ALOVING AIR SUPPLY,
Air Supply embraced by new fans around world
Every classic artist gets a resurgence. Queen’s came when “Bohemian Rhapsody” appeared in “Wayne’s World.” Hall & Oates’ came when such bands as the Killers began citing them as an influence. Even Christopher Cross got some modern love when he played “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” during yacht rock week in 2009. So where is the modern love for Air Supply? It’s in Santiago, Chile, Manila, Philippines and Guam — all locations Air Supply will play this year. The Australian duo famous for “All Out of Love” and “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” will also make a half-dozen stops in New England, including a Thursday concert at Plymouth Memorial Hall.
“We are headed to southeast Asia and Latin America to play for our fourth-generation of fans,” lead singer
Russell Hitchcock said from a tour stop in Rama, Canada. “The current trek has really been going on for 30 years. We’ve never really stopped.”
While Hitchcock, 68, and music partner Graham Russell, 67, have slowed down — “We’re not on a bus for 10 months straight like we were in 1980,” Hitchcock said — they still play more than 100 shows a year. In the United States and Canada, the halls they play typically hold a thousand or two. But in many countries, they are rock gods. (The arena they will play in Chile holds 13,000.)
Since becoming one of the first Englishspeaking bands to play China, Air Supply has continued to be pop trailblazers.
“Anytime we play in a new place we don’t know what to expect,” Hitchcock said. “But the first time we played China and South Korea, people in the audiences were singing along with us in English. It was a thrill. People even told us they learned English from our songs.”
Their 2018 itinerary has them hitting seven countries on three continents, but 40 years into their partnership, the duo still looks to expand their fan base. Knowing the radio won’t play their new music, the pair released a fresh album in 2010 and have since dropped singles on the internet. They look to find fans on the road.
“We know radio only wants to play ‘Lost in Love’ and hear nothing new from us,” Hitchcock said. “But we know we are lucky to still have fans that want to see us everywhere. We’ve never really extensively toured Europe, so I’d like to do that. And our next big target is Russia; we want to get there next.”
For the duo, who met working on a production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in 1975, the music and partnership hasn’t aged.
“We still get along as well as we did in 1975,” Hitchcock said. “We don’t compete with each other. I can’t write songs and Graham never wanted to be a lead singer. We’ve never found a reason to disagree, so we plan to just keep going. There are a lot places we need to get to, a lot of fans to see.”