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第七章:新的唱片合同和新专辑 (1978-1979) (A New Record Deal and Album)

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发表于 2012-11-11 17:23 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Chapter Seven: A New Record Deal and Album (1978-1979)

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      In September of 1978, Air Supply signed a record deal with Big Time Phonograph Record Co., a new label started by Air Supply’s managers, Lance Reynolds and Fred Bestall. Big Time was a division of independent Australian label Wizard Records, owned by Robie Porter and Steve Binder. Porter was also a principal in Big Time. Distribution and manufacturing was handled by either Nippon Phonogram, EMI or Polygram, depending on the country of release. According to the managers, the aim of Big Time was to keep its roster small and personal. “We signed with Polygram as the first band on their Big Time Phonograph recording company label,” said Russell. “The new deal gave us a lot more freedom in the studio and more control over the production. It was also a lot better financially.”

      “Robie and I really bonded, in that he was really a genius at taking talent and molding them,” said American producer and director Steve Binder. “He had all the tools as a record producer, a mentor and as a businessman. He had big success with Daddy Cool and Rick Springfield in America, and it was near impossible in the American market to take an unknown and make them stars so quickly. Some of the artists resented him because he was so talented. In the studio he was a master at knowing when to punch in, when to change the lines and arrangements if needed.”   

      With a recording contract in place, Air Supply focused their attention on the new record, which was already several months in the making. Considering how quickly the first three records came together, this project must have felt like an eternity. In October, the band returned to the Sydney pub and club circuit, at places like the Coogee Oceanic Hotel and the Parramatta War & Peace Hotel. They performed some of their new material, including an upbeat track called ‘I Don’t Wanna Lose You.’ “We are closing the show with that song,” said Russell, “and it’s another one of my favourites at the moment. It’s a rock and roll song and it has that predominant guitar sound.”  

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Southern Star Band - (L) T. Emmanuel, (R) F. Esler-Smith

      Air Supply was performing without a keyboard player, by choice, and re-united with Frank Esler-Smith in a studio role. Esler-Smith, who had been working mostly with the Marcia Hines Band and Doug Parkinson’s Southern Star Band, played keyboards on three tracks. Keyboardist Cos Russo (former member of Adelaide-based band Sailor and the David Ninnes band) played on another three, and guitarist Tommy Emmanuel contributed to ‘Lost In Love.’ Emmanuel was a member of the short-lived group Goldrush, and a session player with The Southern Star Band at the time, and was considered one of Australia’s most accomplished session guitarists, having gained the nickname ‘One-Take Tommy.’ His unique guitar style, which involved playing bass with the thumb and melody parts with the first two or three fingers at the same time, was an important addition on ‘Lost In Love.’ “The acoustic guitar is like an orchestra,” said Emmanuel. “It’s got everything. It sounds completely self-contained. I saved [Air Supply] a lot of money because I did things so quickly. These guys were all friends of mine, and they didn’t actually pay me for playing on ‘Lost In Love.’ I did them a favour by coming in and helping them out.” According to Charles Fisher, the total cost to produce the single ‘Lost In Love’ was just $1,700.  

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Trafalgar Studios

      The new album was produced by Charles Fisher and engineered by Peter Walker at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney. Fisher, referred to in Australia as ‘The Song Doctor,’ was best known for his work with the Australian band Ol’ 55. He later went on to produce a successful album for Savage Garden in 1997, winning an ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) award for producer of the year. Air Supply must have had tremendous respect for Fisher as a producer, because they knew that their next album was do or die for the band.

      Trafalgar Studios, located in Sydney’s inner South-Western suburbs, was opened in the mid-1970s by Fisher. It quickly became one of Australia’s premier independent recording facilities despite its tiny footprint and proximity to residential homes. Graham often talked about the lack of space it provided: “I had half an inch between the end of my guitar and the studio wall. The insulation on the walls was made of cardboard and egg cartons, and there were cats running all over the place.” Trafalgar Studios was located under a flight path to Sydney airport, so extra care went into sound proofing.   

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Graham, Russell, David, Ralph, Brian

      Charles Fisher believed that 24-track Trafalgar Studios was best suited for Air Supply because the band was looking for a new sound. “While a certain technical standard is obviously necessary,” said Fisher, “I do not believe that lavish studios make hits. Virtually every big rock act in this country has recorded at Trafalgar because it is a true rock and roll studio. Every staff member, including administrative staff, has been on the road with bands and knows how musicians think. At Trafalgar there are no rules, artists have total freedom of hours, behavior, equipment and everything else.” These things all factored into Air Supply’s decision to use Fisher as producer, and to record at his studio. Years later, Fisher said that working with Air Supply was a massive career highlight for himself.  

      “In the past, especially in the final stages of being with our previous record company, we didn’t really have enough artistic control,” said Russell. “This gave us an opportunity to make sure everything was as good as it could be. In fact, the album was on and off for six or seven months in the making, which is a long time here. The new album is a complete change for us. There won’t be the same sort of lush orchestral backing tracks as we had before. We’re trying for a more live sound with more feel. Half the new album is already down, mostly material written by Graham, with a couple co-written by Brian [Hamilton]. We’ll pick a single soon, and it should be out around the end of next month. We’ve had good chart success in Asia and there’s talk of a tour there later on, but at the moment our efforts will be concentrated on Australia. Once the single is out, we’ll be back on the road promoting it and hopefully we’ll be able to do a couple of our own concerts.”

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'Bring Out The Magic'

      In November 1978, Big Time released the launch single, ‘Bring Out The Magic,’ with a promotional video to show the world that Air Supply was back. Despite significant airplay in parts of Australia, and in New Zealand five months later, the song did not enter most of the important music charts. It reached #24 on Canberra’s 2CA Top 30 on March 22, 1979. Looking back, drummer Ralph Cooper thought the single had some positives; “People tend to forget very quickly,” he said. “So I think a lot of people were made aware that the band was back, and new.”

      The Australian music landscape was in a state of disarray in 1978, and perhaps contributed to the poor showing of ‘Bring Out The Magic.’ Russell Powers, the music director of leading Sydney station 2SM, blamed the public for what was the worst year since 1965 for Australian recording success. “Australian bands are better than ever before,” he said, “they are delivering the goods on record and radio is supporting them, the problem is - the public isn’t. I think it all comes down to priorities. Money is tight and instead of buying two to three albums a week, the average buyer is only shelling out for one, and it’s more often than not a ‘biggie’ like ‘Grease’ or ‘Saturday Night Fever,’ and not an Oz album. As far as I’m concerned, the single is dead. The public wants albums not singles. During the six months that we have been compiling our combined (LP and single) chart, there has not been one single in the top three, which must say something.”

