Air Supply Contends It’s A Rock ’N’ Roll Band

hitchcock

Air Supply Contends It’s A Rock ’N’ Roll Band



    Because the British-Australian duo Air Supply is known for ’80s soft rock hits, “Lost in Love,” “All Out of Love” and “Every Woman in the World,” Graham Russell, the group’s guitarist and singer-songwriter, says that audiences may be surprised by its live show.

    “Anybody that has never seen us should come to the show,” he says. “It is rock and roll and it is right in your face. I always say to people that haven’t seen us, it is everything that you think it isn’t. People expect two guys onstage with an acoustic guitar, but it is a rock and roll show. It is pretty loud and it is pretty fierce.”

    Russell met Air Supply lead singer Russell Hitchcock in 1975 during rehearsals for “Jesus Christ Superstar” in Sydney, Australia. The pair hit it off immediately.

    “When we met, we obviously didn’t know each other at all,” Russell says. “We realized that we had several things in common and the biggest one was we loved The Beatles. We both saw them independently at other parts of the world in 1964. I saw them in England and Russell saw them in Australia. Of course, when I saw them, it changed my life. Then we realized that we were born a few days apart and we have the same name. I think the universe was trying to pull us together to work. There is no doubt about that.”

    The music of Air Supply was inescapable in the early 1980s, with seven Top 5 singles in a row, equaling The Beatles’ consecutive run of Top 5 singles. They have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.

    Air Supply has been together 38 years, which Russell attributes to mutual respect.
   
    “Neither of us encroaches on the other’s particular function in the band,” Russell says. “I write the songs and Russell is the singer. He has no desire to be a songwriter and I have no desire to be the lead singer. We’ve been friends forever. We never have arguments. We just do what we are supposed to do.”

    Even successful married couples argue, but Russell insists that he and Hitchcock have never had a disagreement.
   
    “Russell has been married four times, so he knows all about that,” Russell says. “But we have had none, no, never. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

    Air Supply are road warriors, playing 150 dates per year all over the world, including Europe, India, China, South America and even Cuba.

    “We are going into Myanmar — the former Burma — this year,” Russell says. “Nobody has been in there before, so we are looking forward to that. We have never played in Russia. I’d like to do that before we retire. But I think we have plenty of time.”

    Russell says they don't usually encounter any language barriers in performing in foreign countries.

    "They know every word to every song," he says. "When we first went to China in '95, we didn't think we would be very well received. But they knew every word. They always do. They learn it phonetically from the lyrics on the albums. They may not speak English in every particular country, but they know every word to every song.

    "I think they know it is very romantic, but they don't know what they are singing about. A lot of people learn English from the lyrics. I have had several people come up to me over the years and say, 'I didn't know a word of English, but I learned your lyrics and now I speak fluent English.' It's great. It's a good thing to pass on."

    Air Supply ran into cultural differences with the No. 2 hit single "All Out of Love." The song was already a Top 10 hit in Australia when they signed with Arista Records in 1980. Arista Records president Clive Davis wanted to change one line of the song to make it a hit in America.

    "Originally, it was 'I'm all out of love, I want to arrest you,' " Russell says. "It was a really weird line. The song had already been a hit in Australia with those lyrics. When he heard it, he said, 'No, it needs to be more Westernized, more Americanized.' So, he put in 'I'm so lost without you.' At first, I resisted it, as any songwriter would. But then he convinced me. He said, 'If you change this line, it will go to No. 1.' I had no hesitation. He was right."

    Air Supply is set to release a new EP this week with two dance songs, "Desert Sea Sky" and "I'll Remember You."

    Releasing songs intended for dance clubs seems uncharacteristic for Air Supply, so Russell was asked again about the live show.

    "We rock from hell," he says. "I would put us up next to any band in the world."
                                    
