Greatest Hits (1983 Air Supply album)

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by
Air Supply
ReleasedAugust 1983
GenrePop rock, soft rock
Length37:27 (CD Edition)
LabelArista
Producer
Air Supply chronology
Now and Forever
(1982) 		Greatest Hits
(1983) 		Making Love ... The Very Best of Air Supply
(1983)
Singles from Greatest Hits
  1. "Making Love Out of Nothing at All"
    Released: July 1983

Greatest Hits or Air Supply Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by British-Australian soft rock duo Air Supply, released in August 1983. It spent one week on top of the Australian (Kent Music Report) album chart and reached number seven on the Billboard 200.[1] The Jim Steinman-written and produced track "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" had been released in July as a single. It is Air Supply's last top 10 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" also reached top 10 in Canada and South Africa. The album was certified 5× platinum in 1993 in the US, denoting shipments of five million copies.

Background

British-Australian soft rock group Air Supply had been formed in Melbourne in 1975 by vocalists Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell.[2][3] By the late 1970s, they were based in the United States.[2] The duo had released seven studio albums, Air Supply (1976), The Whole Thing's Started, Love & Other Bruises (both 1977), Life Support (1979), Lost in Love (1980), The One That You Love (1981) and Now and Forever (1982). Their compilation album Greatest Hits or Air Supply Greatest Hits was issued on vinyl by EMI Records in Australia and Arista Records in the United States in August 1983.[2][4] Each included a new track "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", released as a single a month earlier.[2][4] The EMI version had 13 tracks with "Love and Other Bruises", "Bring out the Magic", "Two Less Lonely People in the World" and "Now and Forever" not included on the 9-track Arista version.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic reviewed the 1988 Arista Records version of Greatest Hits and rated it at four-out-of-five starts, "[it's] all that most Air Supply fans need, at least casual fans, but even the hardcore followers are sure to like having such a concentrated dose of hits in one package."[4] Australian writer Glenn A. Baker described how they used their "undeniably American laid-back style" to provide "six Stateside top ten hits", which are included on this compilation.[6] He considered the songs' writers, aside from band member Graham Russell, who "continued to pen excellent commercial songs, outside hitwriters (such as Lee Greenwood and the legendary Howie Greenfield) were also engaged to keep the hits flowing."[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Graham Russell, unless otherwise noted

Greatest Hits EMI Records (BIT.10000)[7]
No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Love and Other Bruises"Air Supply3:40
2."Bring out the Magic"Life Support3:51
3."The One That You Love"The One That You Love4:17
4."Here I Am" (Norman Sallitt, Michael Masser, Linda Creed)The One That You Love3:46
5."Sweet Dreams"The One That You Love5:19
6."Lost in Love"Lost in Love3:51
7."Chances"Lost in Love3:32
8."Every Woman in the World" (Dominic Bugatti, Frank Musker)Lost in Love3:30
9."All Out of Love" (Russell, Clive Davis)Lost in Love4:01
10."Even the Nights Are Better" (K Bell, T Skinner, J L Wallace)Now and Forever3:57
11."Two Less Lonely People in the World" (Howard Greenfield, Ken Hirsch)Now and Forever3:59
12."Now and Forever"Now and Forever4:18
13."Making Love Out of Nothing at All" (Jim Steinman)New recording5:15

Greatest Hits Arista Records (AL8-8024)[8]

  1. "Lost in Love" – 3:51
  2. "Even the Nights Are Better" – 3:57
  3. "The One That You Love" – 4:17
  4. "Every Woman in the World" – 3:29
  5. "Chances" – 3:32
  6. "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" – 5:15
  7. "All Out of Love" – 4:01
  8. "Here I Am" – 3:46
  9. "Sweet Dreams" – 5:19

Personnel

Credits (tracks 1–5, 7–9)

  • Russell Hitchcock – lead and backing vocals
  • Graham Russell – lead vocals (1, 4, 7), backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9), rhythm guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7), acoustic guitar (3, 8, 9)
  • David Moyse – lead guitar (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9), bass guitar (1, 4, 5, 7), backing vocals (1, 4, 5, 7), rhythm guitar (3, 8, 9)
  • Rex Goh – lead guitar (2), rhythm guitar (8, 9)
  • Frank Esler-Smith – keyboards, orchestrations
  • David Green – bass (2, 3, 8, 9)
  • Ralph Cooper – drums (1-5, 7, 8, 9)

Credits (track 6 "Making Love Out of Nothing at All")

Air Supply

Musicians

Production

  • Clive Davis – executive producer
  • Rick Chertoff – producer (1)
  • Charles Fisher – producer (1)
  • Robie Porter – producer (1, 4, 5, 7)
  • Harry Maslin – producer (2, 3, 4, 8, 9), engineer (2, 3, 8, 9)
  • Jim Steinman – producer (6), mixing (6)
  • John Jansen – associate producer (6), engineer (6), mixing (6)
  • Rod Hui – engineer (6)
  • Scott Litt – engineer (6)
  • Arthur Payson – engineer (6)
  • Dee Rob – engineer (6)
  • Neil Dorfsman – mixing (6)
  • Greg Calbi – mastering (6)
  • Donn Davenport – art direction, design
  • Linda Fenimore – illustration
  • Don Arden – management

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] 2× Platinum 200,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] 5× Platinum 5,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Kent, David. "Australian Chart Book 1970-1992, published 1993, ISBN 0 646 11917 6 , page 418".
  2. ^ a b c d * McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry for 'Air Supply'. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
    • McFarlane, Ian (2017). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Air Supply'". The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Jenkins, Jeff (Foreword) (2nd ed.). Gisborne, VIC: Third Stone Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-9953856-0-3.
  3. ^ Holmgren, Magnus; Thornton, Mary Ann; Padgett, Chris. "Air Supply". Australian Rock Database. Archived from the original on 3 March 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Air Supply – Greatest Hits [Arista] Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  5. ^ Greatest Hits at AllMusic
  6. ^ a b Baker, Glenn A. "Air Supply Greatest Hits". Dreamtime JSP. Archived from the original on 25 May 2000. Retrieved 16 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Air Supply (Musical group) (1983), Air Supply's Greatest Hits, EMI Records, retrieved 16 March 2024
  8. ^ Air Supply (1983), Greatest hits, Columbia, retrieved 16 March 2024
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 13. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Charts.nz – Air Supply – Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Air Supply Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1983 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Air Supply – Greatest Hits". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Air Supply – Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 June 2023.