Author: James

Via Omny.fm

In the thirty-sixth episode of Vinyl Vibes, Jack is joined by Graham Russell, co-founder of Air Supply. Since Graham was kid, all he wanted to be was a songwriter. Growing up amongst Beatlemania in 1960s UK, the music of the Beatles inspired him greatly. On the other side of the world in Australia, Russell Hitchcock was also inspired by the Beatles. Russell and Graham would meet on the set of a production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975, and together would form Air Supply.  It was their love of The Beatles that brought them together.

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, with other US hits for the group being “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).

The band has been touring non-stop since 1975 and in December 2022 released a new single, “Be Tough”. Graham is currently working on book about his life leading up to Air Supply’s worldwide success and the band plans to return down under in 2024.

Jack zoomed Graham to discuss his early music beginnings, the impact the Beatles had on him, his time in his first band Union Blues, his moving to Australia in 1968, meeting Russell Hitchcock in 1975, the band’s first single “Love and Other Bruises”, playing on Countdown, why “Lost in Love” brought the band worldwide success, 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.

“(Russell) would sing one take for pretty much everything in those days, he just did it, nobody said to him ‘ah, I want you to go up in the end and hold that note’ – he just did it . . . he just used intuition, and just went with the flow and I think that’s what became part of the song, part of the record, that energy and the freedom was inherent in the song.” – Graham Russell on this episode of Vinyl Vibes talking about Russell Hitchcock’s singing on All Out Of Love

Listen to the full interview HERE !

Via ThePitchKC.com

Alongside Russell Hitchock, as one half of long-running rock duo Air Supply, Graham Russell is responsible for some of the most recognizably-beautiful songs in the pantheon of popular music. Air Supply’s string of eight top five hits from 1979 to 1983–“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”–are still radio staples over 40 years later, and continue to find their way into film and TV placements to this day.

Thanks to tuneful musicianship and gorgeous harmonies, Air Supply’s songs hook their way into you head and remain there for life. Whether you’re a metalhead or jazz aficionado, you can definitely hum the hook to at least one song from their catalog without breaking the slightest mental sweat.

The duo comes to the Lied Center in Lawrence on Wednesday, October 4 [details here] and we took the opportunity to speak with Air Supply’s Graham Russell by phone ahead of their stop.

The Pitch: You and Russell Hitchcock met as performers in Jesus Christ Superstar and then started writing your own songs. What it’s like to go from singing someone else’s songs to writing your own songs to then getting so big that other people want you to perform their songs?

Well, it’s kind of it’s like a full circle thing. I mean, being in Superstar was my first real professional occupation. I always wanted to be in show business and I’ve been writing songs since I was 13 years old, but I really had no direction or no idea what I was doing. When I went into Superstar, it was such a great opportunity. It was great for me on a personal level because I got to sing some of the greatest music ever. I think we did over like 500 shows. Playing so many shows, you really get inside the music and I kind of got a grip of how he did everything and what he was thinking, in my own way.

I met Russell on the first day, believe it or not. It was like a switch went off that said to me, “Okay, you’ve got the whole run of this show to get something together. You’ve got a step up now because you’re in Superstar. You’ve got 8 months to really put something together with your own music,” and so I looked at it as like an opportunity because I knew the show wouldn’t last forever and I wanted to make the most of it.

Russell and I made plans to do something straight away within a few days. I’ve always wanted to play my own songs. I’d been in different bands when I was a teenager in England and I never fitted. It just wasn’t right for me. I didn’t like doing cover songs all the time, which most bands then were doing to earn a living and just to play, but it was never right for me.

I always felt, “I can’t join somebody else’s band. I’ve got to start my own. That’s the only way I’m going to have a shot at having any success,” and when I met Russell, that really stood out to me. I’d think, “Yeah, this is it. We can do this,” and that’s what we tried to do from the very beginning.

It’s so appropriate you started out in this big rock musical because then later on, performing songs that were written by Jim Steinman just seems to fit hand-in-glove.

Oh, absolutely. Well, the thing was, we had so much success. Even when we came out of Superstar, we have the number one album and single in Australia and nobody knew who we were. We were still in the show. Suddenly, there’s this group all over the radio in Australia and nobody knew who they were. But it was us. We left Superstar Saturday. On Monday, we started our own touring and so we had a big leg up with that.

