Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Air Supply during their performance at the ninth annual Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, in Montego Bay, on January 28. The duo had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands with songs such as 'Making Love Out of Nothing At All,' 'Just When I Thought I Was Over You' and 'All Out Love.' - photos by Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer
SINCE forming in Sydney, Australia, 30 years ago, Air Supply has thrilled fans all over the world with their patented soft rock sound.
But not even they were prepared for the adulation they received when they performed at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay last January.
The fans sang along to every hit song Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell belted out. The reception was similar to that given to country legend Kenny Rogers who performed at the annual event two years earlier.
"We were very pleasantly surprised. When you go somewhere for the first time you never quite know what the reaction is gonna be but we had a great time," the 57-year-old Hitchcock told The Gleaner last week from New York City.
Air Supply will return to Jamaica for a second helping on December 2 when they perform at King's House, in Kingston.
Fans will have to look as far back as 1985 for Air Supply's last hit song, Just As I Am.
Yet, the group continues to tour, pulling in crowds in diverse locations such as Cuba, Taiwan and the United States.
Internationally acclaimed
"We'll play everything from a 800-seat venue in Las Vegas to a 5,000-seater in Canada," Hitchcock explained. "Last year we played in front of 175,000 people in Cuba and recently we did two shows in Taiwan and both nights we pulled in 7,000 people."
Wherever Hitchcock and Russell perform, the fans clamour for the songs that made Air Supply one of the most popular acts of the 1980s.
It all started with Lost in Love, the title of their first international album, which also produced hits in All Out of Love and Every Woman in The World.
Many Jamaicans were introduced to Air Supply through Solid Gold, the American television show that featured established acts and stars on the rise.
Thanks to repeat appearances, that programme put the group on the map outside its native Australia.
Over the years, Jamaican performers have paid homage to Air Supply by covering their songs. Ghost did Making Love Out of Nothing at All, Sanchez' version of Here I Am (The One That you Love) remains a Dancehall staple, while Andru Donald's cover of All Out of Love was a big hit in Europe.
Hitchcock was born in Melbourne, Australia, and Russell, now 56, in Nottingham, England. They first met in 1976 while performing in the Australian version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
It was the time of guitar rock with British hard rock groups like Led Zeppelin ruling the roost. Australia was also hooked on head banging sounds as AC/DC which was the power group of choice there.
Hitchcock says that climate made it tough for a pop group to break through Down Under.
Started from nowhere
"We kinda came out of nowhere with our first song which was a ballad, a very pretty song called Love and Other Bruises," he recalled.
"It went straight to the top of the charts and we thought it would be a stepping stone for international exposure, but that didn't happen for another four years."
Lost in Love, recorded in 1978, did the trick two years after it was recorded. The album of the same name went double-platinum (two million units sold) and set the stage for a string of well-received albums for Columbia and Arista Records.
The group split in the mid-1980s, but reunited in 1991 to resume recording and touring. Their last album, The Singer and The Song, was released in 2005.
Presently, Russell Hitchcock lives in Los Angeles. Russell, who has a sister living in Jamaica, is based in Utah, U.S.A.
