Air Supply - The One That You Love (1981) + Bonus Single

(Australian 1975 - Present)

Air Supply’s highest-charting studio album was released 43 years ago, in 1981 – a milestone for one of the biggest bands of the early '80s, and a circumstance many around the group in its early days would likely have thought impossible.

Air Supply is built around the nexus of songwriter and guitarist Graham Russell and lead singer Russell Hitchcock, who met on the set of an Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975. Their connection was fortuitous – Russell was a songwriter looking for the right voice for his material, and Hitchcock was a bit player in the musical who was largely overlooked.

The duo put a band together with, among others, future Divinyls bassist Jeremy Paul and guitarist Mark McEntee, and in late 1976 scored an Australian Top 10 hit (“Love and Other Bruises”) and saw their self-titled debut album go gold. Air Supply opened for Rod Stewart on his 1977 tour of Australia, the U.S. and Canada, but came back home at the end of the tour to very little fanfare, eventually compelling everyone but Hitchcock and Russell to find other gigs.

Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock 1980's

The pair weathered two years of the indignities most starving musicians experience – Hitchcock moved back in with his parents, Russell resorted to searching for loose change in couch cushions to buy food, etc. In 1979 the two recruited a new group of musicians and recorded the Russell composition “Lost in Love,” which lifted Air Supply back into the Australian Top 20.

Record industry mogul and then-chairman of Arista Records Clive Davis heard “Lost in Love” and signed the band to his label. Released internationally in January 1980, “Lost in Love” was a global hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S.

Air Supply On Countdown - Early 80's

Air Supply’s 1980 album, also titled 'Lost in Love', did indeed yield more hits, particularly in the U.S. – “All Out of Love” topped out at No. 2 (stuck behind a Diana Ross song and "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen) and “Every Woman in the World” peaked at No. 5. Air Supply supported the record by touring. And touring. And touring.

“To give them an image, we toured them [in the U.S.] three times in 12 months,” their then-manager Fred Bestall told Billboard in 1981. “We played colleges as well as auditoriums and fairs. We toured them so much purposely to give them an image other than a band that sings nice ballads. … We’ve gone back to those markets again to re-establish that they are a good live band.”

The momentum worked. With a head of steam and a brace of new songs, the band entered a Sydney studio with one-time David Bowie producer Harry Maslin to record Lost in Love’s follow-up, "The One That You Love", which was released in July 1981.

At this time the band comprised [from left to right above]: Dave Green (bass), Ralph Cooper (drums), Graham Russell (guitar/vocals), David Moyse (guitar), Russell Hitchcock (lead vocals), and Rex Goh (guitar).

The album’s title track moves from a barely audible beginning to a powerhouse close, displaying the full range of Hitchcock’s voice in a little over four minutes. And, as Russell remembers, Hitchcock’s performance was captured in a single take.

“There’s just an energy and a fire and a passion, and Russell had that,” he told the podcast Misplaced Straws. “It was just incredible to hear it ... In those days, that’s how you recorded; everything was live. There were no tuning machines in those days. You sang the song from top to bottom; that’s the way it was.”

“The One That You Love” was released in April 1981 and in its eleventh week on the Billboard Hot 100, it hit No. 1 – the band’s only single to achieve that status. Although it is a well known song, strangely the single did not chart in most of Europe (see left).

There were more hits to come – both “Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)” and “Sweet Dreams” hit No. 5, extending Air Supply’s consecutive Top 5 singles streak to six. “Sweet Dreams,” in particular, had a spacey intro with guitar arpeggios, strings, dramatic piano chords and maybe even some alien instrumentation that someone had to learn to play. The song’s success surprised Russell.

“I had no concept that that was ever going to be a single,” he admitted to Songfacts. “I just thought, ‘Oh, I've got free rein here, I don't have to particularly write a hit song, I can just do something that I want and that I think would be great for the band.’ But when Clive [Davis] heard it, he was all over it. So I was very surprised then. But I think now I've learned to distinguish certain songs from others.”

The hits on 'The One That You Love' were complemented by some fine deep cuts. Hitchcock and Russell’s voices on the chorus of the rocking opener “Don’t Turn Me Away” lock together tightly; “I Want to Give It All” (the B-side of the “The One That You Love” single) is all quiet power – a perfectly arranged blend of voice, guitar and strings. “Keeping the Love Alive” could have been a fourth Top 5 from the album, had it been released as a single, so stately and radio-ready was its chorus.

The 'One That You Love' hit No. 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart – Air Supply’s only studio album to make it to the U.S. Top 10 (though their 1983 Greatest Hits record would surpass it, peaking at No. 7). It was a level of success for the band once again foretold by Davis, upon hearing the final mix of the record.

“That was a very important moment because it was our second album,” Russell recalled to podcaster Harvey Brownstone. “We’d had three Top 5s [from Lost in Love] so … we had to impress him. … He was in the studio and he was sitting right at the console on his own and we were all behind him. He listened back to the final mix of The One That You Love and we were going, ‘Oh God; [we] hope he likes it.’

“And after it was finished,” Russell continued, “he didn’t say anything for two minutes, and that’s an eternity. And then he turned around to us and he said, ‘It’s going to go to No. 1". And it did. [extract from 4therecordcom.home.blog]

The Album Cover
While the music on this album may be exceptional, the album artwork is uninspiring. Seriously, the rear photo of the band, featured on the original releases, would have been far better to adorn the front album cover instead of the hot air balloon on the initial releases, and the series of hot air balloons on the Australian CD reissue (see right), and is about as pointless as you can get. This album cover really should be added to The Worst (And Most Disturbing) Album Covers Of All Time.

OK, so I’m extremely critical of this album artwork, but in my opinion it is an immediate deterrent and unlikely to appeal to anyone, other than the most ardent fans. It certainly doesn’t showcase, or represent, just how outstanding the music is.

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my pristine vinyl and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases.  Strangely, my Australian "Big Time" pressing did not come with the Inside Sleeve that contains the lyrics and credits - typical of most Australian Record Companies who were always try to save a dollar!  My scans for this missing sleeve were sourced from Discogs.

I am also including as a bonus track, the edited version of "Sweet Dreams" which was released as their 3rd single from the album (the album version was over 5mins long while the single clocked in close to 4 mins). 

 

Track List:

01 Don't Turn Me Away 3:37

02 Here I Am 3:41

03 Keeping The Love Alive 3:29

04 The One That You Love 4:11

05 This Heart Belongs To Me 4:05

06 Sweet Dreams 5:10

07 I Want To Give It All 3:37

08 I'll Never Get Enough Of You 3:42

09 Tonite 3:39

10 I've Got Your Love 3:32

11 Sweet Dreams (Bonus Single Release)   3:58

Air Supply were:

Graham Russell (guitar/vocals)

Russell Hitchcock (lead vocals)

David Moyse (guitar)

Rex Goh (guitar)

Dave Green (bass)

Ralph Cooper (drums)

Air Supply Link (228Mb)