      “Yeah, I thought [‘Bring Out The Magic’] would be much bigger,” said Russell, “but I also had a few reservations. When you’re in a situation where you haven’t had any records out for a long time, and a band has been predominantly known for doing ballads, I hate to put out a song that sounds like something from the band Boston, which can throw people off.”

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Eureke Hotel - Geelong, Australia

      In support of their single, Air Supply played shows in Melbourne and its suburbs between October, 1978 and January, 1979. They performed mostly in hotels, such as the Doncaster Inn, Fern Tree Gully Hotel, Eureke Hotel and South Six Hotel. The live shows included guitarist David Moyse, drummer Ralph Cooper and bassist Brian Hamilton, and attracted mostly small crowds. The band looked and sounded much different from their previous tours. “The whole image is different this time,” said Graham. “We’re out of the white stuff and the glittery sequined hot pants thing. We’ve gone through that and it was inevitable to do all that. The image is more of a down to earth thing now.”

      Russell felt they had developed a different sound, which better suited their new image; “I think our sound over there [in America], and to a slightly lesser degree here [in Australia] because physically we have one less guitarist now, is just more basic. I think touring with somebody like Rod Stewart, and we watched every single show, it’s a rock and roll atmosphere. I think it changed our music a lot in that regard. Also, at the moment we don’t use keyboards on stage. There is much more emphasis on the rhythm section and guitar sounds. The emphasis obviously is still on vocals because its always been a vocal band, and there are three very strong singers in the band, so we use that as much as we can.”

      On January 7, 1979, Air Supply headlined a free concert at the annual Festival of Sydney. The early evening concert took place at the outdoor Opera House forecourt and featured a wide range of jazz and folk artists, including Brenda Kristin, Vin Garbutt and Davey Graham.

      In late January, Reynolds and Bestall promoted Air Supply’s new material at Midem, an important music industry trade fair held annually in France. April Music, the publishing arm of CBS Records, was also at the conference to promote Australian artists. April’s repertoire included over 300 songs, but they brought no more than 20 of their best for selling. This included material from Air Supply, Contraband, Dragon and Malcolm McCallum.

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'Life Support' Picture LP

      In early April, Air Supply had completed the basic tracks for their album, but they were worried about not having an up-vibe single. So they went back into the studio to cut a seven-minute song, ‘Can’t Get Excited,’ down to radio station-acceptable three minutes. Engineer Peter Walker calculated that if they took a few pieces out and eliminated a verse, they could get it down to three and a half minutes. But Graham believed it needed the full seven minutes to develop, and refused to alter the song. So at 3 a.m. on a Thursday night, after a few verbal brawls, several takes, pizzas, discussions with producer Charles Fisher, and more calculations from Walker, they decided to leave the song as is, but to exclude it from the album altogether. A frustrated Charles Fisher said, “I’m finishing the album without them,” and he mixed it over the weekend before heading to Los Angeles to cut it at Kendon Studio.  

      For Air Supply’s forthcoming album, Big Time and Wizard took a chance on a new patented technology entering the Australian landscape. A Sydney-based manufacturing firm invented a new technique for producing picture LPs to help the Australian market better compete with higher priced picture imports, brought in by majors such as WEA, EMI and RCA. Picture singles were popular in the early 70s in Australia, but this new technology marked the beginning of local picture LP pressing. Wizard was the first label to try the new technology with three of its own artists: Air Supply, Marcia Hines and the Nauts. These records were priced at $8.50 compared with the $15.99 tag of the imports - which had been selling well. Wizard claimed that its pressing quality was equivalent to standard black vinyl stock, and had set no quantity limit on the items, which would be sold in standard-printed sleeves rather than those with cut-out fronts.

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      The band was excited about the new technology. “We have been very secretive about it over the last few months,” explained Russell, “but we are pleased to announce that [‘Life Support’] will in fact be a picture disc. So the cover the album comes in will also appear on the actual record. This is the first picture disc from an Australian band so we are very interested in the reaction it gets.”

      Despite Wizard’s assurance that the quality of picture LPs was equal to that of traditional vinyl, there was some debate in the studio over whether the record quality would suffer. Engineer Peter Walker believed it would, because the production process with picture discs involved stamping, as opposed to pressing. Wizard promotions officer Alan Black was not even convinced that such vinyl variations would actually sell more records, but admitted that his label’s picture disk debut would create new interest and awareness in Australian product at point of sale.

      ‘Life Support’ (BZL 233) was released in late April. On one side of the picture disc, out of a deep mystic blue, a girl in a spaceship gazes into a crystal ball. On the other side, out of the same blue, five band members (heads encased in see-through bubbles) gaze into the spaceship. The artwork was created by Bondi resident Paul Fullbrook, who‘s large collection of blue oceanic paintings was recognized worldwide. ‘Life Support’ was advertised as a concept album, which Fullbrook‘s cover helped explain. “There are one or two songs that have extraterrestrial overtones,” said Graham. “We run through quite a few different things. ‘Believe In The Supernatural’ is a track which might open a few eyes. It’s got a very spacey feel and it’s something of a departure for us.”

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'Life Support' LP - AXIS

      ‘Life Support’ was released first in Australia and New Zealand, with possible U.S., U.K., South Africa and Japan distribution later. The second single, ‘Lost In Love’ (BZS 306), was released with the album and included ‘Believer’ on the flip-side of the commercial single. ‘Believer’ was not included on the Australian release of ‘Life Support,’ but was later included on the 1983 Japanese LP (20PP-53). ‘Life Support’ was later reissued in Australia with different cover art and on traditional black vinyl by EMI’s budget label Axis Records (AX.1204).

      Album reviews were mostly positive. Many critics, some of who thought that Air Supply had broken up, were impressed that the band was able to come back after its staggering decline over the previous two years. Most bands would have simply given up.

