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第十七章:又晚了 (1989-1990) (Late Again)

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发表于 2013-3-5 16:41 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Chapter Seventeen: Late Again (1989-1990)

1989 Promotional Photo Framed.jpg
1989 Press Photo (No Record Label)

      In early 1989, Air Supply rehearsed at AIV studio in Los Angeles in preparation for a lengthy tour of South America and the U.S. Graham had completed several new songs and was anxious to see what sort of reaction they would get. The future looked bright because Air Supply had just signed a contract with Enigma Records to release their next album, for which recording was to begin in late February. “Yeah, we have obviously incurred a few stumbling blocks getting this record together but we are set to go,” said Russell. “We’ve got a lot of new material and we have just signed to a new record company called Enigma. They are a very progressive company. The two guys who run the company are very young and forward thinking. They have a great track record in the business now as they are masters of distribution and getting records played on radio, which is obviously a couple of things we have suffered from over the last few years. It’s a new company, new people, new energy and we are looking forward to getting this record made and out to the fans. The whole thing has changed around for us now. We are very positive about the future.”

      Enigma Records was an American label that specialized in rock and alternative music. They achieved significant success in the 80s after signing Stryper, the first Christian rock band to achieve mainstream recognition when their 1986 album, ‘To Hell With The Devil,’ achieved platinum status. Enigma was owned by two brothers, William and Wesley Hein, and a partner named Jim Martone. Unbeknownst to Air Supply, Enigma Records was on the verge of restructuring and would soon sell its rights to Capitol Records and EMI Group. Enigma struggled financially over the next two years and the situation was made worse when they signed glam metal band Poison. It is rumoured that the excesses of Poison eventually bankrupted the label in 1991.

Ednita_Nazario-Fuerza_De_Gravedad-Frontal.jpg
Ednita Nazario - Fuerza De Gravedad

      Russell ventured out on his own again to record a duet with Puerto Rican-born singer Ednita Nazario for her 1989 album titled ‘Fuerza De Gravedad’ (Force of Gravity). Ednita was first signed to a record label at the young age of six and was a popular artist in South America by the late 80s. The song, ‘De Todos Modos,’ was recorded in Spanish and was a big hit in Latin America. It was the first Spanish recording for Russell and it helped establish the Air Supply sound internationally. ‘De Todos Modos’ was also included on Nazario's 1991 greatest hits CD (Super Exitos).

      The Air Supply live music video was nearing completion and was being edited and mixed in Los Angeles. “It will be an hour long and it is completely live with no overdubs or anything like that,” said Graham. “It was shot at the Ventura Theatre in 1988.”

      In late May, Air Supply began a five week tour of South America with performances in nine countries, where they recorded additional concert footage for the forthcoming music video. They returned for a tour of the States in late July. “Florida will be the final stop of the U.S. tour and will have another fan club convention,” said Graham. “We are in the process of putting that together with our manager Barry Siegel. The day after the convention we go home to record our new album. We really are going to record it this time! We are working again with Harry Maslin who produced all of our hits in the 80s. This album will be out late January, without fail. It will be the first time in three years that we will have an album out. Russell and I are committed to bringing the band back to its 80s status. We want to do it all over again.”

      Greg Hilfman left Air Supply in late 1988 to tour with the Bangles, leaving David Young and Michael Sherwood as the keyboard players for the summer tour. The band experienced a major overhaul in a span of just two years, but Graham and Russell were confident in their talent and were planning to utilize the touring band in the recording studio, something they had not done on the two previous Air Supply records.

1989 Summer Tour Setlist

1.The Power Of Love             10. She’s Got The Answer
2. Two Less Lonely People    11. All Out Of Love
3. Never Fade Away               12. The Earth Is...
4. Lost In Love                        13. Dancing With The Mountain
5. Sweet Dreams                   14. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
6. Stronger Than The Night    15. Stand Up
7. Great Pioneer                     16. Late Again
8. The One That You Love     17. My Best  Friend   
9. Here I Am

Tour Pass and Photo 1989  1990.jpg

      The summer tour of 1989 was an impressive two hour-long set that included a variety of new material, plus their biggest hits from the Arista catalogue:

