The musical season between the ’70s and ’80s was a transition time when it was difficult to see where the post-disco post-punk soundscape was heading. It opened the door for a host of acts that often didn’t easily fit in with waxing and waning trends to lay claim to the Top 10—acts as disparate as Pat Benatar, Missing Persons, REO Speedwagon, Billy Squier and a little-known Australian band that came out of nowhere called Air Supply. Led by vocalists Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, Air Supply had been gaining momentum in Australia for several years before the single “Lost In Love” caught the ear of Arista Records boss Clive Davis.
The song went to No. 3 in the U.S. in 1980 and became the title track of an album that spawned two more Top 5 hits, “Every Woman in the World” and “All Out of Love.”
Hitchcock and Russell, immediately recognizable due to a height difference akin to Simon & Garfunkel, had effectively become a duo in the process of becoming become international stars, and continued the hit-making with 1981 album The One That You Love. That title track went to No. 1, and the hits kept coming until MTV made image a priority over soft-rock sentiments. Air Supply’s fans, meanwhile, stayed lost in love.
The Orleans, 8 p.m. May 27-29, starting at $39.95 plus tax and fee. 702.284.7777
