davis in person, and that’s when he began to sense the magnitude of what was about to happen.

“He (Davis) said ‘OK, you’ve got to get back to Australia and make that album right away. ‘Lost In Love’ is going to be the biggest song of the year,’” Russell said. “I couldn’t really believe that, but he said it. He said ‘Get back there. Your career is about to take off.’”

And did it ever. The anthemic pop ballad sound of “Lost In Love” (Russell and Hitchcock don’t like the soft rock label that was soon attached to Air Supply) registered worldwide, and this was just the start of a string of hits that turned Air Supply into one of the biggest acts of the ‘80s.

Air Supply followed the double-platinum 1980 “Lost In Love” album with four more studio albums, three of which went platinum or gold, spinning out hits like “All Out of Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” “The One That You Love,” “Here I Am,” “Even the Nights Are Better, “Two Less Lonely People in the World” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” — all of which went top 5 or better in the states.

The hits dried up toward the end of the ‘80s, but Air Supply kept touring and making albums, and had major success over the next decade-plus that followed in Asia (including China), South America, India and other far flung locales.

Over the past decade or so, Russell and Hitchcock have seen a resurgence in their popularity in the United States. They continue to perform roughly 130 shows each year in a six-piece band format, surprising fans with a live show that’s more robust and energetic than the studio versions of their songs might suggest.

“It’s a rock ‘n’ roll band in whatever form. We just play a lot of big, epic ballad songs, but we play a lot of other stuff, too, that everyone knows,” Russell said. “But in essence, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll band and it’s loud and powerful. For the people that think it’s going to be Peter, Paul and Mary, they’re very much surprised.”

Via Dropthespotlight.com

Every time a band or group with timeless music comes into San Antonio, it’s bound to be a can’t-miss show. It’s for this reason I headed to the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts for the very first time to eagerly catch soft rock duo Air Supply on their show titled “The Lost in Love Experience.”

The show started promptly at 8 p.m., and the roughly 1,700 fans in attendance lost their minds seeing Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock walk out on the Tobin Center stage. They wasted no time getting into some of their hits over their vast catalog that’s only continued to immortalize itself over the last 50 years; “Sweet Dreams” and “Even the Nights Are Better” were early indicators of how loud this crowd was going to be.

They had their share of technical difficulties early on but the duo knew how to make the best of it by telling jokes and sharing stories to keep the crowd entertained. Even when Hitchcock’s microphone wasn’t working and Russell’s guitar wouldn’t play, they still had the biggest smiles on their faces getting to play for the San Antonio crowd.

“We take nothing for granted,” Hitchcock expressed. “We do sincerely appreciate you coming to see us tonight here.”

On songs like “Just As I Am” and “Chances,” Hitchcock’s vocals sounded fantastic. He understandably doesn’t sound like he did back on their recordings decades ago but his vocals have aged so well, giving a fresh feel to the tracks’ live renditions.

Russell infused his humorous charm during a section of the show he affectionately dubbed the “G-Spot,” where the band took a breather and he took time to recite a poem. The poem was unexpectedly full of namedrops of all the iconic Texas restaurants they drove past throughout their road trip; Whataburger and Buc-ee’s unsurprisingly drew the most passionate cheers.

The duo then shared anecdotes about how they met, their artistic collaboration and their enduring friendship. They followed this by sitting side by side, with the spotlights shining down only on them as they sang “Two Less Lonely People in the World.” It was a very sweet moment of the show, one that encapsulates so well why they’ve still managed to work together so well over these past decades.

When they got to another one of their famous ballads, “That One That You Love,” most of the crowd began to stand and from here on, rarely ever sat back down. “Lost in Love” followed right after, and had the whole crowd clapping and singing with so much joy. A “lost in love experience,” indeed.