After we had success in the US–which really is worldwide. If you have a success in North America, then everybody was coming to us and Jim Steinman was one of those. He says, “Oh, do you want to record this song?”

The thing is this: even though I’m a very successful songwriter, I think it’s great for Russell to sing other songs too. He doesn’t just want to sing my songs. I mean, he would, but I think he should have a broad spectrum and sing other great songs. We recorded “The Power of Love.” We were actually the first to record that song.

Then Jim came with “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” and it was just perfect for us. It was perfect for Russell to sing, for him to let people know he’s not just the singer in a band. He’s one of the greatest singers of our generation. I think it was very important for him to sing those songs instead of just singing my songs all the time, which he’s done for almost 50 years.

After coming out of Superstar, you opened for Rod Stewart. When you’re performing with with Rod Stewart, does that teach you something about stagecraft in a different manner?

Yes, it is stagecraft. You’re absolutely right. That’s what I was looking for. But at the same time, we learned so many other things that you can only learn through experience and you can’t read it in a book or anything.

We learned about respect, being on time–but respect for everyone, like the drum techs. We got to know Rod quite well and his band, and they were just incredible. They were all top notch musicians, you know. Carmine Appice was on drums, he’s super famous, and we became really good friends, and they were teaching us without realizing it, and they were saying, “Now you do this, and you do that,” and so in the end, we learned so much, it was kind of this massive crriculum that we discovered, so we felt that something was going on.

Why were we suddenly thrown to the wolves like this to learn everything? And then, of course, in 1980, we realized, “Oh, wow, here it is. It’s happening now.” We were ready for it, but there’s so much that we had to learn, that we needed to learn, because we were really young.

Well, we weren’t that young. We were 25 and 26, which actually is late to come into any success. But we were very grounded and we thought, “Okay, this opportunity presented itself in 1980 when ‘Lost in Love’ came along and took the world by storm,” but we didn’t want to be, first of all, a one-hit wonder. We wanted a career and and that’s what we got, but we worked for it.

We have the songs and we have Russell’s incredible voice. I’d only had four years experience at that point, but we didn’t waste anything. We realized that we needed to work if we’re going to have a career for a long time, which, of course, we have had so far, you know?

What’s sort of fascinating about bands that have had long careers is the way that your songs start to become shorthand for certain things. You’ve had your songs featured in hundreds of films and TV shows. What is it like for you to have these songs that you wrote used to soundtrack someone else’s vision?

It’s really cool. It’s a great feeling, for several reasons. Take “All Out of Love,” for instance, which has been in dozens of movies. Every time people pick it to be in a movie, our manager will call us and say, “Oh, ‘All Out of Love’ is going in there,” and I go, “Wow, that’s amazing.”

The song’s 40 years old but it spans generations because of its simplicity and its message, I think. It’s a great feeling. It really is because Russ and I think, “God, you know, we recorded this in 1978, and here it is, and it’s in another movie, and the movie’s the number one movie in the world”

It’s really, it’s really strange, but at the same time, I think those songs, and songs like that, become the soundtrack to everybody’s lives and it keeps us as a band so relevant because people hear it. I mean, younger generations hear that song or songs like that in the movies and then they go, “Oh, who’s that?That’s Air Supply? Who are they? Oh, I’m going to find out,” and when we come to their city, they come and see us and once they see us, they want to see us again.

It’s kind of this cyclic thing, but the songs in movies and TV shows and commercials keep us relevant and they keep us in the public eye, when in fact, throughout our career, we’ve always been the opposite. We’ve always wanted the music to speak for itself. We’ve never been the opposite, on the front pages of all the magazines in people and stuff like that. We really chose to be low profile and let the music speak.

Of course, the music does speak for us now and it keeps us there. It keeps us relevant. We get so many young kids at our shows and sometimes I’ll say, “I want you to come back with your parents,” and they come back and I say, “How come you’re at our show? You’re 11 years old and you know all the words to every song,” and they go, “Wow, they just love you guys and they listen to you all the time.”