     In Concert
     Air Supply performs at 9 p.m. Friday on the Grandstand Stage at the St. Joseph County 4-H Fairgrounds, 5117 Ironwood Road, South Bend. The concert is free with $8 admission to the fair. $10 track seats are available. For more information, call 574-291-4870 or visit the website 4hfair.com.

hitchcock

译文大意：

　　80年代英国-澳大利亚流行组合Air Supply以 “Lost in Love” ，“All Out of Love” ， “Every Woman in the World”成名。组合的吉他，歌曲作者Graham Russell说观众一定会被这个现场秀所震撼。

　　“没有来看过我们演出的人们最应该来看。” 他说。“这摇滚扑面而来。我一直这么对没看过我们演出的人们这样说。人们期待这两个家伙不插电演出，但是这是场摇滚演出。我们声音很大很狂野。”

　　Russell在1975年和主唱Russell Hitchcock在澳大利亚悉尼的耶稣超级明星演出中相遇，并且立刻走红。

　　“我们第一次见面完全对对方不了解。” Russell说，“我们意识到我们互相有许多兴趣爱好都相同，比如对Bealtes的热爱。1964年我们在世界的不同的地方都看了他们演出。我在英格兰，Russell则在澳大利亚看了演出。当然，当我们第一次看到他们的时候，我们的生活都被改变了。我们有相同的名字。我感觉冥冥之中我们要在一起合作。毋庸置疑。”

　　1980年初Air Supply的音乐势不可挡，连续产生7首Top5金曲，与Beatles的记录持平。世界范围专辑销量达到1亿张。

　　Air Supply成军38年， 两人相敬如宾。
   
　　“我们两人在乐队中的作用互不干扰。” Russell说，“我写歌，而Russell是主唱。他不会去写歌而我也不想成为乐队主唱。我们是永远的朋友。从来没有争吵。我们只去做我们应该做的事情。”

　　甚至是夫妇都会争吵，但是Russell坚持说他和Hitchcock从来没有任何不合。
   
　　“Russell结果四次婚，所以他很懂这方面的事。” Russell说，“但是我们从来没有吵过。从来没有。很神奇不是吗？”

　　Air Supply一直在巡演，一年在全世界范围内演出超过150场，包括欧洲，印度，中国，南美甚至古巴。

　　“我们今年将要去缅甸。” Russell说，“之前没人在那里演出过，所以我们都很期待。我们从未在俄罗斯演出过。在退休前我们期望去那里演出一次。我们应该有足够的时间。”

    Russell认为他们通常在不同国家演出都不会遇到任何语言上的障碍。

    "他们会唱每首歌。" 他说。"95年我们第一次造访中国，我们不清楚会受到如何的反响。但是他们知道每句歌词。他们从发音上学些歌词。在许多国家可能都不说英语，但他们却会唱每首歌。

　　"我认为他们觉得这些歌都很浪漫，但他们也许不知道究竟在诉说些什么。许多人从这些歌中学习了英语。许多人会这么说，'我原先完全不懂英语，但是我从这些歌词中学习英语，现在我说了一口流利的英语。' 这真是太棒了。"

    Air Supply用他们的亚军单曲 "All Out of Love"解决了文化上的差异。这首歌在澳大利亚排名Top10，1980年他们签约Arista唱片公司。Arista唱片公司总裁Clive Davis想在歌词上做一些改变以适应美国市场。

　　"原先的歌词是，it was 'I'm all out of love, I want to arrest you,' " Russell说，"这真是很奇怪。这首歌在澳大利亚成为金曲的时候就是这样的歌词，他听到之后，说，'不，歌词应该需要西方化一下，更美国式一些。' 所以，他改成了'I'm so lost without you.' 起先，就像许多歌手一样，我也很抵制。但是他说服了我。他说，'假如你改了这些歌词，这将会成为冠军单曲。毫不犹豫，他是正确的。"

　　Air Supply计划本周发行一张新单曲，包括两首舞曲，"Desert Sea Sky" 和 "I'll Remember You"。

　　发行舞曲似乎不是Air Supply的标志性风格，所以Russell再次本问及此次的现场演出。

　　"我们从地狱中来摇滚。"