      The pair obviously have been through a lot of together, it is reflected in their work. There was a sort of youthful innocence about ‘Love And Other Bruises’ that is missing in the album. But the musicianship is there still, augmented by such craftsman as Frank Esler-Smith. Here are nine tracks, written by Graham Russell and released on a picture disk, which should lead to a few of the band’s critics listening again. The band’s new single, ‘Lost In Love,’ is included in the tracks on this album, along with such excellent tracks as ‘Bring Out The Magic’ and ‘Believe In The Supernatural.’ The combination of Graham Russell’s melodies, Russell Hitchcock’s vocals and the band’s backing vocals is a compelling one. But, in all, the album remains a little patchy. There is something missing which is hard to identify - the quality which is no longer there was on the single ‘Love And Other Bruises.’ Perhaps the band will be able to recapture it now the worries of labels, managers and line-up are behind it. - Christine Hogan, Sydney Morning Herald

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Graham, David Moyse, Russell 1979 (PIC: Bob King)

      The album shows two sides of Air Supply. There’s five songs that are syrupy, wimpy and over-produced. The strings dominate the band and the result is a series of forgettable tunes. Side two is raw and basic. No strings, just prominent guitar from Graham Russell and David Moyse with lyrics of the lost love and romance variety sung with enough passion to convince the cynical you that the singer means it. Russell Hitchcock sounds like Eric Carmen in full flight. Listening to the guitar playing, I’m reminded of Charles Fisher sitting behind the controls in the studio urging the guitarists to hit the strings like Townshend: ‘Hit’em like you mean it,’ he screams. ‘OK gentleman, let men make records,’ he announces to Air Supply as the eleventh attempt at getting the rhythm track down begins. - Stuart Coupe, RAM

      Picture records are actually an Oz invention. In America they’re used as promotional devices, but they carry a warning: the listening results are not comparable with regular vinyl. The Wizard press release says they’ve overcome the technical problems and ‘Life Support’ will sound as good, if not better, than regular black. It doesn’t, actually. There’s a lot more hiss and static, the result being the album seems to have lost a lot of its production crispness. It’s not a major point but it is irritating for someone who’s listening carefully to an album, through headphones especially. And it‘s particularly unfortunate the new technology doesn’t work 100% for Air Supply, for the songs show every indication of having been worked on painstakingly to achieve something they’ve never reached before - a sharp pop sound with a fulsome rock base. - Anthony O‘Grady, RAM

      ‘Lost In Love’ was a rather long song, at over five minutes, but it caught the attention of radio in Australia and New Zealand. The song entered the David Kent Music Report on May 21 and charted for 18 weeks, peaking at #13 on July 16. It reached #7 in New Zealand. ‘Lost In Love’ helped propel ‘Life Support’ up the album charts, where it peaked at #6 on Canberra’s 2CA Top Albums.

      “When we started ‘Lost In Love’ we felt it had something special about it as compared to the other tracks,” said Ralph Cooper. “It started out as more of a country thing. We did two takes, which took about fifteen minutes. We went and listened to them both, and we all looked at each other and asked which one was better. I thought they were both pretty decent, but we went with number two. There’s a lot of keyboard work. Frank Esler-Smith came into the studio and layered all those keyboards on, which gave it that wonderful sound. It really changed the nature of the track completely. Tommy Emmanuel, a fantastic guitar player, came in and put in a lot of beautiful acoustics. Graham played some terrific rhythm on it. Russell did a lot of layered vocals. When it was finished we were all rolling in the isles because we thought it was great. It has the same kind of magic perhaps that ‘Love And Other Bruises’ had.”  

      “‘Lost In Love’ is a ballad and pretty heavy production number,” said Graham. “It put us back on top again in Australia. It certainly proved that we had not broken up, as some people thought at the time. Once you have a hit record everything changes. You’re not struggling anymore. It helps you get more money for your live shows. In those days in Australia we were making about $200 a night for the whole band and we had to rent a PA. But having a hit record made it a little easier. In Australia that is. You have a hit record in the United States and everything changes. That’s what we really wanted, to have a hit overseas.”

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'Lost In Love' Video (1979)

      A promotional video for ‘Lost In Love’ made it clear that Air Supply was marketing themselves as a duo again. After just a short stint in the band, bassist/vocalist Brian Hamilton left Air Supply prior to the release of ‘Life Support,’ and joined the Renee Geyer band. He was replaced for a short period by Australian bassist Jamie Rogers, who appeared in the ‘Lost In Love’ music video.

      Melbourne-based bassist Criston Barker soon replaced Jamie Rogers. “I grew up in Melbourne working in rock and roll bands all my life,” said Barker. “I had worked with the band Ash and Freeway up until 1979 when I moved to Sydney. My manager at the time, a guy named Sam Righi, said that there was not much going on in Sydney, but there’s this band Air Supply that I could work with if I wanted. I told him that I could not work with these guys, but he said, ‘Look, they are just about to record an album, so it would be worth your while.’ So I said, ‘OK, I will give it a go.’ So I joined them.”   

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Criston Barker with Freeway ('75)

      Throughout June and July, Air Supply played shows at colleges, hotels and RSL clubs in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. They played the Bondi Lifesaver, Sydney’s most renowned rock venue, on July 8. On July 28th, Air Supply played at a 2SM sponsored concert at the Sydney Hordern Pavilion with Jon English and Gillian Eastoe. Three days later they opened for Split Enz at Melbourne State College. On August 21, Air Supply were guest performers on the popular Australian television comedy The Paul Hogan Show.

      Earlier in the year, Graham wrote and submitted a song, ‘Letting My Hair Down,’ to the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan. The annual competition was an international song contest held each November, where the winners from each participating country competed in Japan. It was no accident that for many artists the Festival was an opportunity to turn their dreams into reality. It served as a springboard for launching artists into stardom and gave birth to great new songs. In addition to providing both promotional and technical assistance, prize winners were also offered exposure with a concert tour in Japan. The Australian Popular Song Festival took place on August 11, 1979, and was televised on ATV0 in Melbourne. Live performances included Ray Burgess, Tony Pantano, Delilah, Mary Jane Boyd and Russell Hitchcock. As one of the finalists, Russell sang ‘Letting My Hair Down,’ and finished as runner-up to ‘Here And Now’ by Delilah. Delilah represented Australia at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan, where she finished ninth behind winner Bonnie Tyler and the song ‘Sitting On The Edge Of The Ocean.’ ‘Letting My Hair Down’ was later released by Air Supply as ‘Having You Near Me’ on their 1980 ‘Lost In Love’ album.

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Oct-Nov Tour Schedule

      Air Supply began an ambitious six-week country tour of New South Wales on October 1, hoping to capitalize on the success of ‘Lost In Love.’ The tour was to include 44 shows in total, all at smaller capacity venues such as golf and bowling clubs, country clubs and RSL clubs. But after just a few shows, the tour was cancelled. “It was a disaster,” said Russell. “There were eleven of us in a 15-seat bus, driving eight hours between towns. We would get to a town and there would be ten people at the show. We went to one place we were scheduled to play, and the doors were locked and the lights were out. Needless to say, that tour was canceled very early. That’s Australia for you. We have played every conceivable place, bar, dive. We have played on the steps of the Opera House to 90,000 people and we have played to just six people. We played at a hotel on the corner of Oxford and Taylor Square one night and nobody showed up. That was funny because we went there and the equipment was set up, and it was like eight o’clock, and the guys says he would pay us half the fee if we simply went home. We said, ‘No, we will play.’ We did the whole show to nobody. It was just like a rehearsal. It was a laugh!”

