Airplay

An adult contemporary pop super duo, Airplay was a one-off project featuring the combined talents of noted session players/producers <a href="spotify:artist:0SgQK24WzZf2pXBXYqHJYF">David Foster</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6ktABRivLA1KNPTurNYR5w">Jay Graydon</a>. They released a sole 1980 album, Airplay, which showcased their laid-back brand of West Coast pop/rock in the vein of <a href="spotify:artist:0PFtn5NtBbbUNbU9EAmIWF">Toto</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3iDD7bnsjL9J4fO298r0L0">Chicago</a>.

Session musicians keyboardist <a href="spotify:artist:0SgQK24WzZf2pXBXYqHJYF">David Foster</a> and guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:6ktABRivLA1KNPTurNYR5w">Jay Graydon</a> first met while on tour in the mid-'70s. They struck up a friendship and continued to work together, backing various artists and collaborating on songs. They eventually formed Airplay as a showcase for their material, bringing vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:04pw8skFJGfKKa0Q0Lhjpw">Tommy Funderburk</a>, drummer <a href="spotify:artist:40sK9Bf2lzP9G6WntTE618">Jeff Porcaro</a>, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:06GA2bM4BHg6QpTDTPT8xd">David Hungate</a> on board, and several of their other studio associates. The group's eponymous debut, Airplay, arrived in 1980 on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a>. The album found them reworking several songs they had penned for other artists, including "After the Love Has Gone" (with lyrics by <a href="spotify:artist:3iDD7bnsjL9J4fO298r0L0">Chicago</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:5pLqzTJecAKKbWw0MrDASt">Bill Champlin</a>) which had been a Top Five Hot 100 hit for <a href="spotify:artist:4QQgXkCYTt3BlENzhyNETg">Earth, Wind & Fire</a> in 1979 and won the Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. While Airplay was short-lived (a song "Stressed Out [Close to the Edge]" popped up on the St. Elmo's Fire soundtrack in 1985), both <a href="spotify:artist:0SgQK24WzZf2pXBXYqHJYF">Foster</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6ktABRivLA1KNPTurNYR5w">Graydon</a> would continue to enjoy fruitful careers, working together and separately on various projects with artists like <a href="spotify:artist:3iDD7bnsjL9J4fO298r0L0">Chicago</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5tTsrGPwQRWUsHR2Xf7Ke9">Natalie Cole</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7jmTilWYlKOuavFfmQAcu6">Barbra Streisand</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3YR92OLKlvkK5oKNekSqXe">Al Jarreau</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ZvrvbQNrHKwjT7qfGFFUW">Herbie Hancock</a>, and many others. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi