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第十一章:新的乐队和精选集 (1983) (A New Band & Greatest Hits)

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发表于 2012-12-24 15:40 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Chapter Eleven: A New Band & Greatest Hits (1983)

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      The new year brought many changes for Air Supply. Don Arden felt it was time for a major shakeup within the band, so in March, Rex Goh, David Moyse and David Green were asked to leave Air Supply. Arden was convinced that Russell and Graham would see significant financial gains if they existed as a duo, using hired musicians for touring.

       “I was told to leave Air Supply in March,” said Rex Goh. “Don Arden used to manage Electric Light Orchestra, and he with Graham and Russell decided that it was best for the two of them to remain as singers and use session musicians to back them up. Air Supply was not a band anymore. It was just the two of them. It’s not easy for a seven-piece band to earn a lot of money. It’s a lot more beneficial for a few to remain and hire the rest as sessionists. Graham and Russell realized that they would earn more money hiring sessionists. The money that we got was shared equally among all the Air Supply members. If we did a big tour in the United States, say, a four-month tour, each of the seven in Air Supply got between $20,000 and $30,000. However, if there were just two members and the rest are hired musicians, the two members would get about $85,000 each. So you see, the reason is strictly monetary. And I’m talking about millions. It just gets out of hand. Air Supply has been through a lot of court battles. We’ve been through too many as a result of changing managers. Yes, you could say I was asked to leave Air Supply because the two singers wanted a bigger share of the pie. That’s business. The sad thing is that I liked touring and I miss that and, of course, the money. I got the chance to meet many famous people like Aretha Franklin, Gino Vannelli and played with Glenn Campbell in his show. Once I had a police escort for my boots from the hotel to The Greek Theater where we were performing so that they would arrive in time for my performance. But no, I don’t miss Air Supply’s music. Anyway it’s time for a change after being with them for four years.”      

       In early April, Air Supply held auditions in Los Angeles, where musicians from all over the States flaunted their skills in front of Air Supply and their management team. Don Cromwell, a bass player living in L.A., went through several auditions with his friends, drummer Kirk Arthur and guitarist Paul Kingery, but only Cromwell made the final cut. “I think Air Supply was looking to add a little swagger and a little energy,” said Cromwell. “Don Arden told me at a party once that he had watched Air Supply on the Live in Hawaii HBO special, and he wanted to replace the whole band. He thought they were too sedentary [on stage]. I was playing with the group Wet Picnic and other bands, and doing a lot of recording for Unicorn Records. My roommate at the time, Paul Kingery, said that Air Supply was in town and was looking for musicians for their new tour. ‘Let’s put together a rhythm section and go audition.’ So in the meantime, I had a gig at a club in Studio City in Southern California with Cynthia Manley. So we go up on stage and I see Graham Russell from Air Supply [in the audience]. So we did our thing and played great. After the show, Graham comes up and taps me on the back and says, ‘Hey mate, can I have a word with you? I can’t guarantee you the job because I have a partner, but come audition.’ So I went with Paul and a group of guys and we learned six Air Supply tracks, and we really sounded great. They stopped us after a few songs and the road manager said, ‘Can you come back at two o’clock?’ So we came back and played three songs, and were asked to come back tomorrow at noon. So the next day they had a whole new group of guys, and that was the band they wanted to assemble.”

      Existing band members Ralph Cooper and Frank Esler-Smith were rehired as touring musicians. Guitarist Steve Farris and keyboardist Ken Rarick won spots in the band, with Farris replacing the guitar duo of Rex Goh and David Moyse. Rarick, the youngest member of the band, had played piano in high school jazz bands, before joining several local rock and roll groups. Farris had played with Eddie Money for three years before forming the band Mr. Mister in 1982.

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Steve Farris (Left) with Mr. Mister

      Shortly after the Air Supply touring band was finalized, contract negotiations between Steve Farris and Arden broke down. “Steve Farris, a fabulous guitar player, was just getting started with the band Mr. Mister, and they were just kind of breaking,” said Cromwell. “Steve put a price on himself for the [upcoming] Air Supply tour that they just didn’t want to meet. So here is Air Supply, two weeks away from leaving on a world tour, and they didn’t have a guitar player. So every guitar player in L.A. was coming out of the woodwork, and people were calling me and asking if I could get them an audition. These guys would come in and they would know the songs note for note, and play the songs perfectly. Graham would say, ‘No, he’s not right.’ Later, I was in the lobby [at Burbank Studios] and Graham’s got one hand on the phone and says, ‘Don, do you know a guitar player named Wally Stocker? He’s in Detroit and wants to come and audition.’ So the next day Wally comes walking in, a Keith Richards clone [who had played with Rod Stewart and The Babys], and is asked to play ‘Sweet Dreams.’ Wally says, ‘How does that one go?’ So they asked him to play ‘Lost In Love,’ and he says, ‘I don’t know that one.’ So here is the guy who is the least prepared and he gets the job.”

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(L-R) Frank, Wally, Graham, Russell, Ken, Don, Ralph

      Graham and Russell were no longer living with their significant others. Graham and his girlfriend Chrissie, who had inspired many of Air Supply’s early love songs, broke up. During the North American tour on July 2, 1982, Graham met a seventeen-year-old American named Jodi Varble, who won tickets and backstage passes from a local radio station for an Air Supply concert in Rockford, Illinois. After the show, Varble made an unforgettable impression on Graham, and they became long-distance friends. Graham was 30 in 1982, and admits to having had a preference for older women in the past. “I am fond of older women,” he said. “They’ve just always appealed to me. Perhaps even 40 years old. Jodi and I wrote to each other for several years before we went on a date. We saw each other again in 1983 and have been inseparable since then. She may have won the contest, but I got the prize. [Looking back] it’s rather embarrassing how young she was. But when you know it’s the right person, you make a concerted effort to make it happen. When we first met we knew there was something special going on.” Jodi started modeling at age 15 in Chicago. Her first job was a runway show for Mattel toys as Angel Face Barbie. She was Miss Illinois Teen All American in 1983.

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      Russell and his wife of three years separated and divorced. The constant touring proved too difficult to overcome. “You know, the reason my second marriage split up was because of the business,” said Russell. “It really is hard. It’s virtually impossible to maintain a normal life while you’re on the road. I used to see my wife two or three time a year. We couldn’t sustain a marriage that way. I was shocked because I thought it would last forever, but I was away too much and she moved out. I’m a believer in fate and I’m happy now. I’ve always been optimistic about love, because if you can’t get it right, then you have to keep trying.” Russell met an airline stewardess named Paula Fulmer, who was working a flight the band was on while traveling between cities in California. They started dating soon after. “We met on a plane, he said. “When she asked me what I did for a living, I said ‘Air Supply.’ She shoved an oxygen mask in my face! In show business, it pays to have someone who can show you where the exits are.” Russell noticed Fulmer on subsequent flights and also in the airport. “I saw her sitting on a suitcase, and I thought she looked nice, but it was no big deal,” recalls Russell. “But the thing that got me was that when she came to that first concert, she was in civilian cloths with her hair down, and she looked amazing!”

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Graham & Jet

      Air Supply was now Don Arden’s main cash cow, and together they were very successful. But Arden lost his Hollywood mansion in 1983, and in the aftermath, Graham adopted his daughter’s Great Dane named Jet. Sharon Osborne explained the event in her 2005 autobiography titled Sharon Osborne Extreme: “The next time I was in L.A. I had a meeting with the European Asian bank, which had financed the purchase of the Howard Hughes house six years before. They were based in Singapore, and this was one of the deals I had signed for my father. The loan was huge because he’d had no capital and no collateral. All he had to do was pay the interest on the loan. This unusual form of unsecured mortgage came courtesy of an ‘arrangement’ he had with one of the managers. In exchange, this man would come over to California every year and stay at the house, where hookers would be laid on, and he’d get to meet this star and that star - people like Tony Curtis and other friends of my father’s. So for years this bank manager had covered my father’s arse, but then loses his job and the auditors go in and basically my father is busted. They told me that in the six years he had the house, he had only made one of these payments: $50,000 on a $1.7 million loan. The unpaid interest was, of course, added to the original sum borrowed and now it was pay-up time. As my father didn’t begin to have that sort of money, the bank had no option but to repossess the house, they said. My father wanted nothing there of mine, including my animals: Jet was given to Air Supply.”

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Don Cromwell (Left)

      Air Supply planned an ambitious tour in 1983, with 80 dates over seven months, making it the longest tour of their career. The extended tour was possible because Air Supply decided not to release an album of new material in 1983, primarily because their busy tour schedule in 1982 left them no time to record new songs. “It’s a matter of time, that’s for certain,” said Russell. “We got back [to Australia] October 6th last year. We’d toured for four months, and you need a month or two to get over something like that. There just wasn’t the time to put into recording.”

      Clive Davis and Don Arden both suggested that Air Supply release a greatest hits album, but the band was hesitant. “We thought it was a little early, as we only had three albums out,” said Graham. “But Clive said, ‘No, we need to put it out.’” There is often a stigma associated when bands release a hits package before they have ‘earned’ the right to do so. In addition, a hits package can be a letdown for hard-core fans, who have eagerly waited to hear new material. But Davis had a proven track record. Air Supply had seven big hits in North America, and were labelled by Billboard as the most successful band of the 80s. Furthermore, greatest hits albums are often a lucrative endeavor for record labels because there are no additional recording costs, since they are assembled from existing recordings - although the addition of one or more new recordings is not unusual and can run up costs. “Although they’d only had three Arista albums,” said Davis, “we thought by 1983 that there were enough giant singles to warrant a greatest hits collection.”

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Unfolds to 17"x22" Poster

      A new trend was emerging in the 80s, which featured corporate America and the music industry joining forces to create a music-marketing epidemic. Most advertising dollars in the 70s went towards sports marketing, as corporations were leery of the music business, and its not-so-politically correct reputation. This all changed when Pepsi invested $5.5 million towards a series of ads featuring Michael Jackson. The actual return on the investment is impossible to determine, but the impact of these ads was monumental for Pepsi. Coke soon responded with a campaign featuring Duran Duran. The competition to sign the top bands was fierce because available performers who were popular enough were being snapped up quickly. Rod Stewart was signed to Canada Dry, Eric Clapton to Camel, and rock group Triumph signed with Converse sneakers.

      Jordache, a top producer of jeans, was looking to sign a band to promote their 1983 back-to-school campaign - its biggest sales period. They wanted a band that was touring right before the kids went back to school, and wanted to make sure parents would not be offended by the image the musicians would convey. Air Supply was clean-cut, pop-oriented, and were already very popular with the jean-buying teen-age audience. Joan Falcone, special-events coordinator for Jordache, recalls how important is was to pick the right band. “You can’t pick a group with a one-time hit, or a breaking song, or one that will damage your image. There are maybe ten or a dozen groups worth getting involved with,” said Falcone. Jordache and Air Supply agreed to a deal in which the band’s 1983 tour of America was sponsored by Jordache. Financial terms of the deal were not made public, but it was common at the time for sponsors to cover the entire cost of a tour. In return, Jordache’s name was featured in pre-concert advertising and appeared on all promotional material associated with the tour such as T-shirts and programs. A Jordache-sponsored poster of Air Supply was given to fans during the U.S. tour.

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Japan Promo Brochure - May, 1983

      Air supply began the 1983 world tour in April, with many sold-out concerts in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangkok, Manila and Australia. The band had a few days’ rest at home in Australia, before flying back to America to prepare for a 53 city tour with 69 dates. The tour started in Canada on May 18, and was expected to end in the States in September, but was extended into October because several shows were rescheduled due to illness. A June 15th concert in Albany, New York, was cancelled mid-performance because Russell lost his voice. Many unhappy fans were left crying at the box office after learning the show would be rescheduled. The lengthy tour was exhausting for the band. “We have to do a lot of overnight traveling just to get to all the cities in time,” said Russell. “It’s quite difficult. We get a bit bumped around, especially when we have concerts back to back in separate cities, but if we get four or five nights sleep in a regular bed, we feel OK. Nothing exciting ever happens to us. We just keep going, just like clockwork..”

      While in the midst of their 1983 World Tour, Air Supply made a special appearance in the 198th Annual Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island. Scheduled for two concerts in Warick, Rhode Island on July 5 and 6, Air Supply were the celebrity guests of Providence radio station WPRO-FM. Along with on-air personalities from WPRO, Air Supply rode on a station-sponsored float that was equipped with loud speakers, playing the band’s music along the 2.2 mile route. Bristol had a population of only 20,000, but the parade, the largest and oldest in the country, drew over 300,000 spectators. The parade was broadcast live by the local CBS-TV affiliate.   

      The current tour was just the first of many for bass player Don Cromwell; “We had a saying in Air Supply: ‘Once you pack you never come back.’ We would be gone for a very long time. The trucks and buses are all out there and the promoters get into a groove. It was a real grind. Then once we got home, we got something we called road shock. We would come home and have to stand in line at the grocery store and thought, ‘Is no one making my food for me? Nobody’s taking my bags to the truck?’ The road is something that, unless you have done it, it is really hard to explain it completely.”

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Ken Rarick with Desert Rocks

      To help cope with their lengthy tours, Air Supply employed a band assistant to help with everything from backstage setup, stocking the bus with food and alcohol and handing out backstage passes. During the summer tour of the States in 1983, they hired Craig Duswalt as their personal assistant. “I was working as a runner at the Westbury Music Fair,” said Duswalt. “Bands would come into town and I would pick them up at the airport or their hotel and bring them to the gig. Unbeknownst to me, Air Supply had just fired their band assistant because of excessive drug use. Air Supply did a show on Friday night, I picked them up at the hotel, got them coffee, made sure they were comfortable. After the second show on Saturday night, I was backstage when Air Supply’s security guard, Bob Street, asked my salary. I told him about $150 a week. Bob said, ‘Do you want to quadruple that?’ I was told they needed a person to take care of their backstage area [on the road]. They offered me a job with them on their world tour. The next morning a limo took me to the airport and I flew to Connecticut to meet the band. That was my first day of a six-year world tour.

      Craig Duswalt talked about some of the benefits of touring with Air Supply in his 2014 book titled Welcome To My Jungle: “Let me set the record straight. Contrary to some beliefs, most of the members of Air Supply in 1983 were not gay. The only gay member of the band was their very talented keyboard player, Frank Esler-Smith. One of my ‘jobs’ for Air Supply was to invite beautiful woman backstage to keep up the image of a rock band having lots of woman around at all times. The great thing about Air Supply was that they attracted about 86 percent woman to their shows. Not that they would do anything with these girls - heck, most of them were married. But that’s another book for another time. Anyway, I would hand out the backstage passes to these beautiful woman so that they could meet the band. One of the requirements for getting backstage was that they had to wear the pass on their shirt over their left breast. Sometimes the woman asked me to put the backstage pass on for them. And so I did. (Hey, I was twenty-one - give me a break!) I did make double sure I had their permission first.”

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'Now And Forever' is Platinum in Canada - Montreal (June 1, 1983)

      The 1983 tour featured the same desert rock stage setup used during the successful run in 1982. Because the group had spent a considerable amount of money on its creation, it made sense to extend its shelf life. There was other improvements that made the current tour the most impressive yet. “We have what they call in the commercials a ‘new, improved’ laser show,” said Russell. “It has twice the power we had last year and we’re using four colors, which looks really spectacular as opposed to just one. We have some computerized animation which is projected onto a screen behind the set. We went to the [laser lighting] company and said, ‘Show us what you think you’ve got for us.’  At some things we said, ‘No, that’s totally wrong for us.’ We narrowed it down to the things we felt would enhance the music rather than overshadow it. It was quite a process to get to the stage we’re at, but we feel that everything we’ve got now doesn’t detract from the music.”  

      On stage, the new band members brought a tougher image and sound, just as Arden had envisioned. “Wally brought just the perfect touch of rock,” remembers Don Cromwell. “Ken and Frank were perfect compliments. Ralph knew the music and the girls used to love him. Russell used to amaze me day in and day out with his vocal ability. Plus, the power of playing live with [so many] hit songs just makes things happen.”  

      Despite the stage enhancements and new band members, concert reviews were mixed:
      The B-side to ‘Making Love,’ however, will have many Air Supply fans pulling their hair. ‘Late Again’ is another of the group’s vain and labored attempts at rock. It ranks with ‘Can’t Get Excited’ as two of the group’s most forgettable but unforgivable quasi-rock tunes. Both songs feature good guitar licks and creditable drum work, but somehow just aren’t believable when sung by Air Supply. - Pittsburgh Press

      You might as well forget the hype that surrounded the show. It was, you’ll recall, heralded as having the finest lighting and most elaborate set since Cecil B. De Mille retired his director’s chair. Not so. Argon Inion laser systems, 3-D sculptures, diffraction holograms and cyclorama screens are all very well, Jack, but you hardly ever used them. A band as faceless as Air Supply can use all the distractions it can muster. - Montreal Gazette

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Fan Club Merchandise

      As the show works up to a climax, the group sings one of its best songs (‘Can’t Get Excited’) and suddenly the stage and the house explode with laser effects and the cyclorama becomes a huge drafting board with fascinating light designs in computer-generated graphics. It is not possible to describe how exciting and enthralling this five-minute sequence was, but it was better than any 40-minute Fourth of July fireworks display could ever be, concentrated and projected onto a 20-by-80 backdrop. - The Evening Independent

      Air Supply experienced more legal concerns in early 1983, when the band’s L.A.-based North American fan club, founded in 1981, was forced to close without notice. (Air Supply’s Australian fan club started in 1977, and was operated out of Double Bay, a suburb of Sydney.) The North American fan club was responsible for mailing band updates to members, and selling official Air Supply merchandise, such as T-shirts, jackets, hats, buttons and even Koala bears. Fan club information was available in music trade magazines, album inserts and at live concerts. The folks running the fan club failed to realize that all clothing bearing the band’s name was required to be produced by Winterland Productions, the largest screen-printer and distributor of concert merchandise in North America. Winterland had signed a merchandising deal with Air Supply, so they sued the fan club for unauthorized use of the rock group’s name because the club sold T-shirts not made by Winterland. The club quickly shut down, and some customers with pending orders never received their merchandise. Outstanding orders were later credited. In August, the fan club quickly reorganized, and the first official newsletter from the new club was mailed to fans in September.  

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TV Interview with AM Cleveland

      The Air Supply international fan club opened in 1982 and had thousands of members from all over the world. A newly formed Taiwan chapter of the club got off to quite a start when Graham and Russell officiated over the first meeting with over 4,000 members in attendance. The meeting was held at the venue where Air Supply performed that night. Much to Graham and Russell’s surprise, many of the club members who came up onstage to shake hands with them, also gave them a gift. “The gifts were extraordinary,” said Graham. “Hand-painted pictures framed in gold, hand-made pottery and tea sets, all just beautiful!” The band was in an awkward position because there were far too many gifts to even think about taking them home, much less getting them through customs.  Ultimately, the gifts were ‘re-gifted’ to fans backstage after the concert that night. “It was either that or open the ‘Air Supply Made in Taiwan Gift Shop,’” joked Russell.

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Australian Pressing - Big Time

      On the advice of Don Arden, Arista purchased a song written by Jim Steinman called ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.’ Arden and Clive Davis both wanted at least one new song on the hits compilation, which was not a common practice with greatest hits albums at that time. “[My son] David and I had come up with the concept of having a new hit on there,” said Arden. “It was the perfect vehicle to really sell the compilation.” Steinman was well known in the music industry for his rock-opera style recordings. He had written two songs for singer Meat Loaf, but Meat Loaf’s recording company did not want to pay for the high-priced songs. In addition, Steinman and Meat Loaf were involved in a legal dispute and were not on good terms. Meat Loaf’s loss was Air Supply’s gain, as they got ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ and Bonnie Tyler got ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart.’ Meat Loaf was upset when he discovered that other artists were recording the Steinman songs. “They don’t understand it,” he said. “They don’t get it. No one gets it like I get it. The bottom line is that when other people do a Steinman song, it never comes off like when I do it. I am in that music, and Jimmy is in my vocal style. Everything we do, we still carry each other, whether we work together or not.” The original demo of ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ was sung by Canadian Rory Dodd, and has recently surfaced on the internet after being discovered on a Jim Steinman cassette at the New York Public Library. Dodd was credited with singing backup vocals on the Air Supply track.

      Graham and Russell recorded ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ at The Power Station in New York City. Steinman produced and directed the track, and used hand-picked musicians; Max Weinberg (drums) and Roy Bittan (keyboards) from Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, and 70s rocker Rick Derringer (guitar). It was an all-star cast, that took a song originally over twelve minutes, and turned it into a five and half minute masterpiece. The single was cut down even further to a radio-friendly four and half minutes. “I did want to add one new exclusive single to the album,” said Clive Davis, “and I turned to the premier maker of grandiose songs epics, Jim Steinman, who had created the Meat Loaf album ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and had most recently written and produced ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ for Bonnie Tyler. I thought his flair for musical melodrama and the expressive voice of Russell Hitchcock would be an ideal match, and the result was one of the biggest singles of Air Supply’s and Steinman’s career, the number-two ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.’”

      “[Working with Jim Steinman was] a very interesting experience,” said Russell. “We met him in New York - for some reason he wanted to meet in an ice cream parlour. I remember he wore sunglasses and black leather motorcycle gloves, which he didn’t take off once, all through ice cream and coffee. He played us his song, and of coarse the version he gave us had twelve or fifteen verses and went on for about a day-and-a-half. We had to cut it down quite substantially. But he seemed very understanding, considering. [But] he said we were the most boring guys he ever met. To which we say, (expletive) you. He only met us twice.”   

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      Arista considered adding two new singles to the hits compilation, one of those being ‘I Can Wait Forever.’ It was to be released in May as the lead single, but was shelved after Arista decided to save it for another project. ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ was instead chosen as the lead single and it was released in July. By August, it was #2 on Billboard, kept out of the top spot by Bonnie Tyler’s Steinman-produced ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart.’ ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ was a global hit, but its high of #45 in Australia, and #80 in the U.K., was disappointing. A special 12” full length extended version (5:37) was released in the U.K., and featured the songs ‘Late Again’ and ‘All Out Of Love’ on the flip-side.  

      A rarely-seen promotional music video of ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ was filmed, but was later scrapped because Arista felt it was not strong enough. It featured the storyline of a soldier returning home to his significant other, with clips of Graham and Russell interlaced throughout. A second video, filmed in and around Don Arden’s Los Angeles estate, included Jodi Varble in a lead role. “I remember shooting [the original video], but I’ve never seen it!,” said Graham. “We did it in Battery Park, and it was a night shoot, and it just felt a bit strange. It started to rain and they had to cancel the shoot and carry on the next day. We were playing in New York at the time, and they finally said that they were going to can it. They agreed that it just didn’t feel right. I know they did finish it up later, but I’ve never seen the finished video. They decided to go for a totally different concept with the other video. They chose me to be the leading guy, which I really resisted. However, I was very pleased about it because the lady who plays my love interest in the video later became my wife. The video was going to be shot in Los Angeles, and they couldn’t find the right person for the love interest. They had auditions, but they couldn’t find someone they thought would fit me. I thought that was strange that they couldn’t find someone in all of Los Angeles, but they asked me if I knew anybody. I had been corresponding with this lovely young girl in Chicago named Jodi. We’d been writing, but we’d never been on a date, so I showed them a photo of her. They flew her out, and she tested for the part and got it. It rained in Los Angeles during the time we were supposed to shoot, so we went to Utah because we had shows there. The whole shooting company came out there. Jodi came too, and during the shooting we became inseparable. We fell in love during the shoot. The director wanted us to pretend like we were in love, and I didn’t have to pretend anymore! My favourite shot of that video is when Jodi is on the roundabout going around, and the camera follows her. I think it’s such a beautiful shot. It really captured her nature, her youth, her vitality, her spirit.”   

      Arista had a terrific track record with regards to guiding the career of Air Supply, but in 1982 they lost a hit song to Laura Branigan. Arista had won the rights for Air Supply to record a song written by Michael Bolton and Doug James called ‘How Am I Supposed To Live Without You,’ but Clive Davis insisted on changing the chorus. CBS Songs executive, Harvey Shapiro, knew the song would be a huge hit when Bolton and James first wrote it, and was elated when Air Supply put a hold on it. “We were excited because Air Supply was selling millions of records,” he said. “We kept waiting for the thing to come out. One afternoon, I got a phone call saying, ‘Congratulations, Laura Branigan’s cutting your song this afternoon.’ I was frantic because I hadn’t done a lead sheet yet. But they went ahead and cut it from tape.” While Davis and the songwriters argued over the change in lyrics, Laura Branigan recorded her own version, knowing that she and her management team would be wasting their money if Air Supply released it. When Arista declined the song, Branigan released her version in July, 1983, and it went straight to #12 on Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  

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Japan Release                     U.S. Release

      The ‘Greatest Hits’ album was released on August 1, 1983. Most of the world got a 9-track version, which included the band’s most famous album cover, a hand drawn sketch of Graham and Russell by artist Linda Fennimore. A year later, Fennimore did the artwork for Billy Ocean’s album ‘Suddenly,’ which reached #1 on Billboard Hot 100 record chart. Fennimore’s contribution to Air Supply’s ‘Greatest Hits’ was a last minute decision. Arista had already chosen artwork conceived and painted by Australian artist, Brett-Livingstone Strong, best known for his bronze statue of John Lennon and stone sculpture of John Wayne. The front and back album cover painting by Strong, done in pastel watercolours, was a surrealistic landscape image of the Australian outback and incorporated a kangaroo, a heart, and Graham and Russell into the setting. Air Supply and Strong were brought together by a mutual friend who knew that the artist was a great fan of the group’s music. “We were knocked out when we saw what Brett had painted,” said Graham. “It was very striking, a very unusual painting, but very representative of the music inside.”   

Big Time Records and EMI released ‘Greatest Hits’ in Australia with a different track list. Comprised of 13 tracks, it included the Aussie singles ‘Love and Other Bruises,’ ‘Now and Forever’ and ‘Bring Out The Magic.’ Fan favourite, ‘Chances, was included on all versions of ‘Greatest Hits’.’ “It never was a single for us, but it was so popular everyone thought it was,” said Graham. “I have always loved this song, it is so vulnerable, and so very haunting. I remember writing it in a bedroom in a house that I had stayed at for a few days. I pictured a man and a woman, but the man was really uncertain if the woman was going to show up on this date. It’s about all the chances you throw away by doubting.”

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RKO Radio Networks - Live Broadcast Sept. 4, 1983

      Initial sales of ‘Greatest Hits’ were very strong, and Graham remembers how proud he felt each time he drove past a particular billboard sign promoting the album. “Clive had a large billboard on Sunset Boulevard, and it had the total sales every week. Somebody would cross it out and put more up. I used to watch it, week after week, and it was so bizarre to see that up there. I used to think, ‘God! That’s me up there!’ I don’t consider myself a celebrity or pop star or anything like that, so to see something like that, to me was really weird.” ‘Greatest Hits’ achieved double platinum in Canada (200,000 units) and the States (2 million units) before the end of the year, and the Jim Steinman produced ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ single was gold certified (over 1 million copies sold).

      “‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’, together with the other hits, showed we really had scored with major pop copyrights with Air Supply,” said Clive Davis. “They had truly registered with the public, and when banded together as Air Supply’s ‘Greatest Hits,’ the album soared over five million copies. That was the peak of the group’s popularity.”

      Air Supply negotiated for Steinman to produce their next studio album, for which recording was to begin in February of 1984. But this collaboration never materialized because Steinman was suddenly swamped with production offers from other artists such as Black Sabbath, Barry Manilow, Asia and Rick Springfield. He declined Air Supply, and produced Billy Squire’s 1984 album ‘Signs Of Life,’ and a song on Barbara Streisand’s album of the same year, ‘Emotion.’     

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U.K. Release

      Shortly following the release of ‘Greatest Hits,’ Arista released another variation of the record in the U.K., called ‘Making Love...The Very Best Of Air Supply.’ This album had different cover art, and included 12 songs. One of those tracks was the ballad, ‘Keeping The Love Alive,’ which was released as a single in parts of Europe two years earlier. The U.K. release was a far more complete collection compared to the more widely released 9-track ‘Greatest Hits.’

      A fourth variation of ‘Greatest Hits’ was released in Japan by Arista and Nippon Phonograph. The record featured different cover art, and included 11 tracks. The huge Japanese hit, ‘I’ll Never Get Enough Of You,’ was wisely part of the collection. A live version of ‘Late Again,’ previously released as the B-side on most versions of ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All,' was also included.

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      During the summer tour of the U.S., Jordache launched several campaigns in retail outlets. One involved enticing customers to try on a pair of Jordache jeans by giving them a free Air Supply poster. At some locations, customers who bought a pair of Jordache jeans received the ‘Now And Forever’ album, plus the poster. Air Supply made several in-store appearances, where they signed thousands of autographs. Many of these stores were mobbed by enthusiastic fans, and the allotted one hour time slot for autographs was nowhere near long enough to satisfy everyone. Jordache was ecstatic with the results of the entire campaign as the company gave away over 60,000 copies of the album, meaning they sold at least that many pairs of jeans. At a shopping Mall in Tampa, Florida, Air Supply sold out all of its records and 2,500 pairs of Jordache jeans. Joan Falcone of Jordache was amazed at how popular Air Supply was at the time, and not with just Jordache’s young target audience; “There were grandmas at the concert!” Jordache was impressed that Air Supply wore their jeans while playing live in concert. Most bands wanted nothing to do with their sponsor when they were outside the realm of the negotiated contract.

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Miss Teen USA Pageant

      On August 30, Air Supply performed at the Miss Teen USA Pageant, held at the Civic Center Arena in Lakeland Florida. The pageant was viewed by millions of Americans, as it was broadcast nationwide on CBS. Air Supply performed three songs, ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All,’ ‘Chances’ and ‘Every Woman In The World,’ while the contestants were introduced at different stages of the competition. Beauty pageants were extremely popular in the U.S. during the early 80s, so having the band perform was a testament of how popular Air Supply was in America.

      Don Arden brought Air Supply into another marketing campaign, this time partnering with Air Florida in a promotion called the ‘Thanksgiving Day Giveaway.’ Passengers who flew Air Florida and departed from Miami International Airport on November 24 or 25, received a free copy of the smash single ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.’ Passengers simply presented their boarding pass at Air Florida’s gate, and were handed a copy of the record.

      The album, ‘Making Love...The Very Best Of Air Supply,’ was considered a smashing success in the U.K. and all over Europe. Air Supply made a concerted effort in 1983 to increase the bands popularity in the region. Graham and Russell performed their smash hit ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ on West German TV show Vorsicht Musik for a December 12 airing.

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Final Show of 1983

      As 1983 drew to a close, Air Supply reached a crossroads in their career. They were considered one of the most popular bands in the world, having earned significant wealth and fame, but it was impossible to deny that their popularity had slipped. They had lost creative control, and became entangled in a web of corporate politics and sponsorship.

      “What is success?” asked Graham. “Real success is like Michael Jackson, with 25 million albums sold, where this current one of ours (‘Greatest Hits’) has sold about 3 million now. But when you consider that to 25, it’s nothing. So it’s all relative. I would like to be the best in our field. Bands like the Police are the best in their field, but you can’t compare them to us, as it’s totally different music. I think we can be the best in our field and I think we are close to that. We just need to tweak it a bit. I wish some things were different now. Everybody rings us up saying they’ve got a great song for us. That gets on my nerves. They say this guy wants to produce you, he’s real hot at the moment. There are some great producers out there, which is all cool, but we are not really into that. I do feel that over the last six to twelve months, the band has lost some of its identity, and lost a bit of its charm. We need to regain that on our next album.”

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      Clive Davis had extensive access to potential hit singles, whose authors wanted their songs played on radio. Consequently, many Air Supply singles were not written by Graham, and singer-songwriters resented being so well known for songs they hadn’t written. “My success in finding hits for Barry Manilow and Melissa Manchester had made me a lightning rod for publishers and songwriters who were hungry for artists who could take their music to the top of the charts,” said Clive Davis. “With a member of my A&R staff, I would meet with music publishers who would play us their best available new songs. The smart artists recognize the power of a breakthrough song, no matter where it comes from. They know such songs generate album sales and become centerpieces of their live shows, and they accept that there’s a trade-off in not getting publishing money. In the end, they win.”

