The Whole Thing's Started


The Whole Thing's Started is the second studio album by Australian soft rock band Air Supply, it was released in July 1977. 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.

Background

, 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. With Hammond and Hitchcock on vocals and Russell on guitar, they formed Air Supply as a harmony vocal group in Melbourne. Hammond was replaced by Jeremy Paul on bass guitar and vocals in 1976. The group's first single, "Love and Other Bruises", peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in October. 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. The album was produced by Peter Dawkins with Air Supply line-up as Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and drummer Jeff Browne, guitarist Mark McEntee and keyboardist, arranger Adrian Scott. A national tour followed with Hitchcock, Paul, Russell and Scott joined by Nigel Macara on drums and Brenton White on guitar. Brenton White rehearsed but did not perform with Air Supply.
Their second album, The Whole Thing's Started, also produced by Dawkins, was released in July 1977 with White replaced on lead guitar by Rex Goh. The album spawned the singles "Do What You Do", "That's How the Whole Thing Started" and "Do It Again" but neither album nor singles charted into the Top 40. 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. 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. Paul, in 1980, joined fellow Air Supply bandmate McEntee in the lineup of Divinyls, fronted by Chrissie Amphlett. Air Supply performed in London supporting Chicago and Boz Scaggs.

Track listing

Personnel

Air Supply members
Additional musicians
Recording details
Artwork
7" Singles
DateTracksLengthLabelCatalog
1977"Do What You Do"3:47CBSBA 222304
1977"It's Automatic"2:57CBSBA 222304
1977"That's How the Whole Thing Started"4:03CBSBA 222325
1977"There's Nothing I Can Do"3:38CBSBA 222325
1978"Do It Again"3:35ColumbiaC4-8217
1978"Empty Pages"4:20ColumbiaC4-8217

Album
DateRegionLabelFormatCatalogNotes
1977AustraliaCBSLPSBP 234999
1977AustraliaCBS2LPSBP 241031Repackaged with Air Supply
1977AustraliaCBSCASPC 4999
1977AustraliaRainbowCASRSV-001
1977AustraliaSummit/RainbowCASSUL 3001
1980JapanEpic/SonyLP25•3P-238Japanese reissue, alternate cover
1981AustraliaHarmonyLPHC 15070Love and Other Bruises compilation, includes six tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
1981AustraliaHarmonyCASTCHC 15070Love and Other Bruises compilation, includes six tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
1981AustraliaSummit/RainbowCASSC 3036Love and Other Bruises compilation, includes six tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
1988AustraliaColumbia/SonyCD463016 2Love and Other Bruises compilation, includes six tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
1988AustraliaCBS/DisctronicsCD463016 2Reissue of 1981 compilation, alternate cover
1988AustraliaCBSCAS463016 4Reissue of 1981 compilation, alternate cover
1991JapanEpic/SonyCDESCA 5390First appearance of full album on CD
1992AustraliaRainbow2CD2RCD 111/112Feel the Breeze, includes Air Supply and The Whole Thing's Started
1996KoreaColumbia/SonyCD486553.2Once Upon a Time, includes five tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
1996KoreaColumbia/SonyCAS486553.4Once Upon a Time, includes five tracks from The Whole Thing's Started
2002JapanEpicCDEICP 7033Reissue of 1991 release