Just when you thought the energy in the room couldn’t get any higher, the piano notes for “Making Love (Out of Nothing At All)” began to play, and the fans’ excitement was through the roof. The way Hitchcock performed this song was unbelievable, with each verse sounding more passionate than the last as it built up to a raucous finish. The climactic guitar solo and Hitchcock’s repeating lines of “out of nothing at all” were so powerful. It is my favorite song of theirs, but bias aside, it was still my favorite performance of the night.

As high of a note that was, Air Supply couldn’t end the show without an encore. They came back out to rapturous cheers, performing “Without You,” and “All Out of Love.” Every cell phone light went up and every audience member’s voice rang loudly through the Tobin Center, singing along with Air Supply one last time.

“The Lost in Love Experience” evoked the same feeling that I imagine most people had watching live music decades ago. The minimal cell phones, the bright spotlights that would shine brightly on each artist, and the heartfelt ballads that rang true to every audience member. Seeing a show like this that only bands like Air Supply can deliver was a wonderfully refreshing sight to see.

Via 2nurfm.com

This Sunday at 6:00pm, Jack Hodgin’s guest on Vinyl Vibes is Graham Russell from the duo Air Supply.

When they met on the set of a production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock discovered they both loved the music of The Beatles. Together they formed Air Supply, and their first single “Love and Other Bruises” would come out in 1976 and would be a top ten hit in Australia.

A few years later, they would find international success with their song “Lost in Love” which in 1980, would go to number 3 on the Billboard Top 100. This would be the beginning of a string of hits they would have in the US. Other US hits for the group would be “All Out Of Love” (Number 2 on the Billboard Top 100) , “Every Woman in the World” (Number 5 on the Billboard Top 100) and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” (Number 2 on the Billboard Top 100).

Jack asks Russell about touring China and Vietnam at a time when most bands did not, the writing of “All Out of Love”, music videos and MTV, the group’s new single “Be Tough”, Graham’s upcoming book, and when the band is coming to Australia to play again.

Via Deadline

via The Gazette

Air Supply couldn’t be busier on the eve of its 50th anniversary.

The rock duo, which formed in Australia in 1975, is working on a biography.

“(Vocalist/guitarist) Graham (Russell) has done his version, but I’ve yet to complete my part,” vocalist Russell Hitchcock said while calling from his Huntington Beach, Calif., home. “We have a lot on our plate.”

A bio pic is also in the works, and the duo is touring as hard as ever. Air Supply, which will perform a sold-out concert Friday, June 14, 2024, at the Riverside Casino Event Center, is in the midst of a 150-date jaunt

“We’ve done at least that amount of shows every year since the ’70s,” Hitchcock said. “It’s what we do.”

Prior to the duo’s American gigs, Air Supply toured Latin America and will perform in Asia before 2024 concludes.

“We’re so lucky to have devoted fans that have been with us forever,” Hitchcock said. “They are loyal since it’s not that they just like our songs, they love our songs.”

The catchy, sweet ballads propelled Air Supply to the top of the American charts during the ’80s and the rabid fan base has never let go of the hit parade.

Air Supply has sold more than 100 million albums, buoyed by eight top-five hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. “Lost in Love,” “All Out of Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” “The One That You Love,” “Here I Am,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Even the Nights are Better” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” enabled Air Supply to become one of the most successful acts of the ’80s, despite receiving little media coverage.

“I’ve always been anti-Rolling Stone (magazine) since they never mentioned us, even when we were one of the biggest groups in the universe,” Hitchcock said. “You couldn’t get into that magazine back then unless you were Elvis Costello or Bruce Springsteen. You weren’t valid if you weren’t in Rolling Stone. We weren’t on the (Rolling Stone) top 100 greatest singers list. Beyonce is number 5. Please. God bless her, but no way Beyonce is in the top 100, in my opinion.”

(Actually Jay-Z’s better half is ranked at number 8 on Rolling Stone’s latest list from 2023)

Hitchcock, 74, admits that he doesn’t listen to much contemporary music, but he raves about Taylor Swift.