Of course, our music isn’t for everyone, but the people that do follow us, they follow us forever and they keep coming to the shows and Russell and I are perplexed. We go, “Oh my God, it’s amazing,” and we go, “Yeah, I know,” but we really don’t know any more than what I’ve just said of why it happens. You know, it’s bizarre, but it’s a beautiful thing too.

Via Good Morning America 

ABC News’ Phil Lipof sits down with legendary rock duo Air Supply about their five decades of performing and touring together.

Watch the full interview below!

Via Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — Air Supply, the iconic rock group that lorded over the music scene back in the 1980s, returns to the Philippines for yet another exciting live performance in December.

The night will definitely be better on December 15, 2023 when the Australian musical duo of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock take their The Lost in Love Experience 2023 concert tour live performance to the Santa Rosa Sports Coliseum in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Russell and Hitchcock began as Air Supply in 1975 after the two met on the first day of rehearsals for the musical Jesus Christ Superstar in Sydney, Australia.

Soon after the musical ended in October the following year, Rod Stewart invited the pair to open for him on his Australian and North American tours. This was where Air Supply’s humble musical journey began.

From there, they had a succession of hits worldwide, including eight Top 5 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100: “Lost in Love” (1979), “All Out of Love” (1980), “Every Woman in the World” (1980), “The One That You Love” (1981), “Here I Am” (1981), “Sweet Dreams” (1982), “Even the Nighta Are Better” (1982), and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” (1983).

In July 2005, Air Supply’s live DVD “It Was Thirty Years Ago Today” celebrated 30 years of recording and touring and, in the same month, smashed the attendance record by performing in Havana, Cuba, to 175,000 fans.

They were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association’s Hall of Fame on December 1, 2013, at the Annual ARIA Awards. and a year later Evolution Music Group released Air Supply’s first high-definition concert film, “Air Supply: Live in Hong Kong,” under its Evosound label.

In 2020, Air Supply was listed at No. 48 on Rolling Stone Australia’s list of the 50 Greatest Australian Artists of All Time. Australian newspaper Herald Sun named Air Supply in the Top 5 of “Greatest Aussie Bands” of all time in the company of AC/DC, The Bee Gees, and INXS.

Air Supply’s scheduled live performance in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in December will be their second time at the same venue and it is anticipated to sell out just like the first time in 2018.

Tickets are available starting September 25, 2023, at smtickets.com and are priced at P5,500/4,500/3,500/2,500/1,500 plus ticketing fees.

For more details and updates about the concert please check the official website and Facebook Page of Ovation Productions at https://ovationproductionsmanila.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/ovationproductions/

Via Broadwaypodcastnetwork.com

We are “All Out of Love.” We are “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.” We think “Even The Nights Are Better.” We can go on and on, but you get the drift! We are “Lost In Love” with Air Supply and honored to have Graham Russell with us!

2023 is Air Supply’s 48th Anniversary! They have been Named One Of The Greatest Groups Of All-Time According To Rolling Stone. Air Supply performed their 5000th concert in 2020. It took place in Las Vegas. They are up to about 5300+ concerts as of today.With an energetic live band on tour these guys really ROCK in concert! proclaimed Air Supply in the Top 5 of Greatest Aussie Bands of All Time. In great company of course with the likes of AC DC, BEE GEES and INXS. This is the AIR SUPPLY LOST IN LOVE EXPERIENCE TOUR.

We had the chance to chat with Graham Russell about this journey, the fate that led to the group, life on the road, his style of songwriting, and why writing Musical Theater has given him joy! It is a special chat with someone we all grew up singing along with!

For Tour Dates and info: www.AIRSUPPLYMUSIC.com

Listen to the full podcast HERE! 

 Via Good Morning America

ABC News’ Phil Lipof sits down with legendary rock duo Air Supply about their five decades of performing and touring together.

Via Consequence.net 

WATCH VIDEO HERE!

The Australian duo Air Supply has been melting hearts and serenading souls since 1975. Just a few years into their career, the band had found themselves in the midst of an incredible run of acclaimed, chart-topping hits. Between 1980’s Lost in Love and 1983’s Greatest Hits collection, the group had a remarkable eight singles break the top five on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Their second such smash, “All Out of Love,” hit No 2, and in particular stands as one of the band’s most enduring, love-sick ballads. On this episode of The Story Behind the Song, Air Supply guitarist Graham Russell connects with host Peter Csathy to tell us all about the rock classic.

