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The 2007 season of Beaumont Concerts in the Park kicks off Wednesday, July 11 with Air Supply at 7:30 p.m. at Stewart Park.

Wednesday, July 25 will be Three Dog Night at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. War will perform.

“The Tokens” and The Diamonds will entertain Wednesday,. Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

All concerts to be held at the Stewart Park band stand, Eighth and Orange streets in Beaumont.

For more information, call the Beaumont Community Services Department at 769-8524.

About the band

Air Supply is a duo of soft rock musicians who had a succession of hits worldwide through the late 1970s and early 1980s . It consists of English guitarist and vocalist Graham Russell (born Graham Cyril Russell, born June 11, 1950 in Sherwood, Nottingham,England and and Australian lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock (born June 15, 1949 in Melbourne,Australia ).

The duo met in May of 1975 while performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber /Tim Rice musical,” Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Later that year, the duo, along with Chrissie Hammond, formed Air Supply as a five-man group. Hammond left the band and was replaced by Jeremy Paul in time for the group’s first Australian hit single,” Love and Other Bruises.” It was followed by a self-titled debut album that reached gold in Australia. Singles during this period included” Empty Pages” and” Do What You Do.”

The group was invited to open for Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia; he was so impressed with their performance that he invited them to be the opening act during his tour of the United States.

During this tour, Jeremy Paul left the band.

Eager to prove that they could still succeed as a duo, the group released the album” Love and Other Bruises,” which included re-recordings of many of their earlier hits. Although their music met with some success, Graham Russell on the 1995 DVD recalls that he and Hitchcock were so poor that they were reduced to checking the backs of hotel sofas for change so that they could buy bread to make toast.

Hitchcock and Russell started out fresh again in 1978, and the band that was to record almost all of the hit records was formed. It featured Frank Esler-Smith (arranger and keyboardist), David Moyse and Rex Goh (guitars ) as well as the rhythm section of David Green (bass) and Ralph Cooper (drums ).

In 1979, the band released” Life Support,” a concept album that included a picture disc on its first printing. Produced by Charles Fisher, it was recorded in the tiny Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, Australia where, as Graham recalls on the 2005 DVD, he had half an inch between the end of his guitar and the studio wall. It was on this album that a five-and-a-half minute version of” Lost in Love” was introduced to Australian audiences.

Written by Russell in fifteen minutes, the song caught the attention of music mogul Clive Davis, and his record label, Arista, remixed the song and released it as a single in the United States.

Their 1980 album,” Lost in Love,” contained three U.S. Top Five singles, including the title track, plus” Every Woman In The World” and” All Out of Love” ( sample ). The album sold two million copies in the U.S. The following year they released” The One That You Love” and the title song was released as a single and went number #1 on the Billboard Singles Chart. It also featured two other Top 10 hits,” Here I Am” and” Sweet Dreams.”

Their third album in 1982” [Now & Forever]” continued the groups popularity with the Top 10 hit,” Even The Nights Are Better” and two top 40 singles” Young Love” and” Two Less Lonley People In The World” . However, Air Supply wasn’t finished yet. In spite of the somewhat declining popularity of” Now & Forever’ compared with previous releases, the next year would prove very big for the band. in 1983, they released their” Greatest Hits” album with a new single called” Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” written by Jim Steinman . The song was one of their biggest hits ever spending three weeks at number 2 and the album eventually sold 5 million copies.

Air Supply released their first live video,” Air Supply Live in Hawaii .” In 1985, they had one semi-major Billboard hit with” Just as I Am” and a couple of very minor hits. Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas album before taking a break from studio recordings. During this time, Russell Hitchcock released his self-titled debut album which was not a big seller. However, he did have the hit single “ Swear To Your Heart” in 1990 from the movie soundtrack” Arachnophobia” .

On Aug. 21, 1989, using their old producer and welcoming the return of drummer Ralph Cooper, the duo decided to enter the studio again to record “ The Earth Is, “ which was released in 1991 by Giant Records under Warner Brothers . The recording contains their hit single “ Without You,” along with singles for “ Stronger Than the Night” (with a music video announcing that Air Supply was back) and “ Stop the Tears.” Inside the album is a note about Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell’s original Musical Director of their meeting place during the” Jesus Christ Superstar” (and long time Band Member/Orchestrator):” This Album is Dedicated to the Memory of Frank Esler-Smith .”

The official fan club released” The Earth Is World Tour” video, a rare collector’s item that contains live footage from the band’s tour throughout the world in support of the album.

The album was followed by ”The Vanishing Race” in 1993, which was supported by the hit single” Goodbye” produced by David Foster, (Barbra Streisand, the rock band Chicago, Josh Groban and Celine Dion), with lyrics written by a former girlfriend of Elvis Presley (David Foster’s current wife) Linda Thompson - which, although not popular in the United States, was critically praised and gained a large following outside the country, especially in Asia where in many countries they would reach number #1. This would lead to another world tour in 1993.” It’s Never Too Late” was another single released from the Vanishing Race. The album itself was dedicated to the plight of the American Indians, the” Vanishing Race” of the album’s title.

Their third album of the decade, News from Nowhere, was released in 1995. It contained the Asian hit singles” Someone,” “Always,” and a cover of” Unchained Melody,” a song made famous by Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers.

Their popularity continue to soar in Southeast Asian countries, culminating in the release of” Now and Forever: Greatest Hits Live,” a CD and DVD recording of a live concert in Taipei, Taiwan, also in 1995, which stayed at the top of the Chinese album charts for 16 weeks.

They continued to tour heavily throughout Asia and in select venues in the U.S. as well as record into the new millennium, releasing the more adult contemporary-titled” The Book of Love” (1997),” Yours Truly” (2001), and” Across the Concrete Sky” (2003). In 2005 they once again released a live CD/DVD recording–also in 2005 they performed in Havana, Cuba, one of the first foreign bands invited to perform in the country. They were booked to perform two concerts, and played the first show on July 7, the day before Hurricane Dennis hit the country. In high winds their first concert had an audience of 175,000. Due to the hurricane they could not play the second show. Fans staying at the same hotel as Air Supply on July 8 had to be content with Graham performing acoustically for them, as there was no electricity.

In 2006 they released an acoustic album,” The Singer and the Song,” and are gearing up for the release of their first studio album in three years,” Zed.” In support of the acoustic album they made their first trip to India in May 2006. Dec. 2, 2006 saw the duo perform to a capacity crowd in Kingston, Jamaica.

This was their second visit to Jamaica, having performed at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in January 2006. They also have been seen endorsing” Time Life” ’s Classic Soft-Rock Collection.

It has been rumoured for years that both Air Supply members are gay! However, it is not true. Russell and Graham have both been married. Russell Hitchcock is married to his current wife Laurie Hitchcock. Russell has a son and a daughter. Graham Russell is married to Jodi Russell (who is a model and actress). They live happily in Utah where Graham has a recording studio 7000 feet above sea level. Graham has a daughter named Samantha.