“I’m a big Taylor Swift fan,” he said. “I watched her concert film and I was blown away. She is a brilliant lyricist, a great storyteller. Taylor opens herself up, and to her credit, doesn’t give a crap about what anyone thinks. It’s a very (gutsy) thing for someone so young.

“Compare her to Beyonce and you see that Beyonce has 15 songwriters. … Taylor writes all of her own material with one producer. There’s no comparison as far as talent is concerned,” he said. “Beyonce is great. She markets herself in a brilliant manner. I don’t begrudge anyone’s success. I believe we should all support each other in the music industry, which is such a small community.”

However, Air Supply has been a butt of jokes during its career. During a recent chat with KISS’ Gene Simmons, I asked the business-minded bassist about pyrotechnics. “Where do you think that came from — Air Supply,” Simmons replied.

“That’s very funny,” Hitchcock said.

Air Supply never lost its sense of humor or vulnerability in song. Russell and Hitchcock always laid it out via love songs.

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” Hitchcock said. “But that’s what my favorite recording artists have done.”

The Beatles, who Hitchcock caught in Melbourne in 1964, changed the laid-back Aussie’s life.

“Before I heard the Beatles, all I heard at home was Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and singers like that,” Hitchcock said. “And then I saw the Beatles in this 10,000-seat arena, and it was sheer pandemonium.

“There was no band like them. They changed everything. They changed clothing, hairstyles, the language and of course, music. The Beatles changed the world. Part of the reason they changed the world is because they had the songs, and many of those great songs are love songs.”

Love songs aren’t as ubiquitous as they were a generation or two ago. Many contemporary songs are about “things” as opposed to “people,” and Hitchcock has noticed.

“It is different today,” he said. “The ’60s were great. The ’70s were amazing and the ’80s were terrific. Things went south for me at the beginning of the ’90s. There was Nirvana, who had some really great songs, but it wasn’t cool to be happy anymore. You had to be angry.”

Hitchcock is in a terrific mood, particularly when he belts out Air Supply’s feel-good love songs.

“It’s a great time for Graham and I,” Hitchcock said. “We’ve been at this for so long and we’ve never had an argument.”

Hitchcock and Russell sound like Paul and Linda McCartney, who claimed to have never fought.

“That’s a funny comparison,” Hitchcock said. “But it’s true. We really enjoy working with each other or we wouldn’t still be doing this all these years later.”

Via Sungazette.com

For longtime lovers of rock music, Air Supply is a group that needs little introduction. With a slew of hits that have charted near the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 — “Lost in Love,” “All Out of Love,” “Every Woman in the World,” “The One That You Love,” “Here I Am,” “Sweet Dreams,” “Even the Nights Are Better” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” — and 16 studio albums under their belt, the band’s body of work over the last five decades speaks for itself.

That said, fans that haven’t yet made it to one of the group’s 5,000-plus live shows would likely be surprised by how hard they can rock in person. For as great as their recordings are, the orchestrated and mellow sound found on the albums doesn’t fully reflect the high-energy performances Air Supply brings to the stage.

Luckily, local followers of the band will get a chance to experience Air Supply’s’ spirited show for themselves, when they perform at 7:30 p.m. on June 9 at the Community Arts Center, 220 West Fourth St.

“(The show) is very loud. If people aren’t expecting that then maybe they should bring some earplugs,” said Air Supply lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock. “It’s not soft rock. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll show and it has been for many years.”

Hitchcock helped found Air Supply along with guitarist and songwriter Graham Russell back in 1975. While dozens of other members have joined and left the group through the years, those two have been a constant presence in the band for the entirety of its 49-year run. Hitchcock credited the pair’s great friendship, mutual respect and shared vision as the primary reasons they have been able to work together for so long in an industry where that rarely happens.

