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Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry likes to tell a story about the time a scary-looking biker approached him and asked, "You did that 'Angel' song, right?"
Convinced his band had ventured too far into saccharine-sweet pop territory, Perry conceded he was indeed responsible, then braced for the "you deserve this for going soft" beatdown sure to follow.
"Man," the biker exclaimed, enveloping Perry in a bearhug, "I love that song!"
Everyone loves a good love song.
Air Supply guitarist, songwriter and co-vocalist Graham Russell knows that's the simple reason his band has made it past the four-decade mark and can still put on 140 concerts a year, including one this Memorial Day at the scera.org/event-category/scera-shell-outdoor-theatre/">SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre in Orem and another on July 1 at the Sandy Amphitheater.
"I think because our music is very simple but powerful at the same time, it's not complicated. Also, we love to play live, we always have, and we have a great live show and people keep coming back," he told The Tribune in a phone interview. "Over the years, I think the music has meant so much to people. We still get played, they still play all the hits on the radio. So I think that's helped us a lot, too. … Time magazine called us the most romantic group in the world. Whether or not we live up to that I don't know. But nothing we do is by design — we just do it. … And for us, that's really worked out well."
Apparently, considering Air Supply, at one point, became the first band since The Beatles to have nine straight songs land in the top 10.
You know them all — "The One That You Love," "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," "All Out of Love," "Lost in Love" (notice the theme?) — and you probably can't help but sing along to all of them, too.
And now, you've got two chances in a month's time to do so live. Angela Wright, a 17-year-old from Salt Lake City who just recorded an EP with Air Supply, will open both shows.
Russell acknowledged, "It's the first time we've done two shows so close together in Utah." But it shouldn't really be surprising that the Beehive State would merit some extra attention.
After all, while he was born in England and formed Air Supply with vocalist Russell Hitchcock in the latter's native Australia, Russell's actually called Woodland — a small town outside Park City — home for more than a quarter-century now.
"I've lived here for 27 years, actually!" he said. "We were playing at the MGM in Vegas just before 1990, and we were doing two weekends. My wife and I were living in California, and normally we would go back to California during the week, then come back to Vegas, but we decided to rent a car and just drive, without any plans. And we ended up in Utah and just fell in love with it — with the scenery and the mountains and everything. So we just decided to look around up here for a property, maybe for a weekend kind of thing, and we ended up moving here and staying here. And we've been here ever since."
The same could be said for his band.
Russell said another big factor in Air Supply's success is that the two key men in it are wholly comfortable with the roles they've carved out over the years. Russell writes the songs, Hitchcock sings the songs, "and it's completely perfect. We've never had an argument ever in our career. People are kind of shocked, you know? It's very kind of easygoing, but we're serious at the same time."
He's a serious enough songwriter that he said he usually has work for about six projects going simultaneously. At the moment, there are two musicals in the works, and Air Supply's first new album in eight years, "The Everlasting," is set to come out in three weeks.
The band has given some test runs to a few new tracks at concerts this year. "One Glass Eye," a twangy, acoustic number sung by Russell, which prominently features a jaw harp and some lyrics a bit more risqué than you'd expect from Air Supply, has become an instant crowd favorite.
Russell said coming up with quality new songs, rather than just resting on the old hits, was an important endeavor for him.
"We've had so many big hits that I can't just write a song and expect to get away with it. I have to aim for the highest caliber I can. And that's what I do. If I put a song next to 'All Out of Love' or 'The One That You Love,' it's gotta be just as good, otherwise the crowd are gonna get, 'Oh now! I didn't like the new stuff!' " he said. "Playing the hits is easy. A cover band could do that. But coming up with songs and performances that match those that've just become so known around the world, that's a real challenge for us."
Between the enduring appeal of the old songs and the perhaps surprising appeal of the new ones, Air Supply keep winning fans over.
"Yeah, there are certain kinds of people that come to our show. They've either been to see us before so they're coming back, or they're really curious because they've heard the songs on the radio over the last 40 years but they may not know who we are. They know there's a Russell or two involved somewhere along the line!" he said. "But it's a great show. And it gets really powerful when it needs to and it's very tender when it needs to be. But the people that come, once they come, they're hooked."
Russell said he's constantly surprised to see young teens, indoctrinated by their parents or even their grandparents, in the audience, singing every word by heart. He also knows the band gets its fair share of husbands or boyfriends dragged unwillingly to shows by their significant others, expecting "a soft, acoustic kind of show" and inevitably surprised to find Air Supply can also be "a powerhouse rock and roll band. … I see them when I step out onstage, and people, their jaws drop and they go, 'Oh my god, I had no idea it was gonna be like this!' "
As long as Air Supply can keep pleasing the old fans and keep surprising some new ones, Russell said they'll keep on playing.
"We have no end in sight. We always said that we would stop coming when the people stop coming, we would stop playing when the crowds aren't there anymore," he said. "And we're very lucky, we sell out every single show we do around the world, but when that stops, we'll stop, too. When the demand isn't there."
It seems unlikely that audiences will ever be all out of love for Air Supply. After all, everyone loves a good love song, remember?
Twitter: @esotericwalden —
With Angela Wright
When • Monday, 8 p.m.
Where • scera.org/event-category/scera-shell-outdoor-theatre/">SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre, 699 State St., Orem
Tickets • $20-$35; scera.org
When • July 1, 8 p.m.
Where • Sandy Amphitheater, 9400 S. 1300 East
Tickets • $20-$45; Smith's Tix