      The duo from Australia started the show off with ‘The Power of Love,’ a ballad highlighted by Hitchcock’s soaring vocals and the right lighting effect. At the slow beginning of the song, the stage was batted in blue lighting. And just when the song reaches a high note at the chorus, the stage is lit up with the normal white lighting. Hitchcock and Russell are two different personalities that blend together well. Hitchcock has a powerful voice with great range and was the target of many flowers from the audience. Russell has a softer tone to his voice and used mime-like body movements to add a soulful touch to the music. At the end of ‘Great Pioneer,’ a song about the men that founded Australia, Russell gave a salute and took off his guitar like a soldier would his rifle. ‘Stronger Than The Night’ is a song that has all the makings of another hit. But the crowd-pleaser of the night was ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All.’ The rendering of this touching song brought the crowd out of their seats which led in perfectly to the finale ‘Stand and Be Counted.’ - Cleveland Chronicle-Telegram

Air Supply Xmas Album Japan Release.JPG
BMG/Victor CD - Japan 1989

      There were no greatest hits or compilation albums released in 1989, likely because Air Supply was transitioning between labels. ‘The Christmas Album’ was reissued in Japan by a relatively new label called BMG Victor. BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) was part owner of Arista Records and Victor previously operated as a record label under RCA. When BMG purchased RCA in 1988, the BMG Victor label was created. The Japan Christmas Album featured the same song list to all previous versions but had a new CD cover.

      As promised, the second North American fan club convention took place on August 13 in Clearwater, Florida. It was the last concert of the summer for Air Supply and a block of tickets was reserved for fan club attendees. A fan gathering took place at a local park the following day and featured softball and volleyball matches involving fans and band members.

1990.jpg
Arista 15th Anniversary

      1990 marked the fifteenth anniversary for Air Supply. It should have been a time to celebrate, but the band was in a state of flux because their recording contract with Enigma fell apart. It was another setback for the band’s next album. To make matters worse, very little was happening for Graham and his Robin Hood-inspired rock opera, and Russell’s solo album was a commercial flop. Regardless, Air Supply felt they had new music to share with the world and would persevere despite the setbacks.  

      On March 17, Arista Records was celebrating its own fifteenth anniversary and hosted an AIDS benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The event featured an impressive gathering of current and past Arista artists including Air Supply, Barry Manilow, Milli Vanilli, Dionne Warwick and Whitney Houston. Air Supply performed ‘All Out Of Love.’ The benefit concert was aired by CBS a month later in a two-hour television special.

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Puyallup Fair - 1990 (Courtesy of Lisa Rowland)

      Graham and Russell wanted to do something different to celebrate their first 15 years, so they embarked on an acoustic tour in Canada and the States. The tour began in March and took the band to nine cities, in what was essentially a warm-up for a major tour starting in May. The larger summer tour was planned around the arrival of the bands new album, ‘The Earth Is,’ which was to be released on their own newly-formed label called Roundtable Records.

      The acoustic tour featured just four performers, with Graham using an amplified 6- and 12-string guitar, Larry Antonino on upright electric and acoustic bass, Guy Allison on grand piano and Russell on lead vocal. All four musicians wore black suits, white shirts and no ties, giving them a stark appearance. The tour offered a chronological program that spanned the 15-year partnership of Graham and Russell, and the set list included early tracks such as ‘Old Habits Die Hard,’ ‘Do It Again,’ ‘I Want To Give It All’ and ‘It’s Not Easy.’ They also paid tribute to their most significant influence, the Beatles, with an acappella version of ‘She’s Leaving Home.’ A large screen behind the performers displayed photographs of Graham and Russell from when they were babies. Guy Allison joined the tour on the advice of Jimmy Haun. He had a tremendous amount of experience, including stints with The Moody Blues from 1987 to 1989 and a short time with progressive rock band World Trade. Allison said that he jumped at the opportunity to play piano on the acoustic tour because he felt it could be similar to Elton John’s live 1971 album titled ‘11/17/70.’

1990 Tour Acoustic Border.jpg

      The mini-tour got mixed reviews. Music critics heard that a new Air Supply album was on the horizon, so they were curious to hear new material:
      The tour was sparse this time, and the duo whom [Russell and Graham] brought along on bass and grand piano exuded great talent and taste and gave a few of their hits a more subtle approach. Russell Hitchcock has a remarkable voice that sounds even better live than on record. But the concert only had one dimension, and that was the accessible-emotion angle. When not playing their many hits, the duo had a chance to change things a little, try a new fabric, push a different emotional button. They didn’t do that, and it made the show flat. Another problem was some particularly bad production aspects. The audience was left in the dark for more than five minutes before anything happened on stage. An often embarrassingly amateurish slide show accompanied the music. Lighting, trying to follow the quartet on the revolving stage, occasionally looked frantic. Presumably most of that will be taken care of when the duo sets out in earnest upon the release of their new album. - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

      The acoustic summer tour began in May but was cut short and eventually canceled due to medical reasons. The highly anticipated new album was not released during the tour, leaving fans to wonder if it would ever see the light of day. But the shortened tour was still considered a success, with most of the venues filled to capacity. A concert at the 2,700 seat Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix was almost completely sold out, and according to theatre spokesman Phil Taylor, tickets sold faster than any other date in recent memory. “That was one of our most successful tours,” said Graham. “If we decide to do it again, we’ll wait until [unplugged] dies down.”

