第2-5章：还有人要可颂面包吗 - Croissants Anyone?

hitchcock

Right: Billboard issue that covered the MIDEN conference in 1979.


Above: Marc released a solo album call Fiji Bitter in 1979.
Right: Ad from the Billboard issues that covered the MIDEM conference in 1979.

Croissants Anyone?

      The year was 1979, and I was living in London at a friend of a friend's apartment, completely broke with no prospects. Russell was in Australia working as a runner and assistant to a video company, and I was trying to garner interest in my songs from anyone I could. Back then, I tried to make demos at this tiny recording studio. I had to get the Tube to the other side of the city, always in rush hour. I used to dread it, but I needed to do something. I was running out of money, friends and favors.

      "Lost in Love" had already been a big hit for use in Australia, as had "All Out of Love," but we couldn't afford to be on the road. We were making $250 a show with a Top 10 single and album. It would cost us twice that to rent a PA and pay people, so we stopped working live. I thought England might hold something, but it turned out to be just the same, only with a lot of rain and grey skies.

      With my last few pounds shrinking away, I decided to go to see a psychic in London. Maybe they could offer some insight into my life. In a nutshell, the lady, who was very nice, said that I was in a dark tunnel. I already knew that part, but she also said that I was approaching a bend in the tunnel and would soon see daylight. Everything was going to change.

      I left her house feeling much better that when I arrived. Then when I got back to the flat, I had an envelope from Australia. It was a check for publishing for the previous six months. It was for 300 pounds.

      With this vast sum, I decided to take my two young children out for the day to a beach city on the train. With the rest, I decide to go to the publishing convention, MIDEM, held in Cannes in the south of France. This sounds very rich and famous, but believe me, I was the furthest I could be from either. My objective was to sell some songs or at least generate some interest in any of them from the major publishers that would be there from all over the world.
      I had already written several hits, so my track record spoke for itself. I was certain I could get something cooking.

      I went to Cannes the cheapest way I could - bus, ferry, train and a very cheap hotel. When I arrived, I was feeling under the weather with a fever, and I wondered if I'd eaten something bad on my trip. So I spent my first night in beautiful south of France throwing up every 20 minutes. I couldn't leave the room for two days, having certainly acquired food poisoning from somewhere. I hadn't eaten or drank anything all that time and was terribly weak and thin.

      On the third day, I started to feel a little better and a waiter brought a croissant, jam and coffee to my room. But at the sight of it, I began throwing up all over again. The next day, it had subsided enough for me to leave the room for the first time. I discovered then that convention had finished the day before and everyone had gone. I was devastated. I didn't know what to do, so I walked the deserted streets for about a stack of Billboard magazines left over from the convention. I picked one up, sat down and ordered a black tea (taking the big risk of drinking anything).

      I looked at the front page of the magazine and at the bottom it said, ""Lost in Love" enters the Hot 100 and is destined to go Top 5." I thought to myself, "That's typical. Another artist has released a song called 'Lost in Love,' and now there's no hope for us!" I read on, turning to Page 5 as instructed for the whole story. I saw a photograph of Russell and me, and it said, "Air Supply's 'Lost in Love' storms the U.S. charts, 70 with a double bullet!" I couldn't believe it. I literally looked up for a second and thought I was delirious. I thought it must have been the fever, that I was actually dreaming and really still in bed.

      But I wasn't. It was true. Clive Davis had heard the track from Australia somehow, bought the rights to it and released it all without our knowledge. I didn't care how it had happened; I just knew at that moment that my life had changed forever. I knew if we had a hit in the United States, it was huge and our financial worries were over.

      I miraculously felt my strength coming back to my body. I had a permanent grin from ear to ear. The confirm that my luck had changed, as I left the cafe and walked down the center of the cobbled road, I saw another tall person walking toward me that looked familiar. As we got closer to each other, the oncoming figure stretched out his arms in a gesture of greeting. Then I knew who it was, a very good friend of Russell and mine from another band in Australia. I put out my arms, too, and we embraced for about a minute. He also needed a friendly face, but not as much as I did.

      It was Marc Hunter from the group Dragon. We were on the same label in Australia and great friends. They had enjoyed even more success than we had. Marc was a big heartthrob with the girls. We were both 6-foot-5, but he just looked bigger and had a personality to match. I shared my good news with him, and he was thrilled. We celebrated with a few coffees in a posh cafe and promised to meet up back in London, which we did before I left England to go back to Australia.

      While still in Cannes, I made two phone calls - one to Russell, who had just discovered the news, and one to Clive Davis, who was in Los Angeles. I asked Clive if it was all for real. He said yes but that he needed the album ASAP to follow the success of the single that he assured me was going all the way. Back in Australia, it was all over the news and in all the papers. We put the band together again and went into rehearal for the album. We had already recorded "All Out of Love", and a few other songs. We add "Chances," "Having Your Near Me," "Old Habits Die Hard," "My Best Friend" and "Every Woman in The World," We soon had the album ready and headed back to the United States while "Lost in Love" was sitting at No.2. We were ready for anything and everything!

      It took me years to get past the sight of jam and croissants after Cannes. But I was so thankful I got to spend a few days with Marc in London. He sadly passed away a few years ago, a great loss.

中文译文：

      1979年这年，我住在伦敦我朋友的公寓中，毫无前途，完全破产了。Russell那时住在澳大利亚，有着一份电视公式跑腿和助理的工作，我试图找寻任何对我的歌曲有兴趣的人。那时我试着在这个超小型录音师里制作样带。我不得不把这些管子运到城市的另一头，永远是在与时间赛跑。我试图放弃，但是我需要有一份工作。我的金钱，朋友，兴趣爱好都几乎丧失殆尽。

      "Lost in Love" 在澳大利亚已经是一首走红金曲，正如"All Out of Love,"一样，但是我们无法负担巡演的费用。我们拥有一张专辑和一首Top10的单曲，但是每场演出仅能赚250澳元。这些钱只能负担我们租PA，支付薪水2次，所以我们停止了巡演。我原以为在英格兰可能情况有所好转，没想到都是一样的，仅仅是多了一些雨和灰蒙蒙的天空。

      随着我最后的几块钱灰飞烟灭，我决定去伦敦算个命。也许他们会给我一些灵感。 简而言之，这个女士非常的和善，说我正处于黑暗的通道中。当然我已经知道了，但是他也说我已经接近通道的弯道处，很快就将见到阳光。一切都将改变。

      当我离开他的小屋之后我感觉好多了。回去之后，我有一封来自澳大利亚的信。这是我之前6个月报酬的支票。300英镑。

      有了这笔巨款，我决定带我2个小孩去一个有着沙滩的城市。有了这个闲暇时间，我决定去在法国南部城市夏纳举行的MIDEM出版大会。听上去很牛逼，但是相信我，我已经尽力了。我的目标是卖掉一些歌，至少也是让一些主流发行者产生兴趣。

      我那时写了好多歌，所以我的歌曲录音可以为他们自己代言。我相信我可以搞到点什么。

      我乘了最便宜的交通工具，巴士，船，火车去夏纳，并且住了最便宜的宾馆。当我到那里的时候，我发烧了，我想可能是吃坏东西了。第一天晚上我在这美丽的法国南部，每隔20分钟起来呕吐。整整2天我都无法离开屋子，一定是食物中毒了。那时我身体极其虚弱，消瘦，无法进食。

      第三天，我终于感觉好些了，招待给我送了一个可颂面包，果酱和咖啡到我房间来。然而，我又开始呕吐了。后面一天，我的烧退去了很多，足以让我第一次离开房间。我发现大会已经结束了，所有人都没了。我崩溃了。完全不知道该怎么办，所以我漫步在沙漠大街上，捡起了地上的一本公告牌杂志，坐下来，要了一杯黑茶（我这是冒着巨大风险来喝东西）。

      我看到杂志封面底部有一行字，说, ""Lost in Love" 进入了热门100，并且最终登上第五位。" 我自言自语说，"那一定是别的什么歌手也录了一首叫 'Lost in Love,'的歌，我们已经完蛋了！" 我继续读到，说翻到第五页来看整个故事。我看到Russell和我的巨大照片，上面写道，"Air Supply的'Lost in Love'席卷美国榜！" 我简直不能相信自己的眼睛。我看了一秒钟，我以为我疯了。我想一定是我发烧烧昏头了，我一定是在做梦，其实我一定还躺在床上。

      但是并没有，这一切都是真的。Clive Davis在澳大利亚的什么地方听到了这首歌，把版权带回来，在没有经过我们同意的情况下发行了它。我并不在乎究竟是怎么发生的，我只是明白这一刻永远的改变了我的人生。我知道一旦我们在美国有了一首金曲，我们的财政危机就将解除了。

     我奇迹般的感觉到身体充满了力量。我的脸一直笑着。我转运了，我扔了咖啡，走到石子路的中央，我看到另一个高个子走向我，看着十分面熟。当我们两个越来越接近的时候，迎面而来的那个人伸出双臂表示欢迎。他是Russell和我的一个很好的朋友，来自另一个澳大利亚乐队。我也伸出双臂，我们拥抱了1分钟。他的面孔也相当友善，但不如我的。

      他就是Dragon乐队的Marc Hunter。我们在澳大利亚在同一个唱片公司旗下，我们是很好的朋友。他们比我们更成功。 Marc是个万人迷。我们都是6尺5寸，但他看上去更魁梧。我把我的好消息分享给了他，他震惊了。我们一起喝了几杯咖啡来庆祝，并且保证回伦敦再见面，之前我从英格兰回到澳大利亚也是这么约定的。

      我还在夏纳的时候，我打了两个电话 - 一个给Russell，他也刚刚得知这个消息，另一个是打给Clive Davis，他现在身处洛杉矶。我问Clive这是不是真的。他说是的，但是他现在立刻需要一张专辑来趁胜追击。回到澳大利亚，所有报纸上都是这个消息。我们再次召集起乐队，并且赶紧对新专辑进行排练。我们已经录制了 "All Out of Love", 和一些别的歌。我们新加了 "Chances," "Having Your Near Me," "Old Habits Die Hard," "My Best Friend" 和 "Every Woman in The World," ，我们很快就准备好了专辑，并且前往美国，此刻 "Lost in Love" 站上了亚军宝座。我们已经整装待发！

      在夏纳的日子之后，我花了几年时间来摆脱果酱和可颂面包的阴影。我也非常感谢在伦敦Marc在一起的日子。但是悲伤的是，他在几年前过世了，真是一个巨大损失。

原图下载：

游客，如果您要查看本帖隐藏内容请回复