Russell explains how he met lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock via Jesus Christ Superstar, chronicles the band’s rise to stardom, and reflects on their pop culture. He also reveals Clive Davis’ role in making the song an international success: “He said, ‘You’ve got to change some of the lyrics you had in the Australian version,’” recalls Russell. “I also knew at that point, if Clive suggested two lines, they were the lines that he wanted. So, I agreed… I changed it, and the rest became history.”

Listen to the full conversation with Graham Russell about the story behind Air Supply’s “All Out of Love” and more in this episode, and watch some of the interview highlights below. Then make sure to like, review, and subscribe to TSBTS wherever you get podcasts for updates on all our new episodes.

Air Supply are in the midst of celebrating their 45th anniversary on “The Lost in Love Experience” tour; get tickets to their upcoming dates here.

Via WFMU.org

Bob Barth reviews Air Supply’s Hollywood Bowl performance on his radio show “Bob Barth’s One Night Stand.”

Listen to the full review here:

Archive Player

Via WeLiveEntertainment.com 

It was another glorious ‘80s night at the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend, but instead of the upbeat pop we’ve gotten recently with Boy George and the Village People, things went a bit mellow. But not too mellow.

The musical duo Air Supply, comprised of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, are widely recognized for their powerful ballads and impressive key changes. However, it was surprising to discover that they also have a knack for rocking out, much more than I had previously remembered. During their performance at the Bowl, Hitchcock’s pristine vocals mesmerized the audience while Russell and the rest of the band delivered outstanding guitar and drum solos in between singing some of their most popular hits, including “Every Woman in the World,” “Here I Am,” and “Making Love Out of Nothing At All.”

While Hitchcock did his best Elton John impression, prancing around in a glittery coat (and later in a sleeveless tee showing off his many tattoos), he worked the crowd throughout the evening, getting them to clap and sing along.

His vocals were the star, sometimes so clear and flawless I wondered if he was lip-syncing. At 74 years old, the guy can still belt their hits the same as he did 40-50 years ago, and that’s more than impressive.

Likewise, bandmate Russell not only shredded throughout the night but at one point did a stupendous percussive bit on his guitar that has to be seen to be believed.

I had planned to attend a relaxing concert featuring some of my favorite childhood songs, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself at a full-blown rock concert that exceeded all my expectations. The performers were truly talented, and if you have the opportunity to see them live, I highly recommend it.

The band closed the evening with their classic “All Out of Love,” which had the audience on their feet and singing along. Truly a special night.

First to hit the stage was the renowned Michael Bolton. He effortlessly performed ten of his most popular songs, including some of his famous covers like “When a Man Loves a Woman” and “(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay.”

One of his backup singers, Chrissi Poland, joined him for a few of his other hits, including the David Foster penned “The Prayer” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.”

Bolton’s presentation was somewhat stoic, but his dry wit between songs kept the audience amused.

The singer wrapped up the night with a lively rendition of “Steel Bars,” a song that had slipped my mind. The audience was thrilled, particularly the female attendees who were still just as smitten with him as they were when he had long hair like theirs. This performance left everyone in high spirits as they headed into intermission.

Via MusicConnection.com

Forty-eight years after meeting as chorus members in an Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and nearly 44 (!) since their debut Top 5 U.S. single “Lost In Love” catapulted them to global stardom, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock – collectively soaring throughout millions of hearts everywhere as hit romantic pop duo Air Supply – achieved a career first Labor Day weekend headlining the Hollywood Bowl. Significantly, the duo announced that they were dedicating their show to The Beatles, who took the same stage on consecutive Augusts in 1964-65. As teenagers, long before they met, the British born Russell and Australian born Hitchcock were inspired to become musicians by seeing the Fab Four play during the height of Beatlemania.

While they mentioned all this at the beginning of the show – after they blessed the roaring crowd by riding the skies in their “Sweet Dreams,” the only literal musical nod to their heroes was having “All You Need is Love” pour forth as they and their powerhouse four piece backing band took their final bows, While it might have been nice to hear them bring their Air Supply magic to a few “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” or the chorus of “Hey Jude,” Russell and Hitchcock were focused on sharing their own nonstop hit parade with their ever-eager audience.

