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player ready...Air Supply’s roots go back more than 40 years to Sydney, Australia.
Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell met there in 1975.
Five years later, their run of international fame began in earnest with “Lost in Love.”
They are still together, still recording and still on the road, having just returned this month from Asian dates.
“We work really hard, actually,” Hitchcock said in a recent phone interview. “We still do about 120 to 130 shows a year all over the world. We’ve always considered ourselves a touring band, and that’s what we do.”
Air Supply performs its distinctive brand of romantic rock ’n’ roll at 9 p.m. Eastern time June 22 in the Silver Creek Event Center at Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Mich.
Hitchcock links the duo’s staying power to Russell’s composition skills.
“If you don’t have the music, you can’t survive; he’s such a prolific songwriter that we’ve always had great material,” Hitchcock, who was born in Australia, said.
Born in England, Russell crossed paths with Hitchcock after both were in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.
“We were both in a production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’” Hitchcock recalled.
Hitchcock and Russell connected 43 years ago in Sydney with the help of common bonds that included an affinity for the Beatles, and singing.
They began playing coffee bars, nightclubs and pizza parlors by utilizing two voices and Russell’s guitar.
Soon, they built a reputation for well-honed harmonies and doing original songs that Russell wrote.
A single brought chart success in the Land Down Under.
Air Supply was born, and momentum built.
The duo was able to refine its stage skills as the opening act for noted rocker Rod Stewart in Australia and North America.
The lilting “Lost in Love,” written by Russell, gave the lads another Australian hit, which led to inroads in the United States market.
Recording for Arista Records, Hitchcock and Russell would go on to enjoy stratospheric success in America, garnering eight Top 10 hits on Billboard’s pop-singles chart, starting in 1980.
1983’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” became the pair’s last Top 10 single.
Looking to the future, one of Hitchcock’s goals is to see his musical partner win a Grammy Award, contending Russell is an underrated songwriter.
“I think he should have been recognized long before now,” said Hitchcock, 69 as of June 15.
The 68-year-old Russell wrote “The One That You Love,” a No. 1 single in 1981.
“Sweet Dreams,” another Russell creation, shot to the Top 10 in America one year later.
Hitchcock, meanwhile, believes “All Out of Love” is a prime candidate when it comes to choosing Air Supply’s signature song.
Featuring another of Russell’s melodies, the lush heart-tugger has found its way to a new generation through a 2018 superhero movie. “It’s in the new ‘Deadpool 2’ movie,” Hitchcock, a Georgia resident, related.
Aside from wanting his music partner to snare a Grammy, Hitchcock has another desire to pursue.
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“We’ve always wanted to play Russia; we’ve never been there,” Hitchcock said. “That’s a big goal for me.”
Wherever Air Supply takes the stage during the normal course of performing, it is not a tranquil, soft-rock affair, Hitchcock assured.
“The show has always been a rock ’n’ roll show, and it is to this day,” the singer said.
Air Supply has endured for four decades. The Hitchcock-Russell bond is strong.
“We love to perform together still,” Hitchcock said. “We’re the best of friends.”
A double album performed with the Prague Symphony Orchestra is due out this year, while Air Supply states it also is eyeing its 5,000th concert Labor Day weekend in Las Vegas.
The chemistry between Hitchcock and Russell has been crucial in keeping the Australian-born dream going.
“We have a lot of fun together — I think that’s one of the big things too,” Hitchcock surmised.
Air Supply
When: 9 p.m. EDT June 22
Where: Four Winds Casino Resort, 11111 Wilson Road, New Buffalo, Mich.
Tickets: $39-$59; minors must be accompanied by an adult 21 or older
Information: 866-494-6371; www.fourwindscasino.com