About
Australian soft rock duo Air Supply emerged from Melbourne in 1975 when British-born vocalist Graham Russell met Australian singer Russell Hitchcock during a production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The two discovered an undeniable vocal chemistry that would soon translate into one of the most commercially successful acts of the early 1980s. Their blend of lush, orchestrated pop ballads and soaring harmonies carved out a lane that was unabashedly romantic at a time when harder sounds dominated rock radio.
Their run of hits between 1980 and 1983 was genuinely remarkable by any measure. Albums like Lost in Love and The One That You Love spawned a string of top-five singles including Lost in Love, All Out of Love, The One That You Love, and Making Love Out of Nothing at All, the latter produced by Jim Steinman of Meat Loaf fame, which gave the duo a slightly more dramatic, bombastic edge. Seven consecutive top-five Billboard Hot 100 singles is a stat that demands respect regardless of your musical preferences.
Look, Air Supply is not going to scratch the itch if you need riffs and distortion, but dismissing them as lightweight pop misses the craft involved. Hitchcock's upper-register vocals are legitimately impressive, and the songwriting is tightly constructed. Their cultural footprint remains massive across Southeast Asia and Latin America, where they still fill arenas. Sometimes the smooth stuff leaves a mark too.