      “It got to a point where we thought we were good,” said Ralph Cooper. “We thought we had good songs. We ended up doing a show in Sydney that was to a really big audience, I think about 20,000 people. A lot of bands were on that day, and we played great. We felt really good about it, but then the band kind of broke up.”

      ‘Lost In Love’ fell out of the charts and the money generated from the single could not sustain the band. So again, they went their separate ways. Meanwhile, Robie Porter still pursued opportunities for them overseas, and he worked with Russell on solo material. They hoped to release a single, and were in negotiations to record an old Dusty Springfield hit. Air Supply bassist Criston Barker worked on solo material of his own.

      In late October, Wizard Records struck a distribution deal with Arista Records, a top U.S. recording company who had recently been sold by Columbia Pictures and Clive Davis to Bertelsmann AG (later known as the Bertelsmann Music Group or BMG). The deal came together while Graham was in England searching for ways to market his songs, and the rest of the band at home collecting unemployment. Suddenly there was a glimmer of hope for Air Supply.   

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Russell & Christie Allen Host Countdown

      Big Time Records pushed forward in Australia and released a third single, ‘Just Another Woman,’ in October, but the disco-inspired song failed to chart. On November 4, Russell co-hosted and performed ‘Just Another Woman,’ without Graham, on the TV show Countdown. Two weeks later, on November 18, ‘Life Support’ achieved gold status in Australia, having sold more than 20,000 copies.

      Robie Porter had established important contacts in North America because Wizard Records had built its success by splitting activities between local Australian recording and the leasing of overseas masters. Porter was already living in the U.S., and it was he who was responsible for getting Air Supply their record deal with Arista, but only after he had presented ‘Lost In Love’ to many record labels in America.

      “Robie told everyone that Air Supply would be huge in America,” said Les Gock from the band Hush. “A lot of the industry never believed him and said, ‘Why would Air Supply do well in America? They are struggling here in Australia.’ But he insisted that Air Supply was going to be huge.”  

      “I took the original version of ‘Lost In Love’ and I remixed it, and played around with it,” said Robie Porter. “I was trying to get a deal in America. I went to fourteen record companies. I got turned down by every one of them. So I called a friend of mine at Arista Music, Billy Meshel. I said, ‘Billy, I think I’ve got a big hit here but I can’t seem to get a deal with it. Can I come down and play it for you?’ I drove down to Beverly Hills and played it for him. He agreed that it would be a hit. I said, ‘If you get Clive Davis to make a deal, I will make sure that Arista gets the publishing as well.’ Three days later, I got a call from Clive Davis and he said, ‘I like this ‘Lost In Love’ of yours, but I think that you should add a chorus at the end, and you should do this and that, and if you want to do that, then send the finished product to me. Otherwise, send me the master tape and I will bring a producer in to do it.’ So I said to Clive, ‘Listen, why don’t I come to New York and you and I go into the studio and we will do it together.’ I went to New York and Clive showed up at the studio at midnight. I had already been working there with another producer that he had sent over, and we had almost finished the thing by the time he got there. He had come directly from Madison Square Gardens seeing the Grateful Dead, and was in a great mood. He sat there for an hour singing ‘Lost In Love.’ So he said, ‘OK, you’ve got a deal.’”

      Without ever meeting Air Supply or seeing them live, Arista President Clive Davis picked up the distribution rights to ‘Lost In Love’ as a single. Davis first heard the song after Billy Meshel had Arista’s West Coast A&R director Bud Scoppa overnight it to him. “I don’t know how many times I strolled into his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel with an armful of demo tapes,” said Scoppa, “most of which would never find their way onto his stereo because he had just as many things to play to me - at top volume and with all due distortion. What job security I had was the result of passing along the import single of Air Supply’s ‘Lost In Love’ to him.”

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      “I went to Australia to meet with the guys from Air Supply to tell them I had a deal, because they didn’t know at this point,” said Robie Porter. “It was a pretty weak deal to start with. There was just one single with an option for another one. If Arista liked that they would go to the album. But it was deal. When I went to see Air Supply only four of them showed up. I said, ‘Where’s Graham?’ They said, ‘Well, we didn’t tell you this, but Air Supply’s broken up. We are all broke and on the dole. Graham’s gone back to England.’ One of them couldn’t pay child support so he lost his passport. They told me they had broken up because their last concert tour pulled only six people at a show in Canberra. They were brilliant soundwise, but in person they were quite boring, and that was one reason why they didn’t pull audiences at that time. So they told me there is no more Air Supply. I said, ‘Let’s see what happens with the single.’”

      “The moment I heard ‘Love In Love,’ I thought it would be a hit,” said Clive Davis. “I was not aware of the group’s background as a moderately well-known duo in their home country, that they’d released a 1977 album on Columbia in the States that had flopped, or that ‘Lost In Love’ had been passed on by at least ten American record companies. Even if I had known all that, it wouldn’t have mattered. I don’t base my decisions on whether something has made the rounds and been rejected before finding its way to me. The only things I judge are material and performance. The Australian single came to me from Billy Meshel, the head of Arista Music Publishing, and the A&R man Bud Scoppa. I contacted Air Supply’s producer, Robie Porter, without realizing that the duo, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, were actually on the brink of breaking up. Porter had decided to take one last shot at finding a receptive ear in the States. I immediately made a deal to release it as a single, with an option to release an album, but first, I wanted to enhance the record. I didn’t ask for one change in the song itself, in the melody, the lyric, or the lead vocal, but I felt that the production could be stronger. My A&R man Rick Chertoff, a young producer-engineer named William Wittman, and I did additional production on the track, not simply remixing it but adding background vocals and other overdubs to make the song more competitive on radio. Porter and the band, at first, thought we should leave the record alone, but I really envisioned something more sweeping, a fuller, more radio-ready approach. So at the end of 1979, we made the changes.”
 楼主| 发表于 2012-11-11 17:41 | 显示全部楼层
译文: <转载请注明空气补给中文网> 
       1978年9月,Air Supply和Big Time Phonograph唱片公司签署了一纸合约。他们是第一支和这个新创建的由Air Supply当时的经纪人Lance Reynolds和Fred Bestall拥有的独立厂牌签约的艺人。唱片发行的部分则由Wizard(巫师)唱片公司负责,这是一个由Robie Porter和Steve Binder拥有的澳大利亚唱片公司。Robie也同时是Big Time唱片公司的一员。唱片的发行和制造分别由Nippoon Phonogram, EMI和Polygram负责,具体取决于发行的国家。按照经纪人的说法,“新的合同给予了我们更多自由,和录制唱片时的更多控制权。在签约金额上也更加的丰厚了。” Russell笑道。Air Supply因为经纪人团队的建议而签约Big Time,这就意味着Lance和Fred现在既控制着乐队的唱片录制,又控制者乐队的经济管理。