      In July, Russell appeared on the soundtrack from the movie Arachnophobia. The movie was a success at the box office and the Hollywood Records soundtrack featured several big names in the music business such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Jimmy Buffett.  A song written by Diane Warren and sung by Russell, called ‘Caught In Your Web (Swear To Your Heart),’ was considered one of the better songs on the soundtrack. After the song earned high praise, Hollywood Records released ‘Swear To Your Heart’ as a single in late 1990. It was Russell’s second solo single to chart, reaching #9 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart on March 10, 1991.  

russell hitchock sweart to your heart promo cd_edited-1.jpg
‘Swear To Your Heart’ - Promotional CD Single

      Air Supply wrapped up the year with a brief tour of South America, including their first visit to Argentina. They toured in places that other bands neglected. They played large cities in South America and Asia but they also traveled off the beaten path, bringing their music to towns and villages that were not accustomed to hosting world class bands. It was this hard work and dedication that would soon turn Air Supply into international superstars. “We had an instance with Latin America several years ago, and we had only played a few shows there, when we played a music festival (Vina del Mar) in Chile with people from all over Latin America,” recalls Russell. “After the show we had three or four people say to us, ‘Why haven’t you played in Bolivia or Columbia or Venezuela?’ So we told them that no one had asked us to and it’s that simple. So after that incident we got in touch with people who handled tours in Latin America and went everywhere over the next three years. For people who had heard our records but had never seen you, the fact that you even show up is a big plus. They appreciate the effort that it takes to get there and put up with technical conditions that may not be what you like.”
 楼主| 发表于 2013-3-5 16:54 | 显示全部楼层
译文: <转载请注明空气补给中文网>
      1989的早些时候,Air Supply在洛杉矶AIV studio排练,为了准备南美和美国的巡演。Graham已经完成了数首新歌,当然对这些歌能造成什么反响很忧虑。未来看似很光明,因为Air Supply已经和Enigma Records签约发行下一张专辑。“是的,我们显然遇到了一些困难,但我们还是要想办法向前进。” Russell说。“我们已经有了许多新素材,也签约了新唱片公司Enigma。他们是非常有上进心的。公司的两位老板很年轻又会对市场有很多思考。他们有过许多好歌,现在他们控制了发行,可以把好歌送到电台去,显然我们在最近几年一直在挣扎。这是一家新的公司,有着新的员工,新的能量,我们希望把我们的唱片带给歌迷。整个事情在我们身边渐渐改变。对于未来,应该是光明的。”

  Enigma Records是一家美国厂牌特别发行摇滚和另类音乐。在80年代签约了Stryper,第一支Christian摇滚乐队,在他们1986年发行专辑 ‘To Hell With The Devil’ 获得主流音乐界的肯定之后大获成功,专辑也获得了白金销量。Enigma由一对兄弟William和Wesley Hein兄弟和合作人Jim Martone掌控着。而Air Supply不知道的是,Enigma Records正在重组的边缘,很快将卖给Capitol Records和EMI Group。Enigma在财政上挣扎了超过2年了,而当他们签约了glam摇滚乐队Poison后情况越来越糟糕。有传言说其实是Poison乐队造成了这个厂牌在1991年的破产。

      Russell再次个人出击,冒险和波多黎各女歌手Ednita Nazario录制了一首合唱曲,歌曲收录在她1989的专辑 ‘Fuerza De Gravedad’ (地心引力)中。 Ednita是80年代末著名南美流行音乐艺人,在6岁的时候最年轻的签约唱片公司的艺人。这首歌 ‘De Todos Modos’ 以西班牙语录制,在拉丁美洲是周大热歌曲。这是第一首Russell用西班牙语录音的歌曲,帮助他在国际中建立知名度。‘De Todos Modos’ 也收录在Nazario于1991年的精选集CD中(Super Exitos)。