“Our decisions for Air Supply’s future are always very democratic,” Hitchcock said. “Graham says in the show that we have never had an argument. People find that impossible to believe, but it is the absolute truth. We don’t fight because we have never had any reason to.

“We have always presented a united front and that’s not just for the public, that is who we are,” he added. “I won’t let anybody say a bad word about him, and he’s the same.”

Nowadays, Hitchcock and Russell are joined in Air Supply by a youthful group of talented musicians that includes Aaron McLain (lead guitarist, musical director), Mirko Tessandori (keyboard), Doug Gild (bass) and Pavel Valdman (drums).

“We have got it all. That’s probably bragging, but they sound great, and they look great,” Hitchcock said. “Fortunately for us, they are all younger, so they probably have a lot more energy than we do; and they have more current influences than we do.”

With a rigorous touring schedule that often sees the band performing upwards of 100 shows per year, Hitchcock said he doesn’t have to work too hard to keep his powerful tenor voice in good shape, since his vocal cords are constantly being exercised. But he has tried to live a healthier lifestyle, adjusting his eating habits and cutting out alcohol about two-and-a-half years ago.

“You have to be in great shape to complete our schedule,” he said.

When asked why Air Supply has been able to enjoy the longevity it has seen, where droves of fans still turn out night after night to watch them perform, Hitchcock said it all comes down to the songs.

“If the song isn’t there to start with, then you don’t have any chance,” he said. “Especially when you have songs like ours, which really are simple and straight forward, but they really are straight-to-the-heart songs.

“It’s the content and the emotional connection we have with people that keeps us going,” he added.

Air Supply’s discography and live shows have resonated so much with some fans that they’ve become part of an ultra-dedicated group that the band affectionately refers to as “Airheads.” Unlike casual fans that might have seen the band perform once or twice, most of the members of this club have seen them dozens of times in person.

“For me, I would see the same faces at shows and I would think, ‘Well that’s pretty weird.’ I mean, I wouldn’t go and see me 20 times,” said Hitchcock. “But as our reputation grew and our career continued to flourish, we would see more and more of these Airhead fans.

“We are on a first-name basis with a lot of them and will have conversations at shows when we see them,” added Hitchcock. “They are just a great bunch of people, and they support us to the death.”

For the members of Air Supply, showing respect for their fans is of paramount importance. Hitchcock said he has seen many bands and musicians show a dismissive attitude towards their supporters when approached by them, and that isn’t something that sits well with him.

“It’s just something we would never think about doing ever,” he said. “If you sign up for this and you enjoy everything about it, like the fame — whatever that is — and the monetary rewards, then you should respect the fact that the people who come and see you are responsible for that.

“Turning anybody away for something as simple as a photograph or autograph is so disrespectful, because they have paid a lot of money to see you perform,” he added. “If it wasn’t for our fans we wouldn’t be here, and we recognize that.”

To this day, Air Supply continues to grow its fan base, as they now often find themselves performing not only for their original fans, but also the children and grandchildren of those fans. That’s something Hitchcock loves to see, because he knows the influx of new followers will only extend the legacy of the band.

“You can see them singing along with us, and they know the lyrics,” Hitchcock said, of the group’s younger fans. “It’s something else, because it probably isn’t cool to go to school and say you’re an Air Supply fan if you are 15.

“It’s wonderful, and we know for years to come people are still going to listen to our stuff.”

Whether you’re a new fan or have been with the band for its full ride, the members of Air Supply leave it all on the stage each night to make sure they create a lasting impression on all of those in the audience.

“One of the greatest things about playing live, is that it’s an instant verification of whether they like it or they don’t like it,” said Hitchcock. “You don’t have to wonder, because you can see and feel how they have been affected by the music.

“We have always considered ourselves to be a touring band more than a recording studio act,” he added. “We do it because we love it, and we do it because people want to see us. We still think that we sound pretty good and look respectable.”

For more information on Air Supply’s show at the Community Arts Center, visit caclive.com or call 570-326-2424.