      “Robie和我关系很好, 他极具天赋。” 美国制作人和导演Steve Binder如是说。“他有当制作人和商业人的所有能力。在美国,他带着Daddy Cool和Rick Springfield大获成功,而在美国市场,带着这样名不见经传的新星如此之快的成功简直是不可能完成的任务。在录音室里,他可以掌控一切,他知道哪些歌词和编曲需要修改。”   

      手握一张唱片合同,Air Supply把他们的注意力完全集中在这张已经制作了数个月的新专辑上。考虑到乐队一开始的三张专辑是多么快得就发行了,这个新唱片的计划似乎看起来没有完结了。乐队已经在演唱会上演出了几首新歌了,包括‘I Don’t Wanna Lose You’。“我们都用这首歌来结束演唱会,这也是我那时候最喜欢的歌之一。” Russell说。“这是一首摇滚歌曲,拥有着有力的吉他伴奏声。”

      Air Supply那时的巡演没有一个正式的全职键盘手,通过选择,重新找到了Frank Esler-Smith让他在录音室里参与新专辑的录制。Frank之前都在和Marcia Hines乐队和Doug Parkinson’s Southern Star乐队一起合作。键盘手Cos Russo (阿德莱德当地乐队Sailor和David Ninnes乐队过去的成员)录制了另外三首歌,吉他手Tommy Emmanuel也同样一起参与录音,在'Lost in Love'中做出了贡献。Emmanuel是过去短命的乐队Goldrush中的一员,并且当时也是The Southern Star Band中的一员,他被认为是澳大利亚最有成就的吉他手,有着昵称 ‘One-Take Tommy’ ,他独特的吉他风格,他可以同时用大拇指弹奏贝斯,用第一和第二根手指弹奏旋律,在 ‘Lost In Love’ 歌曲里显得很重要,“木吉他的声音像管弦乐。” Tommy说。“这样,我自己可以弹奏任何东西。我为Air Supply省了很多钱。”  这些家伙都是我的朋友,他们的确没有支付我太多钱。我完全是出于帮忙的目的来录制'Lost In Love'。” 按照Charles Fisher的原话,制作 ‘Lost In Love’ 单曲的总共只有花费$1,700。  

      新专辑将由Charles Fisher制作,由Peter Walker担任音响师,在悉尼的特拉法加录音室录制。Fisher在澳大利亚被人称作 ‘歌曲医生’ ,最著名的是他与澳大利亚乐队 Ol’ 55的合作。很多年后,Fisher在1997年非常成功的制作了一张野人花园的专辑,获得了ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association)年度制作人的大奖。Air Supply必须对Fisher很尊重,因为他们知道他们的下一张专辑会决定乐队的生死。

      特拉法加录音室,坐落在悉尼的内西南郊区,由Fisher在70年代中期建造。很快这里成为了澳大利亚最好的独立录音室。 尽管这个录音室非常受欢迎,但是Graham却经常提及这里提供的空间实在过于狭小。“在我的吉他和录音室墙壁间只有半英寸的距离。墙上的绝缘物体是由纸板和鸡蛋纸箱做成的,到处都是老鼠在窜。” 特拉法加录音室就在悉尼机场的跑道旁,所以在隔音上面必须格外小心。

      Charles Fisher相信有24轨录音设备的特拉法加录音师是最适合Air Supply的,因为此时乐队正在寻找新的声音突破。“一个新技术显然是必须的。” Fisher说,“我不相信lavish录音师能够录出好歌。实际上,几乎这个国家的每个摇滚明星曾在特拉法加录过音,因为这是一间真正为摇滚建造的录音师。每一名员工,包括行政人员,都曾经和乐队一起巡演,这样他们才知道音乐家们究竟是如何想的。在特拉法加没有任何规则,艺人们相当自由,任何习惯,设备,都是自由的。” 这些所有的因素都被考虑进Air Supply选Fisher作为制作人的理由中,并且在他的录音师录音。多年之后,Fisher说与Air Supply共事是他音乐生涯的高峰。

      “在过去,特别是和我们上一张专辑的唱片公司,我们对录音没有足够的控制权。” Russell说。“这给了我们机会确保任何事情都能足够好。事实上,这张专辑大概花了6或者7个月来制作,这在这里已经是很长的时间了。这张新专辑完全改变了我们。没有像我们过去一样的冗长的弦乐和和声。我们试着做出更有感觉的现场效果。一半新专辑已经完成了,大多数都是Graham写的,Brian Hamilton也参与了写歌。我们很快就会挑选出一首单曲,大概下个月底就能正式发布了。我们在亚洲已经很成功了,下一个巡演已经在接洽中了,但此刻我们必须专心在澳大利亚。一旦新单曲发布,我们就会立刻回到巡演途中来作宣传,我们马上要演出一些我们自己的演唱会了。  

      到了1978年11月,Big Time唱片公司发行了他们的首支单曲, ‘Bring Out The Magic’,同时一个音乐录音带也一同拍摄发行了,此时Big Time唱片公司不惜重金在向世界宣告,Air Supply回来了!不幸的是,世界对此并不感兴趣。尽管在澳大利亚和新西兰的电台中都有很好的播放率,但这首歌并没有进入任何重要的音乐榜单。回过头看,鼓手Ralph Cooper确实认为这首歌确实是有一定实力的。 “人们都是很健忘的。所以我想很多人都没有意识到我们回来了。”  

      1978年澳大利亚的音乐是处于一个极其混乱的状态,这也导致了 ‘Bring Out The Magic’ 的表现不佳。Russell Powers,是悉尼2SM电台的音乐导演,他责怪公众说这是自从1965年以来最差劲的一年。“澳大利亚乐队近来表现越来越好。” 他说,“他们不断向电台输送好的唱片,而问题在于 - 公众不是这样的。我想这一切都归结于重心的下降。资金的紧张,无法在一星期内买2到3张专辑,一般买家都是只能买一张, 而如果专辑不是像 ‘Grease’ 或者 ‘Saturday Night Fever’或者一张Oz的专辑时,更是如此。我越来越对此忧虑,我觉得单曲已经灭亡了。公众们更想要的是专辑,而不是单曲。在六个月里,居然没有一张单曲是在排行榜(LP专辑和单曲)的前三甲。”  

     “没错,我想‘Bring Out The Magic’一定会大热的。” Russell说,“但我也有所保留。当你很久都没有发行一张单曲时,你一定遇上麻烦了,而特别是一支以抒情歌曲见长的乐队,我不喜欢突然发行一首听上去像波士顿乐队的歌,能把人扔出去的感觉。”  

      为了宣传这首单曲,Air Supply在1978年10月到1979年1月之间在墨尔本郊区演出了好多唱演出,大多数都是小旅馆的听众,诸如Doncaster Inn,Fern Tree Gully Hotel,Eureke Hotel和South Six Hotel。演出阵容包括了吉他手David Moyse,鼓手Ralph Cooper和贝斯手Brian Hamilton,吸引了小部分听众。乐队看起来和听起来都和过去有很大的不同。“整个画面都很不同。”Graham说。“我们穿着白色的,还有闪亮的热裤。我们已经经历了很多,这些都是不可避免的。更多的需要的是脚踏实地。”  

      Russell感觉他们已经制造出了一种新的声音,并且看上去令人眼前一亮。“我想我们的声音稍微显得有些小因为确实我们少了一个吉他手,只有最基本的一个。当我们和像Rod Stewart这样的明星一起演出的时候,我们看了每场演出,真是相当浓的摇滚气氛。我认为在那个方面,它让我们的音乐改变了。同样的,那时我们没有在舞台上设置键盘。这样节奏和吉他的声音的确是增强了。同样在声音部分也是增强了,因为这是一支以人声为主的乐队,在乐队中有三位很棒的歌手,所以我们必须尽可能的把这个优点强化。”   

      在1979年1月7日,Air Supply的大事便是在悉尼的年度盛宴上举行一场免费的演唱会。这场傍晚时分的演唱会开设在悉尼歌剧院外的广场上。同时邀请了爵士和民谣艺人,包括Brenda Kristin,Vin Garbutt和Davey Graham。  

      在1月下旬,Lance和Fred在MIDEM宣传Air Supply的新歌,这是一个在法国举行的一年一度重要的音乐工业博览会。CBS唱片公司的出版商也在大会上宣传澳大利亚艺人。四月份的曲目包括了300首歌,但是他们仅仅带了不超过20首最棒的来出售。这里面就包括了Air Supply,Contraband,Dragon和Malcolm McCallum。

     到了四月份,Air Supply已经完成了专辑中的最基本的一些歌曲,但是他们担心没有足够的快歌。所以他们回到录音室把一首7分钟的歌 ‘Can’t Get Excited’ 剪成电台能接受的3分钟。录音室Peter Walker计算了一下,如果他们拿掉一小节,差不多就能3分半钟左右。但Graham相信完整7分钟长度的歌是有前途的,拒绝改变这首歌。所以在星期四晚上,凌晨3点,所以在一些争吵,变更,披萨,与制作人Charles Fisher讨论,并且在Walker的反复计算之后,他们决定抛弃这首歌了。Charles Fisher沮丧地说,“我正在完成这张没有这些歌曲的专辑。” 然后整个周末都在混音,接着送去洛杉矶Kendon录音室做剪辑。

      在新专辑发行前夕,Big Time和Wizard唱片公司认为他们手握一个在1978年引入澳大利亚的王牌专利技术。一个悉尼的制造商发明了一项在黑胶LP唱片上制作图片的新的技术,这能给市场带来非常好的宣传。这项技术被许多唱片公司高价引进,诸如华纳,百代和RCA,图片单曲在70年代早期非常流行,但这项新技术在LP上还是刚刚起步。Wizard唱片公司是第一家尝试把这个技术引入他们旗下的三位艺人:Air Supply,Marcia Hines和the Nauts。Wizard宣称这些画图碟的质量和普通黑胶唱片相同,并且会使用标准印刷的封面,而不是切口的封面。

      乐队对于这项新科技非常的兴奋。“我们好几个月都对此守口如瓶。“Russell解释道,“我们却非常高兴的宣布专辑 [Life Support]将会制作成图画碟。所以这个专辑外套封面将会活生生的出现在唱片上。这是第一张澳大利亚乐队发行的图画碟,我们对他的市场反响非常的感兴趣。”  

      尽管Wizard保证画图碟的质量会和传统黑胶的一样,在录音室里依然有着怀疑唱片质量的争论。录音师Peter Walker相信一定会有问题,因为唱片在制作过程中会有冲压。Wizard的宣传官员Alan Black 并不相信这样的变化能真正让唱片销量增加,但是他也相信这样的画图碟的登场会让澳大利亚唱片行业产生新的兴趣。  

      4月下旬,Air Supply发行了 ‘Life Support’  (BZL 233)。在画图碟的一面浮现出一道深深的神秘的蓝色,一个在太空船里的女孩凝视着一个水晶球。另一面,浮现出相同的蓝色,五位乐队成员 (头透过泡泡)凝视着太空船。艺术画是由Bondi人Paul Fullbrook画的,他是全球公认的蓝色海洋画的最大收藏家。‘Life Support’ 宣传为一张概念专辑,Fullbrook的封面更多的帮助了解释,“有一两首歌有着地球外的感觉。” Graham说,“ 我们想走一条不同的道路。” ‘Believe In The Supernatural’ 是一首能令人大开眼界的歌曲。让人感觉非常的热辣,展现完全不同的我们。”   

      ‘Life Support’ 首先在澳大利亚和新西兰发行,并且之后可能会在美国,英国,南美,和日本发行。第二支单曲 ‘Lost In Love’  (BZS 306) 也同时发行,并包含了一首B面商业单曲 ‘Believer’ 。‘Believer’ 并没有包含在澳大利亚发行的 ‘Life Support’ 专辑中, 但却出现在日本版LP中 (20PP-53) 。‘Life Support’ 在1979年晚些时候重新用传统的黑色唱片由悉尼本地EMI旗下的低成本唱片公司Axis Records(AX.1204) 发行。

      专辑的评价大多是正面的。许多乐评人,其中一些认为Air Supply已经解散的这次对乐队惊人的回归报以赞许。大多数乐队在这种情况下一定都简单的放弃了。

      很明显乐队相当努力。但是像歌曲‘Love And Other Bruises’ 这样的年轻纯真的感觉在这张专辑中缺少了些。但是音乐性依旧,由Frank Esler-Smith这样有才华的人编排歌曲。专辑有9首歌,都由Graham Russell创作并且发行在图画碟上。乐队的新单曲 ‘Lost In Love’ 包含在新专辑中,伴随着一些极棒的歌曲 ‘Bring Out The Magic’ 和‘Believe In The Supernatural’ ,Graham写的旋律,Russell Hitchcock的嗓音和乐队的背景和声,相当引人注目。但是,总的来说,这张专辑任然有些良莠不齐。专辑中少了一些标志性的东西 - 没有像‘Love And Other Bruises’这样的标志性单曲。- Christine Hogan, Sydney Morning Herald

      专辑为大家展示了Air Supply两个形象。有五首歌甜蜜如糖浆。弦乐支配了整个乐队,创造了许多令人难忘的旋律。唱片的第二面相当原始听上去。没有弦乐,只有Graham Russell和David Moyse很突出的吉他声。Russell Hitchcock听上去就像Eric Carmen。听着吉他声,我浮现出Charles Fisher 坐在录音师控制台后,拿着吉他像Townshend那样拨着琴弦。- Stuart Coupe, RAM

      图画碟实际上是一个Oz的发明。在美国他们通常用在宣传的设备上,但是经常包含着一个警告:收听效果会与传统黑胶有差别 。The Wizard的发言人说他们已经克服了技术上的问题,专辑 ‘Life Support’ 的声音将会非常的棒。但是实际上却有更多的嘶嘶声。不过除非是当你在用耳机认真听专辑的时候,不然这并不是什么大问题。当然这是相当的失望,新科技并没有百分百适合Air Supply。- Anthony O‘Grady, RAM

      ‘Lost In Love’ 是一首超过5分钟的冗长的歌曲,但却引起了澳大利亚和新西兰电台的注意。这首歌5月21日打进澳大利亚David Kent Music Report排行榜并且保持了18个星期 ,最终在7月16号攀升到了第13位。这首歌也同时在新西兰打入了排行榜,并且获得了第七位的佳绩。 ‘Lost In Love’ 帮助了‘Life Support’ 在专辑榜上攀升,最终在Canberra’s 2CA 专辑榜中爬升至第六位。

      “ ‘比起其他歌Lost In Love’ 让我们觉得其中有很多特别的。” Ralph Cooper说。“歌曲一开始具有乡村元素。我们录制了两个版本,大约长达15分钟。我们听了两个版本,然后两两相望,问哪个版本更棒。我觉得两个都很好,但是我们选择了第二个版本。有许多钢琴配乐在里面。 Frank Esler-Smith在录音室里和我们一起弹琴,声音真是美极了。这让歌曲变得更加完整了。Tommy Emmanuel这位相当棒的吉他手,为歌曲添加了许多美妙的吉他声音。Graham的节奏相当棒。Russell录了许多有层次的声音部分。当歌曲完成的时候我们都觉得这首歌棒极了。这首歌里有着那种也许只有 ‘Love And Other Bruises’ 才有的魔力。 ”  

       “‘Lost In Love’ 是首抒情歌曲,并且生产了很多拷贝,”Graham说。“‘Lost In Love’ 让我们在澳大利亚重回巅峰。这证明了我们还没有解散,而在那时有许多人是这么认为的。一旦你有了一首排行榜金曲,所有事情都会改变了。你再也不用去挣扎。它会让你赚更多的钱,演出更多唱演唱会。在困难的日子,我们一晚上只能挣$200并且要给乐队所有人分。而一旦拥有了一支排行榜金曲,什么事情都变得简单了。在澳大利亚如此。在美国也同样。所以在大洋对岸能登上排行榜,那才是我们真正想要的。”

      ‘Lost In Love’在澳大利亚录制了一个音乐录音带,清楚的表明了Air Supply是一个双人组合。在短暂的加入乐队之后,贝斯手/和声Brian Hamilton先于 ‘Life Support’的发行前离开了Air Supply,加入了Renee Geyer乐队。他被澳大利亚贝斯手Jamie Rogers短暂的代替了,他也出现在了 ‘Lost In Love’ MV中。

      墨尔本当地的贝斯手Criston Barker很快代替了Jamie Rogers。“我在墨尔本长大,生活中充满着摇滚乐。” Barker说,“当我1979年搬到悉尼去之前,我一直在Ash and Freeway up乐队中任职。Sam Righi是我那时的经纪人,如果我想的话我可以去加入Air Supply。我告诉他我没法和那些家伙合作,但是他说,‘看,他们仅仅是要录制一张专辑而已,这对你有好处的。’所以我说,‘好吧,我会去。’ 所以我加入了他们。”   

     整个6,7月份,Air Supply都一直在悉尼,墨尔本和堪培拉的大学,酒店,RSL俱乐部演出。他们也在邦迪海滩俱乐部演出,这是悉尼最著名的摇滚胜地。7月8日,7月28日Air Supply和在悉尼Jon English和Gillian Easto在Hordern Pavilion举行2SM sponsored演唱会。 3天后,他们在墨尔本州立大学为Split Enz暖场。8月21日,Air Supply座位嘉宾被邀请在著名的澳大利亚喜剧The Paul Hogan Show上演出。

      在年初的时候,Graham为在日本东京举行的世界流行音乐盛会写了一首歌名叫,‘Letting My Hair Down’。这个一年一度的比赛,是一场每年11月份举行的一场国际音乐盛会,从每个国家选出优胜者最终在日本比赛。对于许多艺人来说这都是一次让自己梦想成真的良机。这是一个让艺人成名的良好平台。获奖者还能额外有机会在日本进行巡演,伴有宣传和技术支持。澳大利亚流行音乐节在1979年8月11日举行。现场演出的嘉宾包括Ray Burgess,Tony Pantano,Delilah,Mary Jane Boyd和Russell Hitchcock。座位压轴艺人,Russell演唱了 ‘Letting My Hair Down’,亚军Delilah接下去演唱了 ‘Here And Now’ 。Delilah也代表澳大利亚出席了日本举行的世界流行音乐节,她最后完成了第九名,冠军是Bonnie Tyler,演唱着她的歌曲 ‘Sitting On The Edge Of The Ocean’。‘Letting My Hair Down’之后被Air Supply改名为 ‘Having You Near Me’ 发行在1980年的专辑 ‘Lost In Love’ 中。

      Air Supply于10月1日开始在新南威尔士开始了雄心勃勃的长达6周的全国巡演,希望利用 ‘Lost In Love’ 的成功赢回歌迷。 巡演总共包括了44场演出,都是在小场地举行,注入高尔夫和保龄球俱乐部,乡村俱乐部和RSL(澳大利亚返回和服务联盟)俱乐部。但仅仅在几场之后,巡演就取消了。“这简直就是一个灾难!” Russell说。“我们11个人坐在15人座的巴士上,8小时路程徘徊在城市之间。到了那里,发现只有10个观众。当我们到了演出地点,发现门是紧锁的,灯光也是暗的。几乎不需要说什么,巡演早早的便取消了。那就是澳大利亚给你的礼物。我们在任何地方都进行过演出,酒吧。我们也在歌剧院门口台阶上为9万名观众演出,也曾经为6个人歌唱过。我们在牛津和泰勒广场的角落上的酒店演出,一整晚都没有人看。这太好笑了,因为我们到了那里,设备都已经搭建完毕,大约8点钟的样子,那些人说如果我们现在就走他们会付我们一半钱。我们说,‘不,我们现在就唱。’ 我们对着空气演出了一整晚。就像在排练一样,真是太好笑了!”

      Ralph Cooper说。“我想我们的歌很棒。我们在悉尼结束了全部演出。听众很多,我想大约有2万人吧。许多乐队都在那天演出,我们唱的很出色。虽然如此,但是乐队接下来却接近解散。”

       ‘Lost In Love’ 终究还是跌出了排行榜。乐队身无分文了。所以他们又一次同意各奔东西。据Graham和Russell所说,乐队从来没有正式解散过,但一些知道内情的人却不这么认为。Wizard Records的Robie Porter说乐队在1979年晚些时候解散了,那时他想要在大洋对岸寻找良机。同时,Russell正在和制作人Robie Porter一同制作个人的项目。他们希望发行一支单曲,洽谈录制一首Dusty Springfieldand的老歌。Air Supply的贝斯手Criston Barker也在制作自己的个人项目。

     在10月晚些时候,Wizard Records与Arista Records唱片公司达成了一桩唱片分销协议,Arista唱片公司是一家美国顶尖唱片公司,最近被哥伦比亚图文公司和Clive Davis出售给Bertelsmann AG (也就是后来的贝塔斯曼音乐公司,或者称之为BMG)。这份合同签署时Graham正在英格兰写歌,乐队其余成员赋闲在家。突然间Air Supply的未来出现了一丝曙光。

      Big Time唱片公司希望在10月于澳大利亚发行第三支单曲 ‘Just Another Woman’ ,但是这首歌迪斯科风格的歌没能打进排行榜。在11月4日,Russell一同主持了Countdown节目,并且在没有Graham的情况下独自表演了 ‘Just Another Woman’ 。两周之后,11月18日, ‘Life Support’ 在澳大利亚获得了金唱片销量,售出了超过2万份拷贝。

      Robie Porter已经在北美建立起了一些重要的关系,因为Wizard Records已经建立起了一些成功。Porter那时已经居住在美国了,他有责任把Arista的一份唱片合同带给乐队,但是确是在他给美国许多唱片公司听过 ‘Lost In Love’ 之后才能做。

      “Robie告诉每个人Air Supply即将在美国走红了。” Hush乐队的Les Gock说,“ 许多圈中人士并不相信他所说的话,‘凭什么说Air Supply会在美国走红?他们现在可在澳大利亚挣扎呢。’ 但是他坚持说Air Supply将成为当红乐队。”  

      “我拥有原始版本的 ‘Lost In Love’ ,然后我对它进行了混音。” Robie Porter说。 “我努力试着在美国获得一份唱片共同。我一共去了14家唱片公司。我被所有公司都拒绝了。所以我打给了在Arista工作的一位朋友Billy Meshel。我说,‘Billy, 我这里有首超级金曲,但是却没办法获得一份唱片合同。我能到你这里来放给你听吗?’ 我立刻开车前往贝弗利山放给他听。他也同意这首歌将会成为一首金曲。我说,‘假如你能够让Clive Davis答应签一份合同,我也可以保证Arista能够立刻发行这张单曲。’ 3天后,我接到了Clive Davis的电话,他说,‘我喜欢你的这首 ‘Lost In Love’ ,但是我觉得你应该增加一些和声进去,你应该这样,那张去做,完成后你最好能立即把成品送过来。不然的话,把母带发给我,我可以让我的制作人来完成它。’ 所以我对Clive说,‘听着,为什么不能我来纽约,你和我一起进录音室把歌曲一起完成呢。’ 然后我就去了纽约,和Clive一起工作到午夜。那时我已经和另一位制作人一起工作了,当他到那里的时候歌曲几乎已经完成了。他直接去了麦迪逊花园去看Grateful Dead,他心情相当不错。坐在那里一个小时都在哼 ‘Lost In Love’。然后他说, ‘好吧,你得到了合同了。’”

      “我去了澳大利亚见了Air Supply,告诉他们获得了唱片合同。” Robie Porter说,“这确实是一份相当不怎么样的合同。仅仅只有一首单曲,还有附带条件。如果Arista喜欢这首歌,他们就会想去制作一整张专辑。但这确实是份合同。当我去见他们的时候只有看到他们中的4个人。我说,‘Graham在哪?’ 他们说,‘好吧,我们没有告诉你这个,但是事实是Air Supply已经解散了。我们都破产了,都在领救济金。 Graham已经去英格兰了。’ 他们中的一个由于没法抚养小孩,所以他的护照被吊销了。他们告诉我他们已经解散了,因为他们上一次在堪培拉的巡演只有6个人来看。他们相当聪明,但是个人认为他们也相当无趣,这也是为什么他们那时没有获得听众的原因。所以他们告诉我已经没有Air Supply了。我说, ‘让我们看看这张单曲结果怎么样吧。’”

      “那时我听到了 ‘Love In Love’ 我认为它将成为一首金曲。” Clive Davis说。“我没有意识到乐队的背景,他们在他们家乡是以双人组合闻名的,他们1977年由哥伦比亚在美国发行的专辑以失败告终,‘Lost In Love’也被至少10家美国唱片公司拒绝。尽管我了解这一切,但这都没有关系。我唯一判断歌曲的是它的真材实料。这首澳大利亚单曲由Billy Meshel带给我听,他是Arista音乐发行部的头头,还有Bud Scoppa。我联系了Air Supply的制作人Robie Porter,这时我都还完全不了解这对人Russell Hitchcock 和Graham Russell,事实上他们正在解散边缘。Porter孤注一掷,希望能在美国找到听众。我立刻签了一份发行一张单曲的合同,但是首先,我想要这张唱片更强一些。我没有让任何人去改变歌曲本身,不管是旋律,歌词或者主音,但是我觉得歌曲的制作可以更加强大一些。我的音乐制作人Rick Chertoff,和一名年轻音响师William Wittman,和我一起重新制作了这首歌,不是简简单单的混音,而是增加了一些背景和声,和一些其他的声音,让这首歌能在电台中更有竞争力。Porter和乐队一开始觉得不应该让我们参与歌曲制作,但是我的确明白电台中需要什么样的歌曲。所以在1979年末,我们重新录制了这首歌,并做了一些变化。”
 楼主| 发表于 2013-2-6 09:13 | 显示全部楼层
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