     Air Supply的现场音乐会录像即将完成制作,并且在洛杉矶进行剪辑。“这将是呈现一场完整的演唱会。” Graham说。“1988年在Ventura剧院录制。”

     在5月下旬,Air Supply开始了在南美的9个国家长达5个星期的巡演,而他们也在期间录制了额外的后台片段为了他们即将发行的录影带。他们于7月下旬回到美国。“佛罗里达将是美国巡演的最后一站,我们会召开新的一次歌迷大会。” Graham说,“我们和我们的经纪人Barry Siegel正在努力工作。在大会的后一天我们回来录制我们的新专辑。这次我们真的准备开始了! 我们再次和曾经在80年代制作过我们金曲的Harry Maslin合作。这张专辑将会在1月晚些时候发行,不能失败。这是我们3年内第一次发行专辑。Russell和我保证把乐队带回80年代的黄金年代。我们想要再次成功。”

      Greg Hilfman在1988年晚些时候离开了Air Supply,加入了Bangles乐队的巡演。离开David Young和Michael Sherwood作为键盘手参加了夏季巡演。乐队体验了一次超过两年的大跨越,但是Graham和Russell对他们的天赋很有信心, 并且准备在录音室内使用巡演阵容的乐队来录音,而这在之前的两张Air Supply专辑是没有过的。

1989 Summer Tour Setlist

1.The Power Of Love             10. She’s Got The Answer
2. Two Less Lonely People    11. All Out Of Love
3. Never Fade Away               12. The Earth Is...
4. Lost In Love                        13. Dancing With The Mountain
5. Sweet Dreams                   14. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All
6. Stronger Than The Night    15. Stand Up
7. Great Pioneer                     16. Late Again
8. The One That You Love     17. My Best  Friend   
9. Here I Am

      1989年的夏季巡演长达两小时,并且包括了一些新歌加上他们在Arista时期的金曲:

  这个双人组合用 ‘The Power of Love’ 开场,这是一首很棒的情歌,配合Hitchcock高亢的嗓音和绚丽的灯光效果。在演出的开始,舞台呈现出蓝色的灯光。在这首歌唱到最高音的时候,舞台的灯光回到了正常的白色。Hitchcock和Russell是两个不同的风格混合在一起。Hitchcock有强大的高音,广阔的音域,是台下鲜花的目标。Russell有温柔的嗓音,像哑剧演员一样在台上移动着。在一首关于澳大利亚先驱的歌 ‘Great Pioneer’结束时,Russell像拿着一把来复枪一样拿着吉他向他们致敬。‘Stronger Than The Night’ 是一首拥有全部金曲素质的歌曲。但是让观众们激动的却是 ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’ 。这首感人的歌让观众们不由自主的离开了自己的座位,点燃全场。 - 克利夫兰纪事报

      在1989年乐队没有发行任何一张精选集或者是类似的合辑,可能是因为Air Supply正转换于两家厂牌中。‘The Christmas Album’ 在日本由一家新厂牌BMG Victor重制发行。BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group) 是Arista唱片公司的股东,Victor之前被RCA所掌控。当BMG在1988年购买RCA时,BMG Victor厂牌刚刚建立。日版的Christmas Album和之前原版的专辑曲目相同,但是更换了一个新的CD封面。

      之前承诺的,第二次北美歌迷大会于8月13日在佛罗里达Clearwater举行。这是Air Supply夏季最后一场演唱会,很多门票都保留给了歌迷俱乐部的参加者。第二天再当地公园举行了歌迷召集会,同时还有歌迷和乐队成员一起参与的垒球和排球比赛。

      1990是Air Supply成军15周年。应该是需要庆祝一下,但是因和Enigma的唱片合约土崩瓦解了。这无疑是对乐队下一张专辑的一次考验。而让事端变得更糟糕的是,Graham和他的Robin Hood摇滚歌剧的灵感寥寥,Russell的个人专辑是个商业上的失败。不管怎么样,Air Supply坚持不懈百折不挠,把他们的新歌分享给全世界歌迷。

      3月17日,Arista Records庆祝他们自己的成立15周年,在纽约Radio City Music大厅主办了一场AIDS benefit演唱会。这场音乐会邀请了现在和过去的Arista旗下艺人包括Air Supply,Barry Manilow,Milli Vanilli,Dionne Warwick和Whitney Houston。Air Supply演唱了 ‘All Out Of Love’ 。一个月之后这场演唱会由CBS在电视上播出为时两小时的电视特别节目。

