The Whole Thing's Started

The Whole Thing's Started
Studio album by Air Supply
Released July 1977
Recorded March 1977, Albert Studios, Sydney
Genre Soft rock
Label CBS Records
Producer Peter Dawkins
Air Supply chronology

Air Supply
(1976)
The Whole Thing's Started
(1977)
Love & Other Bruises
(1977)
Alternate cover
Japanese reissue
Singles from The Whole Thing's Started
  1. "Do What You Do"
    Released: June 1977
  2. "That's How the Whole Thing Started"
    Released: October 1977
  3. "Do It Again"
    Released: February 1978

The Whole Thing's Started is the second studio album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply, it was released in July 1977.[1] The first single "Do What You Do" was released ahead of the album in June, "That's How the Whole Thing Started" followed in October and "Do It Again" appeared in February 1978. Neither the album nor the singles peaked into the Australian Kent Music Report Top 40 charts.[2]

Background

Chrissie Hammond, Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell met in May 1975 while performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical, Jesus Christ Superstar.[3][4] With Hammond and Hitchcock on vocals and Russell on guitar, they formed Air Supply as a harmony vocal group in Melbourne.[5] Hammond was replaced by Jeremy Paul (ex-Soffrok) on bass guitar and vocals in 1976.[3] The group's first single, "Love and Other Bruises", peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in October.[2] It was followed by Air Supply, their debut album, in December, which reached No. 17 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart and achieved gold in Australia.[2][3] The album was produced by Peter Dawkins (Spectrum, Ross Ryan) with Air Supply line-up as Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and drummer Jeff Browne, guitarist Mark McEntee and keyboardist, arranger Adrian Scott.[3][4] A national tour followed with Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and Scott joined by Nigel Macara (ex-Tamam Shud, Ariel) on drums and Brenton White (Skintight) on guitar.[3][4] Brenton White rehearsed but did not perform with Air Supply.

Their second album, The Whole Thing's Started, also produced by Dawkins,[5] was released in July 1977 with White replaced on lead guitar by Rex Goh.[3] The album spawned the singles "Do What You Do" (June), "That's How the Whole Thing Started" (October) and "Do It Again" (February 1978) but neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40.[2] From late 1977, the group supported Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia—he invited them to continue on to United States and Canada. Their third album, Love & Other Bruises, included re-recordings of some earlier tracks, and was made mid-tour in Los Angeles in July-August and released internationally later that year on Columbia Records with Jimmy Horowitz producing.[5] During the tour, Paul left the band with a new the line-up of Goh, Hitchcock, Macara and Russell, plus Joey Carbone on keyboards, Robin LeMesurier on lead guitar and Howard Sukimoto on bass guitar.[4] Paul, in 1980, joined fellow Air Supply band mate McEntee in the lineup of Divinyls, fronted by Chrissie Amphlett. Air Supply performed in London supporting Chicago and Boz Scaggs.[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Graham Russell[6]. 

No. Title Length
1. "Teach Me to Run"   4:02
2. "Do It Again"   3:35
3. "Do What You Do"   3:47
4. "There's Nothing I Can Do"   3:38
5. "Ready for You"   4:28
6. "That's How the Whole Thing Started"   4:03
7. "Love Comes to Me"   5:51
8. "The Answer Lies"   3:44
9. "It's Automatic"   2:57
10. "The End of the Line"   3:33

Personnel

Air Supply members

Additional musicians

Recording details

Art work

Release History

7" Singles [7]

Date Tracks Length Label Catalog
1977 "Do What You Do" 3:47 CBS BA 222304[8][9]
"It's Automatic" 2:57
1977 "That's How the Whole Thing Started" 4:03 BA 222325[8]
"There's Nothing I Can Do" 3:38
1978 "Do It Again" 3:35 Columbia C4-8217
"Empty Pages" 4:20

Album

Date Region Label Format Catalog Notes
1977 Australia CBS LP SBP 234999 [10]
2LP SBP 241031 Repackaged with Air Supply
CAS PC 4999
Rainbow RSV-001
Summit/Rainbow SUL 3001
1980 Japan Epic/Sony LP 25•3P-238 Japanese reissue, alternate cover[11]
1981 Australia Harmony LP HC 15070 Love and Other Bruises compilation, includes six tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
CAS TCHC 15070
Summit/Rainbow SC 3036
1988 Australia Columbia/Sony CD 463016 2
CBS/Disctronics 463016 2 Reissue of 1981 compilation, alternate cover[12]
CBS CAS 463016 4
1991 Japan Epic/Sony CD ESCA 5390 First appearance of full album on CD [11]
1992 Australia Rainbow 2CD 2RCD 111/112 Feel the Breeze, includes Air Supply and The Whole Thing's Started [11]
1996 Korea Columbia/Sony CD 486553.2 Once Upon a Time, includes five tracks from The Whole Thing's Started[13]
CAS 486553.4
2002 Japan Epic CD EICP 7033 Reissue of 1991 release[11]

References

  1. Biographies: Air Supply URL accessed 8 December 2008
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Air Supply'". Whammo Homepage. Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop (St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin). ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2010. Note: Archived (on-line) copy has limited functionality.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara, Paul McHenry with notes by Ed Nimmervoll (2002) [1987]. "Air Supply entry". The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1. Note: (on-line) version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Holmgren, Magnus; Thornton, Mary Ann; Padgett, Chris. "Air Supply". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  6. ""Teach Me to Run" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 17 August 2010. Note: Results for "Teach Me to Run" are shown. Search engine (at 'Search again' tab) requires user to enter song title e.g. Do It Again
  7. "Air Supply History: Chapter 4"
  8. 8.0 8.1 "CBS 45 Discography"
  9. "45cat.com"
  10. "1977 Print Ad"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Air Supply History: Chapter 18"
  12. "Air Supply History: Chapter 16"
  13. "Air Supply History: Chapter 20"