At one point, Russell asked, “How many of you are seeing us for the first time?” Thousands of hands went up. While obviously not groupies who follow them around the planet – because, you know, they’re mostly middle-aged adults with busy lives and responsibilities – these folks had clearly been waiting years for their chance to partake in the ultimate love song singalong. It seemed as if EVERYONE in the crowd knew the lyrics of heartbreak and love’s initial euphoria by heart. When Hitchcock took a breather after soaring on their sole #1 smash “The One That You Love,” the crowd amiably took over in rapturous loving harmony. Ditto on one of the later choruses of Air Supply’s sweeping signature hit “All Out of Love,” an extended version of which was the dynamic closer. Thousands of swaying, flashlit phones were testament to the bright flow of nostalgia that dazzled the evening.

The underlying reason The Beatles connection is so crucial is that, for all the chart and industry designations of their enduring smashes as “adult contemporary” and “soft rock” songs, “The Russells” are true rock and rollers at heart. Those who only know their tunes from radio or their recordings are familiar with just the foundation of what these tunes can become. It’s the spirited classic and prog rock fire they bring to them that makes their show so captivating. This is where their fiery band of young musicians comes in, elevating these heartfelt pieces – already soaring to operatic heights thanks to Hitchcock’s still-amazing poperatic vocals – into epic pop/rockers.

Air Supply is one of the few legacy bands out there who give prime space on their home page to their backing (and sometimes spotlighted) cohorts – lead guitarist/music director Aaron McLain, keyboardist and vocalist Mirko Tessandori, drummer Pavel Valdman and bassist Doug Gild. This crew brought an edgier, electric funk/rock energy (sometimes with higher tempos) to instantly recognizable gems like “Even The Nights Are Better,” “Just As I Am,” “Every Woman in the World” (my personal favorite), “Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You” and “Lost in Love.”

For variety’s sake, the duo took the spotlight for a mostly stripped-down version of “Two Less Lonely People in the World” before the ensemble, led by McLain, powered in for the final chorus. Speaking of variety, Russell reveled in his two unique solo spotlights away from the hits, dramatically reciting a thought-provoking original poem titled “Am I” and later performing a fascinating solo acoustic guitar improvisation featuring intense fingerpicking and exploring the percussive possibilities of the wood. His speedy hands and fingers were a marvel to watch up close on the video screens!

For those who just don’t get it, the best way someone of a certain age can explain the enduring appeal and power of Air Supply is to share personal anecdotes of how certain songs have impacted their lives over the years. On a personal note, in those early 80s, when I was in the throes of first love (and resulting first heartbreak), their song “Here I Am” was the perfect sorrowful expression of how the swell of conflicting emotions felt. Decades and many loves and losses later, a recent triumphant karaoke duet I performed of “Every Woman in the World” in a dive bar on Sunset with a special friend felt liberating and uplifting at a time I needed to feel that most – and rekindled my passion for all things Air Supply.

Air Supply shared the bill with another romantic mega hit maker (whose greatest chart successes were in the late 80s/early 90s), two-time Grammy winning singer/songwriter Michael Bolton. While his raspy soul voice set just the right inviting, inspirational tone on everything from his reimagined R&B hits (“When A Man Loves a Woman,” “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay”) to memorable original hits like “Go The Distance” (from Disney’s Hercules), “Said I Loved You…But I Lied” and the rambunctious, gospel and rock fired “Steel Bars,” one of the main takeaways beyond the music were his many anecdotes, told with dry humor and a droll wit.

The emotional core of the show found Bolton and guest duet partner Chrissi Poland bringing their deepest passions to his best heartbreaker “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” and a wonderfully unexpected, beautifully rendered version of “The Prayer” – complete with a shoutout to its composer, David Foster, who was in attendance. Another great surprise was when Bolton took a break and let his saxophonist Jason Peterson DeLaire let loose on his pocket funk smooth jazz jam “Check Please.” That performance would have been right at home a week earlier during the Bowl’s Smooth Summer Jazz show.