      Graham和Russell想要为他们的第一个15周年制造些特别的东西,所以他们在加拿大和美国开始了一场不插电巡演。演出开始于3月,在9个城市进行,这也是为5月开始的主要巡演做必要的暖场。盛大的夏季巡演计划在乐队新专辑 ‘The Earth Is’ 发行时开始,专辑准备在他们自己新成立的厂牌下发行。

      不插电巡演包括了四个人,Graham用amplified 6和12弦吉他,Larry Antonino演奏电吉他和贝斯,Guy Allison演奏钢琴,Russell主唱。所有四人都穿着黑色的服装,白衬衫,不戴领带,看起来很光鲜亮丽。巡演按时间顺序演唱,15年的搭档Graham和Russell,演唱了包括 ‘Old Habits Die Hard’, ‘Do It Again’, ‘I Want To Give It All’ 和 ‘It’s Not Easy’ 。他们也向对他们影响深远的乐队如the Beatles致敬,唱了 ‘She’s Leaving Home’ 。Guy Allison在 Jimmy Haun的建议下加入了巡演。他有着很多经验,包括在1987年到1989年间参加了激进摇滚乐队World Trade。Allison说他选择在不插电演出中演奏钢琴是因为感觉这很像Elton John的1971年专辑 ‘11/17/70’。

      这次小型演出收到的评论良莠不齐。乐评家得知Air Supply的新专辑即将发行,所以他们对演唱会上听到的新歌很好奇:
  巡演场次这次少了很多,双人组合 [Russell and Graham] 一起把贝斯和钢琴都带来了,天赋和品位微妙地都流露出来。Russell Hitchcock他标志性的嗓音听起来甚至比专辑中更棒。当不演唱经典老歌的时候,这个双人组合尝试新的东西。而他们没有那样做,这让演出看起来很平淡。另一个问题特别糟糕,在舞台上有东西出现前听众在黑夜里已经离开超过5分钟了。一个令人尴尬的相当业余的幻灯片伴随着音乐。灯光,试着跟随着旋转的舞台,偶尔看起来很疯狂。可能最需要令人关注的则是这个双人组合将要发行他们的新专辑。 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

      夏季不插电巡演在5月开始,但是事实上由于医疗原因被缩短甚至取消。新专辑并没有在巡演中发行,让歌迷期待何时能够发售。回想这一切,Graham认为这个缩短的不插电巡演是成功的,甚至有突破性。一场在2700人座位的凤凰城Celebrity剧院的演出几乎全部售罄,按照剧院的发言人Phil Taylor说,在我最近的记忆中还没有如此之快的销售速度。“那时我们最成功的演出之一。假如让我们再来一次,我们一定愿意。”

      7月,Russell在电影Arachnophobia中献声。电影大获成功,Hollywood Record让许多大牌发行了原声大碟,诸如Frank Sinatra,Tony Bennett 和 Jimmy Buffett。Russell演唱了由Diane Warren创作的歌曲名叫 ‘Caught In Your Web (Swear To Your Heart)’,被认为是原声大碟中最棒的歌之一。在这首歌收到足够多的表扬后,Hollywood Records在1990年发行了单曲 ‘Swear To Your Heart’ 。这是Russell第二首上榜的个人单曲,1991年3月10日在成人流行榜上获得了第#9名的佳绩。

      Air Supply在南美作了简短的巡演,包括访问了阿根廷,并且结束了一年的演出。他们所到之处别的乐队都被忽略了。他们在南美和亚洲的大城市演出,但他们也不走寻常路,把他们的音乐带到小镇中,而这些地方几乎不会邀请世界级的明星。这也正是这样的风格让Air Supply很快在世界范围内成为超级巨星。“几年前我们在南美演出时有这样一个事情,我们在那里仅仅表演几场,当我们在智利音乐节(Vina del Mar)演出的时候,所有南美洲的人都涌到了那里。” Russell说,“在那场演出过后,有3,4个人这样对我们说,‘为什么你们不在玻利维亚,哥伦比亚或者委内瑞拉演出?’ 我们告诉他们,没人邀请过我们,就这样简单。在这次事件之后我们和安排我们南美巡演的人谈了,接着我们在接下去三年时间我们去了各个地方。对于那些听过我们专辑但是没见过我们演唱会的人来说,甚至见面都是一个奢侈。他们对此相当感激。”
 楼主| 发表于 2015-2-6 14:48 | 显示全部楼层
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