      Arista and local distributors had the largest influence on which Air Supply singles were released. They also chose the album covers. Graham and Russell knew the importance of album cover artwork, and they felt that hot air balloons and beach inspired scenes were not an accurate representation of the band. “For Air Supply fans, those early Air Supply album covers are iconic,” said Russell. “I remember we had a meeting with the art director of Arista for ‘The One That You Love’ album and he showed us two pictures of hot air balloons, and asked us which one do we like? It was really that crazy.”
 楼主| 发表于 2012-12-24 15:58 | 显示全部楼层
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      随着新的一年的到来,一同来临的还有乐队的一些变化。Don Arden觉得是时候为Graham和Russell更换新乐队的时候了,所以3月份,Rex Goh, David Moyse和David Green都被要求离开Air Supply。Arden试着说服Russell 和Graham他们作为一个双人组合来看看效果,而使用雇佣乐手来进行巡演。

       “3月份我被通知离开Air Supply。” Rex Goh说,“Don Arden过去经营Electric Light Orchestra,而他和Graham,Russell决定让乐队成为双人组合而使用雇佣乐手来配乐。Air Supply再也不是一支乐队了。现在只剩他们两个人了。对于一支7人乐队来说,赚钱确实有些不容易。而雇佣剩下的乐手来说能获得更大利益。Graham和Russell意识到这个问题。现在乐队赚的钱给所有Air Supply成员平分。假如我们进行一次比较大规模的4个月的全美巡演,那7人的Air Supply中每个成员大约能分到2万到3万美元。然而假如只有2位正式成员而雇佣剩下的成员的话,这两人每人能获得8万5千美元。所以你看,问题就出在钱上面。Air Supply已经经历了太多的法庭战争。我们更换过好多次经纪人。是的,你可以说我被要求离开Air Supply因为那两位歌手想要分到更多的钱。那就是生意。悲伤的是我喜欢巡演,我想念那段时光,当然,钱也是一部分。我有机会遇到许多名人,Aretha Franklin, Gino Vannelli并且在Glenn Campbell的演出中演奏。有一次我被警察开道陪同从宾馆到雅典剧院。不过,我并不怀念Air Supply的音乐。不管怎么样,经历了4年之后是时候改变了。”

       所以在4月份的早些时候,Air Supply在洛杉矶举行了一次面试。整个美国对此都反响相当的强烈,各个乐手都想尽办法来展现自己的技巧。Don Cromwell,一名住在洛杉矶的贝斯手,和他的一些朋友鼓手Kirk Arthur还有吉他手Paul Kingery一起去参加了面试,但是只有Don最终获胜。“我想Air Supply是想增加一些能量。” Cromwell说。“Don Arden在派对上告诉我,当他看了Air Supply夏威夷演唱会后,就觉得他想要把整支乐队都换掉。他觉得乐手们在舞台上太木讷了。 那时我和Wet Picnic还有其他乐队一起演出,为Unicorn Records唱片公司做了许多专辑。我的室友Paul Kingery说Air Supply正在城里找乐手进行新的巡演。‘我们一起去面试吧。’ 同时,我在南加利福尼亚和Cynthia Manley有演出。我上台,然后看到Graham Russell在台下看。我们演出很完美。演出之后,Graham上来拍拍我的背说,‘嗨朋友,我能和你聊几句吗?我没法保证你能成功,因为还有搭档要看,但是,来面试吧。’ 所以我和Paul还有一些朋友学了6首Air Supply的歌,听起来真的棒极了。在弹了几首歌之后,巡演经理终止了我们然后说,‘2点你们能再回来吗?所以我们又回来弹了3首歌,又被要求在第二天中午来。所以第二天,他们召集了一些新面孔,这些人就是他们想要组的乐队成员。”

      当前的乐队成员Ralph Cooper和Frank Esler-Smith被要求留下来。吉他手Steve Farris和键盘手Ken Rarick 最终获胜进入了乐队。Steve取代了吉他双人组合Rex Goh和David Moyse。Ken,成为了乐队中最年轻的乐手。他在高中爵士乐队里就开始演奏钢琴,之后又进入了一些当地的摇滚乐队。Steve已经为Eddie Money伴奏了3年,之后1982年又组建了一支名叫Mr. Mister的乐队。

      在Air Supply乐队最终成型后不久,Steve Farris和Don Arden在合同问题上意见不合。“Steve Farris,一名非常出色的吉他手,刚刚在Mr. Mister乐队开启生涯,就要分离了。” Cromwell说。“Steve把赌注压在即将到来的Air Supply巡演上,所有人都不想有什么不愉快。所以,离世界巡演只有两周的时间, 而他们还没有一名吉他手。所以几乎全洛杉矶的吉他手都来让我想办法帮他们得到一次面试的机会。这些家伙过来进来演奏,并且演奏的相当的完美。Graham起先说, ‘不,他不行。’ 过了一会儿,我在大厅里, Graham打电话说道, ‘Don你知道一名叫Wally Stocker的吉他手吗? 他在底特律,想要过来试音。’ 然后第二天,Wally来了,一个非常像Keith Richards的家伙,他被要求弹奏 ‘Sweet Dreams’。Wally说, ‘这首怎么弹?’ 然后他被要求弹奏 ‘Lost In Love’,他又说:‘那首也不会。’ 接下来,这个最没有准备的家伙却得到了这份工作。

      Graham和Russell此时都不再和他们的爱人们一起居住了。1982年,Graham和他的女友Chrissie决定分道扬镳。Chrissie是启发Air Supply早期情歌的源泉。“我试着不去告诉她生怕她受伤。” 他说。在美国巡演期间,Graham遇到了17岁的女孩名叫Jodi Varble,在电台点播中获得了观看乐队芝加哥演出的机会。在那场演出之后,Jodi被邀请来到后台,给Graham留下了难忘的印象。他们两个成为了好朋友,尽管两人的年龄有明显的。Graham那时30岁,承认那时他过去对年长的女性有偏爱。“我喜欢年长的女性。”他说。“他们总是能够吸引我。可能尽管是40岁。Jodi和我在约会前好多年都互相写信。我们在1983年又见面了,自从那时我们就分不开了。他可能算是赢得了这次机会,但我真的是中了大奖了。 [回过头看] 她那么年轻,确实有点尴尬了。但是当你认定这就是你命中注定的那个人的时候,你会坚定你的方向。当我们第一次相遇的时候,我知道一定有什么特别的会发生。” Jodi15岁在芝加哥开始模特生涯。他的第一份工作是Mattel玩具公司的芭比天使的时装秀。她是1983年全美伊利诺伊小姐。

      Russell和他结婚三年的妻子分开并且离婚,这一切都是相当艰难的。“你知道,我的第二段婚姻就此结束完全是因为商业。” Russell说。“这实在是太痛苦了,当你在巡演的时候,几乎太难保持正常的生活关系了。我一年中只能见到我的妻子2,3次。我们无法这样维持婚姻了。原本我以为我们会永远在一起,但我离开家太久了,她也搬了出去。我相信命运,而我现在也挺高兴的。对于爱情,我永远是乐观的,因为如果你不能让它正确前进,那就只能继续尝试了。” Russell并没有尝试太久,因为他遇到了一名名叫Paula的空姐,她飞行于加利福尼亚之间,这也是乐队的路线。他们很快就开始约会了。“我们在飞机上相遇,他说,“当他问我是干什么工作的,我说 ‘Air Supply’。 她把氧气罩罩在我脸上! 在这个行业中,你需要有人为你指点迷津。” Russell注意到Paula的后续航班也在停在机场。“我看到她坐在行李箱上面,她看上去真美,但这也没什么大不了的。” Russell说,“但真正吸引我的,是当他来看第一场演出时,身穿便服,长发披肩,看上去真是惊为天人!”

      Air Supply如今是Don Arden的聚宝盆,他们联手一起赚了很多钱。但是Arden在1983年失去了他的好莱坞大厦,在那次灾难之后,Graham收养了他女儿的叫Jet的大丹犬。Sharon Osborne在他2005的自传《Sharon Osborne Extreme》中解释了这次事件: “之后我在洛杉矶,我那时和欧亚银行有见面,六年前曾经资助Howard Hughes购买房子。他们在新加坡,这也是我为我父亲签的合约之一。贷款额很大,因为他没有资金没有抵押品。他要做的就是给贷款支付利息。这种一种不寻常的未担保借贷。作为交换,这个人每年都会来加利福尼亚住在这个房子里,还有妓女,人们都喜欢Tony Curtis和其他我父亲的朋友们。所以很多年来,这家银行的经理都会对我父亲很照顾,但是后来他失去了他的工作,审计人员来了。他们告诉我,在他拥有这幢房子的六年时间内,他只有支付了5万美元利息在总共1百70万贷款里。未支付的利息当然加到了原始的总额里去了。因为我父亲没有那么多钱,银行也别无选择,他们说。我父亲遗弃了那里所有的东西,包括我的宠物:Jet,也给了Air Supply。”

      乐队在1983年开始雄心勃勃的计划一次巡演,为期7个月超过80场演出,这是他们生涯最长的演出计划。由于Air Supply决定在1983年不发行任何新专辑,所以让这次长时间的巡演变得有可能, 这都因为1982年长时间的巡演,导致留给他们录制新歌的时间寥寥无几。“这完全是因为时间的关系,肯定的。”Russell说。“去年10月6日我们回到了澳大利亚。并且已经巡演了好4个月, 这样,留给录音的时间就几乎没有了。”

      Clive Davis感到现在正是时间了,想要发行乐队的第一张精选辑,但是Air Supply对此显得很犹豫。“我们觉得这有一些些早,我们只是发行了3张专辑。”Graham说。“但是Clive说,‘不,我们当然需要发行。’” 而精选辑往往由于有赚钱的嫌疑而变得声名狼藉。另外,精选辑会让死忠的歌迷失望,这些歌迷等了好久,希望能听到一些新歌。但是Clive Davis有证据表面需要发行精选集。Air Supply的确在北美获得了7首排行榜金曲,并且被Billboard杂志称作80年代最成功乐队。再者,精选辑对于唱片公司来说利润丰厚,因为不需要有额外的录音花费,只需要把一些现有的歌合起来就可以 - 尽管会有额外的一首或两首新歌加入,也只是小小费用而已。“尽管他们只有出过三张专辑。” Clive说,“我们认为直到1983年,已经有足够的歌可以保证精选集的品质了。”

      一个新的趋势在80年代兴起,美国音乐也加入了这股力量中,创造了新的流行乐市场。大多数70年代广告投资都向体育节进军,因为公司对音乐业务依旧持怀疑态度。而当百事向Michael Jackson作了一系列高达550万美元的投资后一切都有了变化。在实际的投资回报率是无法确定的,但这些广告对于百事的影响是巨大的。可口可乐很快就做了相应的回应,把Duran Duran揽下。签署顶级乐队的竞争异常激烈因为足够流行的艺人很快就被预定一空。Rod Stewart签约加拿大Dry,Eric Clapton去了Camel,摇滚组合Triumph签约了匡威sneakers。

      Jordache,顶级牛仔裤生产商想要签约一个乐队来宣传他们1983年回到校园主题。Jordache的特别活动协调员Joan Falcone说,挑选中正确的乐队对他们来说太重要了。“你不能选那些所谓的昙花一现的乐队,或者会毁坏你形象的。参加的组合有10个或者更多,” Joan说,Jordache决定认为Air Supply是个非常好的选择,他们达成了一桩协议,乐队1983年的全美巡演由Jordache赞助。该交易的财务条款并没有公开,但这在那时对于赞助一个巡演全部财务支出的协议来说非常普遍。作为回报,乐队同意出席各项商业活动,诸如在店内亮相,在各项活动中作签名活动。一份Jordache负责的Air Supply海报在美国巡演中被分发给歌迷们。

     Air supply在1983年4月份开始世界巡演,在日本,香港,太晚,曼谷,马尼拉,澳大利亚都有许多场演出售完票。乐队仅仅有几天时间在澳大利亚的家中休息,接着就要飞回美国准备为期69天53个城市的巡演。这次巡演于5月18日开始于加拿大,在九月份结束于美国,但是最后延长到10月,由于疾病很多演出都被重新安排时间。6月15日在纽约奥尔巴尼的演出,由于Russell声音不适在中途取消。许多歌迷哭着离开,演出只能重新安排。这次冗长的演出把乐队消耗了太多。“我们不得不整晚乘车旅行去很多城市。” Russell说。“这太困难了。特别是演出结束要从一个城市到另一个城市,只要我们能够4或5晚能睡在床上就已经够了。没有什么激动人心的事情在我们身上发生。我们只能不停的运作,就像发条一样。”

      在1983年世界巡演的中期,Air Supply在罗德岛布里斯托尔露面,作198周年纪念。预计在罗德岛Warick有两场演出(7月5日,6日),Air Supply是州立电台WPRO-FM的特邀嘉宾。WPRO作现场直播,Air Supply在移动的装备有大型扬声器的车上,一直演唱乐队的歌,长达2.2英里。布里斯托尔的人口只有2万人,这次游行是这个国家最大和最古老的活动,吸引了30万名观众。这次活动由当地CBS-TV现场直播。

      这次巡演是他们的贝斯手Don Cromwell第一次演出。“在Air Supply中我们有一个说法: ‘一旦你打包好行李,将很久不再回来了。’ 我们要出很远的远门。卡车和巴士都将准备着。然后当你回到家,我们得上一种巡演综合征。我们站在杂货店门口思考,‘有没有人为我做东西吃?没人把我的包拿上卡车?’ 巡演就是这样的,除非你真的结束了,否则很难完全解释。”

      为了帮助应付这个冗长的巡演,Air Supply雇了乐队助手来做后台的事情,把食物和酒放到巴士上,处理后台通行证。在这个夏季巡演中,Air Supply雇了Craig Duswalt作为他们的个人助手。“我在Westbury Music Fair工作。” Duswalt说。“乐队来到镇上,我会去机场和酒店接他们,拿他们的行李。我不知道的是,由于吸毒,Air Supply刚刚解雇了他们的乐队助手。Air Supply在周五晚上开了一场演唱会,我去酒店接他们,给他们准备了咖啡,确保他们状态很舒服。在周六晚上的第二场演出后,我在后台,遇见Air Supply的保镖Bob Street问我赚多少钱。我告诉他大约150美元一星期。Bob说,‘你想不想赚四倍?’ 他告诉我他们需要一个人来照料他们巡演中的后台工作。他们提供给我一份工作和他们一起进行世界巡演。第二天早上一辆豪华轿车接我去了机场,我飞去康涅狄格州和乐队相见。那是我6年世界巡演中的第一天。”

      Craig Duswalt在他2014年的新书《Welcome To My Jungle》中谈到Air Supply的巡演的好处:“让我来澄清一些问题,与一些信仰。大多数1983年时候Air Supply的成员都不是同性恋。唯一的同性恋是乐队的键盘手Frank Esler-Smith。我的工作之一就是为Air Supply邀请一些漂亮的女人来确保看上去一支摇滚乐队都会有许多女人陪伴在左右。厉害的是,Air Supply吸引了86%女性来看他们演出。不,他们可以和这些女孩做任何事情 - 见鬼,大多数女人都结婚了。不管怎么样,我会把通信证交给这些女人,让他们能够见到乐队。有时候这些女人会让我把通信证为她们带上。所以我做了。(嗨,我那时才21岁!) 我确保经过他们同意才会去做。”

      1983年的巡演中依旧包含曾经在1982年演出中大受欢迎的沙漠场景。因为乐队花了巨资在制作这个场景中,尽可能想延长它的使用寿命。这个舞台布局有些许改变。“我们改进了广告中说的激光秀,” Russell说。“相比去年使用的,这次能量是上次的两倍,并且我们使用了四种颜色,看上去非常壮观。一些电脑加工过的动画被添加进了屏幕。我们去了激光制作公司,说:‘给我们看看你们为我们准备的东西。’  看了部分后,说,‘不,这完全不适合我们。’ 我们把这些效果缩小了,因为我们觉得我们是为了增强音乐效果而不是盖过它。这是一个相当长的过程,但我觉得我们所做的一切不会影响音乐性。”

      在舞台上,带来了更硬风格的感觉和声音,正如Don Arden设想的那样。“Wally带来了完美的摇滚感,” Don Cromwell回忆道,“Ken和Frank非常完美。Ralph很了解音乐,女孩们也非常喜欢他。Russell每天都让我震惊他的嗓音。而加上演奏那么多排行榜金曲让梦想都成为了现实。”  

      尽管舞台效果增强了,演唱会的评论却也众说纷纭:
      从B面歌曲唱到‘Making Love,’ 然而,Air Supply许多歌迷都会抓自己的头发。'Late Again’ 是又一首乐队辛苦并且徒劳的摇滚尝试。它和‘Can’t Get Excited’ 一同作为乐队两首最不起眼同时也最难忘的摇滚歌曲。两首歌都有相当棒的吉他演奏和打击乐,但不知为何,当Air Supply唱起这两首歌的时候一切都变得难以置信了。 - 匹兹堡新闻

      可能已经忘记炒作充斥着这场演出。的确是,你会记得,自从Cecil B之后被誉为最好的灯光和最复杂的设置。De Mille从导演座椅上退休。不然,Argon Inion激光系统,3-D雕塑, 衍射全息图和天幕屏幕都非常好, 但你们几乎都不用他们。 - Montreal Gazette

      把表演推向了高潮,乐队唱了一首很棒的歌(‘Can’t Get Excited’) ,并且突然舞台和场馆爆出激光效果,天幕变成一个巨大的画板,迷人的光板设计,计算机生成的图形。几乎无法来形容这个5分钟,但这个的确比任何一场国庆40分钟焰火表演更出色,所有的东西都浓缩,投射到一个20乘80的背景。 - 佛罗里达圣彼得堡独立晚报

      Air Supply在1983年早期又遇到了更多的诉讼麻烦,乐队的歌迷俱乐部在1981年7月成立,然后在没有任何通知的情况下被迫关闭。(Air Supply的澳大利亚歌迷俱乐部已经在1977年成立了,建立在Double Bay,一个悉尼郊外的地方。) 北美歌迷俱乐部对于会员会邮寄一些乐队的近况更新,并且出售一些官方的Air Supply纪念品,诸如T恤,夹克,海报,甚至考拉玩具。歌迷俱乐部的信息业同时在音乐杂志和Air Supply演唱会上刊登。而经营俱乐部的人并没有意识到所有印有Air Supply乐队名的衣服都是应该由Winterland Productions来发行,他们是那时是北美最大的屏幕打印机和演唱会纪念品发行商。Winterland已经与Air Supply签订过合约,所以他们起诉歌迷俱乐部在未经允许的情况下使用乐队商标名字,这些俱乐部卖的T恤本应由Winterland负责制作。俱乐部很快就被迫关闭了,很多歌迷的订单被搁置,而无法收到他们地纪念品。这个歌迷俱乐部很快就重新开张了,第一封官方歌迷信在9月被寄出。

      一个Air Supply国际歌迷俱乐部在1982年准备开张,他们在全世界范围内有着成千上万的歌迷。新近组成的台湾分会惊讶于当4000名新会员加入时,他们几乎每个人都带了一份礼物送给乐队。“这些礼物都太棒了,”Graham说。“用黄金装裱的手绘图画,手工陶罐和茶具,所有东西都太漂亮了!” 乐队尴尬,因为他们无法把礼物都带回去,因为运回澳大利亚不可能。最终,在当晚演唱会结束后这些礼物在后台都送回给了这些热情的歌迷。“或许我们要开一家 ‘Air Supply台湾制造礼品店’”Russell开玩笑道。

      Arista在Don Arden的建议下,购买了一首Jim Steinman写的歌,名叫 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’。 Arden和Clive都想要在即将发行的精选集中最少放一首新歌, 而Steinman的歌看起来是下一首大热歌曲。“[我的儿子] David和我都有放一首新歌进去的想法。” Arden说。“这是精选集中一块完美的拼图。” Steinman以摇滚音乐剧风格的录音而闻名。他为Meat Loaf写了两首歌,但Meat Loaf的唱片公司不想为这些歌支付昂贵的钱。此外,Steinman和Meat Loaf都身处同一个版权纠纷。Meat Loaf的损失恰恰是Air Supply的收获,他们获得了 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 同时Bonnie Tyler获得了 ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart.’ 。Meat Loaf当他发现其他的歌手录制了Steinman的歌后相当的沮丧。“他们完全不懂。” 他说,“他们不能理解歌的含义。没有人能像我那样理解。我身在歌曲之中,Jimmy的歌就是适合我的嗓音。” 最初 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’的样带是由加拿大歌手Rory Dodd演唱的,最近他又再互联网上露面,由于Jim Steinman的卡带在纽约公众图书馆被发现。Dodd在Air Supply的演职员名单中注明为背景和声歌手。

      Graham和Russell 在纽约The Power Station录制了 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 。Steinman制作了这首歌,并且自己选择了乐手:Bruce Springsteen的E大街乐队中得Max Weinberg (鼓手) 和 Roy Bittan (键盘手) ,和70年代摇滚吉他手Rick Derringer。这是一个全明星阵容,原曲长达20分钟,并且剪辑成一首5分半钟的杰作。这张单曲甚至又被剪成4分半钟为了适应电台播放。“我的确想要加一首新歌进精选集。” Clive Davis说,“ 我想到了创作一些史诗歌曲的专家Jim Steinman,他为Meat Loaf的专辑 ‘Bat Out Of Hell’写歌,最近又为Bonnie Tyler制作了 ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ 。我觉得Russell Hitchcock的嗓音相当适合他的歌曲,结果就是成就了Air Supply最伟大的一支单曲还有Steinman宏伟的职业生涯。’”  

      “[与Jim Steinman共事]是一个非常有趣的体验。” Russell说。“我们在纽约和他见面 - 不知道为什么他想要和我们在冰淇淋店见面。我记得他戴了一副太阳眼镜,穿了黑色的皮衣,他一次都没有把衣服脱掉过。吃完冰淇淋和咖啡后。他开始演奏他的歌,当然,他的这个版本有12,或者15分钟长。我们不得不进行剪辑。但是他似乎相当理解我们。但是他说我们是他见过最无聊的人了。他也仅仅见过我们两次。”   

      Arista曾经考虑加两首新歌到专辑中去,其中一首便是 ‘I Can Wait Forever’ 。在5月作为首支单曲发行,而后Arista决定把这首歌用作另一个计划,便把它搁置一边了。‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 便被选为首支单曲,并在7月发行。直到8月,在Billboard上排名第二,紧随着Bonnie Tyler的由Steinman制作的 ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ 。 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’是一首全球范围内的金曲。但失望得在澳大利亚却仅仅位列45位。英国榜排名80位。一个特殊的12”全长度(5:37)版本在英国发行,在另一面包含‘Late Again’和‘All Out Of Love’ 。

      一个罕见版本的音乐录音带在国际市场上录制发行,故事情节说的是一个大兵从战场上回到家乡,其中穿插进Graham和Russell的片段。 第二部录影带,在Don Arden在洛杉矶的地产附近拍摄,其中有Graham的女友Jodi Varble出镜主演。“我记得当初拍摄录影带的时候 [原始的版本], 但是从来没有看过!” Graham说,“我们在Battery公园拍摄夜景,感觉有点奇怪。然后突然开始下雨,不得不取消,延期到第二天拍摄。那时我们正好在纽约演出。他们决定制作另一个剧情的影片。他们选择我作为主演,我很抵制。然而,我很开心,因为这位女孩在影片里扮演我的情人,后来成为了我的妻子。影片决定在洛杉矶摄制,他们也无法找到合适的人员来扮演女主角。整个洛杉矶也找不到合适的人,太奇怪了,但是他们问我是否有推荐的。我认识一位在芝加哥的女孩叫Jodi。我们一直写信,但是从来没有正式约会,所以我给他们看了张她的照片。那时洛杉矶正在下雨,我们准备进行拍摄。所以我们去了犹他,因为我们正在那里有演出。整个摄制组都去了那里。Jodi也去了,整个摄制期间我们形影不离。在拍摄过程中我们相爱了。导演想要我们扮演情侣,我再也不需要扮演了!我最喜欢的镜头就是Jodi在旋转椅上不停的旋转,摄像机镜头跟随着她。我觉得这是最漂亮的镜头。最自然的Jodi,年轻,有活力,有精神。”   

      Arista对Air Supply的音乐生涯掌控了很好,但是在1982年他们失去了对于Laura Branigan的一次机会。Arista已经获得了Air Supply录制Michael Bolton and Doug James写的一首名叫 ‘How Am I Supposed To Live Without You’ 的歌的版权,但是Clive Davis坚持在高潮部分作一些改变。CBS的总经理Harvey Shapiro在Bolton和James写这首歌之后就知道这首歌将成为一首热门金曲,而当Air Supply搁置的时候他更高兴了。“ “我们很兴奋,因为Air Supply卖出了数百万张唱片。” 他说,“我们一直在等待。一天下午,我接到一个电话说 ‘恭喜你,Laura Branigan今天下去录制了这首歌。'我几乎发疯了,因为我还没做好铅板呢。但是他们已经要去把他剪辑到磁带上去了。”与此同时Davis和作者还在争执歌词的改动,Laura Branigan录制了她自己的版本,知道假如Air Supply发行他们的版本之后她就是在浪费金钱了。而当Arista拒绝这首歌之后,Branigan在1983年7月发行了她自己的版本,直接登上了Billboard热门100第12位,成人流行榜冠军。

      精选集‘Greatest Hits’ 在1983年8月1日正式发行。大多数国家都是9首歌的版本,最著名的专辑封面就是这张,由Linda Fennimore手绘的Graham和Russell的素描像。一年后,Fennimore为Billy Ocean的专辑 ‘Suddenly’画素描像,这张专辑在Billboard热门100排行榜中获得冠军。Fennimore对于Air Supply的‘Greatest Hits’作出的这个贡献是在最后一分钟才做决定的。Arista已经挑选好澳大利亚画家Brett-Livingstone Strong来画这个封面,他以为John Lennon作青铜像和为John Wayne雕像而闻名。前后封面都由Strong来用柔和的水彩画成,是一个超现实主义的澳大利亚内陆画像和袋鼠,一颗心,加上Graham和Russell的头像。Air Supply和Strong由他们共同的朋友,一位乐队的超级歌迷撮合在一起。“我们看到Brett的画惊呆了。”Graham说,“太吸引人了,一副很不同寻常的画,但是很代表里面的音乐。”   

      精选集 ‘Greatest Hits’ 于8月1日在国际范围内发行。大多国家都发行9首歌的版本,而Graham和Russell的素描头像也成为了乐队史上最著名的唱片封面。Big Time Records和EMI在澳大利亚发行了 ‘Greatest Hits’曲目单有些许不同。有13首歌曲,包括了澳大利亚单曲 ‘Love and Other Bruises’ ‘Now and Forever’和 ‘Bring Out The Magic’ 。专辑都包含了乐队的热门排行榜金曲,另加歌迷最喜爱的‘Chances’。“这首歌从来没有作为单曲发行 ,但它太著名了,每个人都喜欢它。” Graham说。“我一直都非常喜欢这首歌,我记得在浴室里写这首歌时我已经花了好几天时间了。我画了一个男人和一个女人。这是关于你犹豫了之后机会随之溜走的歌。”  

       从一开始‘Greatest Hits’的销量就非常的强劲,Graham回忆道,每次他开车经过一个广告牌在推广这张专辑的时候都觉得异常自豪。““Clive在日落大道有一个很大的广告牌。我一直会去看它,周而复始,突然发现, ‘天哪!我在上面!' 我并不认为自己是个名人或者流行明星之类的。所以看到自己在上面,真的有一种很奇怪的感觉。 ” 精选集‘Greatest Hits’ 最终在年底前在加拿大获得了双白金销量  (20万张) 在美国是 (2百万张) ,由Jim Steinman 制作的单曲 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 获得了金唱片 (超过1百万份拷贝)。

      “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All,和别的一些金曲, 展现了Air Supply已经大获成功,” Clive说。“他们已经在公众心中刻下烙印,把Air Supply和这张卖出5百万张的‘Greatest Hits’联系在了一起。那是乐队的巅峰。”

      Air Supply和Steinman洽谈制作他们的下一张录音室专辑,专辑准备在1984年2月份录制 。但是这个合作却没能实现,因为 Steinman突然和其他艺人如Black Sabbath, Barry Manilow, Asia and Rick Springfield合作。他拒绝了Air Supply,制作了Billy Squire1984年的专辑 ‘Signs Of Life’,和一张Barbara Streisand专辑 ‘Emotion’。   

      在 ‘Greatest Hits’ 专辑发行后,Arista发行了在英国的第二张精选集。叫做‘Making Love...The Very Best Of Air Supply’。这张姐妹专辑用了不通的专辑封面。包含12首歌。其中一首是情歌,‘Keeping The Love Alive,’ 曾经作为单曲在英国发行。英国发行的这张精选集相比世界范围内发行的9首歌版本的 ‘Greatest Hits’ 专辑收录歌曲更加全面。

      第四个版本的 ‘Greatest Hits’ 由Arista和Nippon Phonograph在日本发行。专辑封面又是与之前各不相同,标准的日本规格包含11首歌,日本大热的金曲 ‘I’ll Never Get Enough Of You’ 被巧妙的收录进了专辑。现场版本的 ‘Late Again’ 和之前作为B面发行的 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 也都收录在专辑中。

      在夏天的美国巡演期间,Jordache推出了几个主题活动。其中之一就是赠送免费的Air Supply海报。在一些地方,买家买了一条牛仔裤甚至得到了一张免费的 ‘Now And Forever’专辑,外加免费的海报。Air Supply出席了一些店内见面会,给歌迷和用户签名。许多商店被成千歌迷围攻,一个小时的签名活动远远不能让所有歌迷们都满意。Jordache对整个活动带来的结果感到欣喜若狂,同时有6万张专辑被派送出去,意味着他们至少卖出了6万条牛仔裤。在佛罗里达Tampa的购物商场内,Air Supply卖光了所有他们的专辑另加2500条Jordache牛仔裤。Jordache的Joan Falcone惊讶于Air Supply在那时竟是如此的走红,不仅仅是Jordache的年轻客户,“许多老妈妈在演唱会上!” Air Supply穿着Jordache的牛仔裤唱歌,给Jordache留下了很深的印象。与此同时,大多数乐队在赞助合同范围外几乎什么都不会去做。

      8月30日,Air Supply被邀请在坐落于佛罗里达莱克兰Civic Center Arena的Miss Teen USA Pageant作演出。The pageant被数百万美国观众收看。同时由CBS进行全国广播。整场演出包含了Air Supply在大型平台上演唱几首歌。曲目包含 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’,‘Chances’ 和 ‘Every Woman In The World’。Beauty pageants在80年代早期的美国非常流行,所以这正好是测试Air Supply在美国有多流行的一个绝佳的机会。

      Don Arden带给Air Supply另一个市场活动,这次的合作伙伴是佛罗里达航空。这次宣传被称为 ‘Thanksgiving Day Giveaway’。每位在11月24日或者25日乘坐佛罗里达航空并且在迈阿密国际机场停靠的乘客都讲收到一份免费的单曲 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 乘客只需在大门简单的出示他们的机票便可拥有一张免费单曲。

     专辑 ‘Making Love...The Very Best Of Air Supply’ 在英国被认为是巨大的成功,甚至全欧洲。Air Supply在1983年在欧洲把乐队流行度推向高潮。Graham和Russell在12月12日在西德电视节目Vorsicht Musik演唱了金曲 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 。

      在1983年行将结束的时候,Air Supply来到了他们音乐生涯的一个十字路口。他们当前被认为是世界上最红的乐队,势头完全不会下降。

      “什么是成功?” Graham问道。“真正的成功是像Michael Jackson那样,2千5百万张专辑销量,虽然当前我们的精选集已经卖出3百万张了。但和2千5百万相比,什么都不是。因此这是相对的。我想要在我们的领域做到最好。警察乐队是最棒的,但是你不能拿他们和我们比,这完全是两个不同类型的音乐。我觉得我们能够在我们的领域里做到最好,而且我们已经接近了。只需再加把劲。我喜欢是别的一些东西。每个人都打电话给我说他们找到了一首适合我们的好歌。这让我心烦。他们说有人想要为我们制作专辑,他相当热门。还有许多别的制作人在排队,他们都是很炙手可热的。乐队此时都已经失去了自己标志性的东西了,失去了原有的魅力。我们需要在下张专辑中收回那些失去的东西。”

      Clive Davis对于挑选单曲有额外的权利,那些作者想要他们的歌在电台里播放。因此,许多Air Supply的单曲并不是由Graham写的。“我的成功是为Barry Manilow和Melissa Manchester发掘好歌。” Clive Davis说,“和我的A&R员工,我将会见那些能给我们带来最新好歌的发行商。聪明的艺人能够感受到好歌的力量,无论歌曲出自哪里。他们明白这些歌会带高唱片销量,在演唱会上会成为必唱曲目,他们也会接受在交易过程中不获得发行费用。而他们终将获胜。”

      Arista和当地的发行商在Air Supply发行单曲上都有大的影响权利。他们也会挑选唱片封套。Graham和Russell知道唱片封套的重要性,他们觉得热气球和沙滩并不能很好的代表乐队。“而对于Air Supply的歌迷来说,那些早期的Air Supply唱片封套就是他们的标志。” Russell说。“我记得有次Arista的艺术指导拿着两幅热气球图片给我们挑选 ‘The One That You Love’ 的唱片封套,问我们喜欢哪个?这简直令人抓狂。”
 楼主| 发表于 2013-2-28 16:33 | 显示全部楼层
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