Stephen Bishop (singer)

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Stephen Bishop
Stephen Bishop 1977.JPG
Bishop in 1977
Background information
Birth nameEarl Stephen Bishop
Born (1951-11-14) November 14, 1951 (age 73)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Genres Middle-of-the-road [1]
OccupationsSinger, songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, guitar
Years active1975–present
Labels
Spouse
Liz Kamlet
​
(m. 2021)​
Website stephenbishop.com

Earl Stephen Bishop (born November 14, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and guitarist. His biggest hits include "On and On", "It Might Be You", and "Save It for a Rainy Day". He contributed musically and appeared in many motion pictures including National Lampoon's Animal House .

Contents

Early life, family and education

Earl Stephen Bishop was born and raised in San Diego, California. [2] [3] Originally a clarinetist, he persuaded his brother to buy him a guitar after seeing the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show . [4] He attended Will C. Crawford High School in San Diego. [5]

Personal life

Bishop is married to Liz Kamlet who is also his manager. [6]

Career

Music

In 1967, he formed his first group, the Weeds, a British Invasion-style band. [7] After the Weeds folded, Bishop moved to Los Angeles in search of a solo recording contract. [7] During a lean eight-year period, where he was rejected "by nearly every label and producer," [1] he continued to write songs eventually landing a $50-a-week job with a publishing house. [4]

Bishop's break came when a friend, Leah Kunkel, gave Art Garfunkel one of Bishop's demo tapes. Garfunkel chose two of his songs, "Looking for the Right One" and "The Same Old Tears on a New Background", to record for his platinum album Breakaway . [1] Via Garfunkel's patronage, Bishop finally secured a recording contract with ABC Records in 1976. [7] His first album, Careless , included two of his biggest hits. The first single released, "Save It for a Rainy Day", introduced Bishop to the listening public and was number 22 on the Billboard singles chart. [8] The next single, Bishop's highest charting to date, "On and On", peaked at No. 11. [8] The album itself rose to number 34 on the Billboard albums chart. [9] Eric Clapton, Garfunkel, and Chaka Khan all contributed their talents to the album.

Careless went gold as did Bishop's next album Bish , released in 1978. [4] Bish included one single, "Everybody Needs Love", which made it to number 32. The album has a smooth classic called "A Fool At Heart" which features Chaka Khan and Natalie Cole on background vocals. [8] His third album, Red Cab to Manhattan , released in 1980, failed to chart and was the last released in North America for nine years.

Bishop has written and performed music for many feature films. In 1978, he contributed the original song "Dream Girl" and theme to National Lampoon's Animal House , which he sang in falsetto. In 1980, he contributed backing vocals to "This Must Be Love", from Phil Collins' debut solo album Face Value .[ citation needed ] Bishop's next hit, charting at number 25 in 1982, [8] was "It Might Be You", the theme from the movie Tootsie , unusual in that it was not penned by Bishop. Written by Dave Grusin, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Bishop's composition "Separate Lives", sung by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the 1985 movie White Nights , was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It lost to "Say You, Say Me" from the same film. Bishop wrote the song about his breakup with actress Karen Allen, who also appeared in Animal House. He said: "I write much better when I'm heartbroken and sad or melancholy." [10] Other film music includes "Somewhere in Between" (written and performed) from The China Syndrome (1979), "Your Precious Love" (performed with Yvonne Elliman) from Roadie (1980), [11] "If Love Takes You Away" (written and performed) from Summer Lovers (1982), "Unfaithfully Yours (One Love)" which was written and performed from Unfaithfully Yours (1984), "Something New in My Life" (performed) from Micki & Maude (1984), "The Heart Is So Willing" (performed) from The Money Pit (1986), "All I Want" (performed) from All I Want for Christmas (1991), and "You Can Do Anything" (written and performed by Bishop and Jeff Jones) from Barney's Great Adventure (1998). In addition, the original version of "Walkin' on Air" (written and performed by Bishop) was featured in the 1986 film The Boy Who Could Fly .

In 1989, Bishop released the album Bowling in Paris with Phil Collins (the co-producer on some of the songs), Eric Clapton, and Sting contributing. The album included a revamped version of "Walkin' on Air", this time featuring drumming, production, and additional vocals from Collins. The version became a #13 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. In 1987, the Norwegian swing/pop duo Bobbysocks! had recorded their own version of "Walking on Air" (as "Walkin' on Air") as the title track to their album Walkin' on Air .

Acting

Bishop has appeared in several motion pictures as a "charming" character including four directed by John Landis. He had a cameo role, billed as "Charming Guy", in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977); he appeared as a hustler in the infamous "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble" segment. In addition to singing the theme song off-screen, Bishop had a cameo appearance in National Lampoon's Animal House in 1978 (the aspiring folk singer billed as "Charming Guy with Guitar" who sang "The Riddle Song"). Charming Guy's guitar was smashed against a staircase wall at the Delta Tau Chi house by John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). The scene was filmed twice and Bishop had the second smashed guitar signed by the cast and framed. [12]

He appeared in The Blues Brothers (1980), billed as "Charming Trooper", who breaks his watch during a mall chase. He appeared very briefly in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), billed as "Charming G.I.", in the Vietnam War scene. Bishop appeared, as "Blue London", in Harry Jaglom's Someone to Love (1987).

Eric Clapton, in his autobiography, mentions Bishop as being one of his favorite singer-songwriters. [13]

Songs by Bishop recorded by others

Numerous artists have recorded songs written by Bishop. They include: [4]

Discography

Albums

Collections

Singles

YearSingleChart Positions
US AC CAN CAN AC AUS NZ UK
1977"Save It for a Rainy Day"226208———
"On and On"112636629—
"Never Letting Go"———————
1978"Everybody Needs Love"325292———
"Animal House"73——————
"Looking for the Right One"———————
1980"Your Precious Love" (with Yvonne Elliman)105——————
"Send a Little Love My Way"10831—————
1982"If Love Takes You Away"10822—————
1983"It Might Be You"2511615099
1984"One Love (Unfaithfully Yours)"874—————
1986"The Heart Is So Willing"—31—————
1987"Something New in My Life"———————
1989"Walking on Air"—13—————
1990"Mr. Heartbreak"—42—————
1991"All I Want"———————

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Crowe, Cameron. "Stephen Bishop: King of the Middle of the Road", Rolling Stone , November 16, 1978, p. 19.
  2. ↑ "Stephen Bishop San Diego's Hometown Boy Keeps Going "On and On" | San Diego Troubadour". sandiegotroubadour.com. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Stephen Bishop reflects on his life in music in 'On and Off,' an autobiography with a dramatic twist". San Diego Union-Tribune. July 2, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Biography". stephenbishop.com.
  5. ↑ "Stephen Bishop". San Diego Reader. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
  6. ↑ Radic, Randall (March 9, 2022). "Music Industry Exec Liz Kamlet — Marketing Guru and Guitar Collector". Medium. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Larkin, Colin (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Concise 3rd Edition , p. 134. Virgin Books, London. ISBN   1-85227-832-3
  8. 1 2 3 4 Whitburn, Joel (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 7th Edition, p. 65. Billboard Books, New York. ISBN   0-8230-7690-3
  9. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1995). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Albums, 3rd Edition, p. 35. Billboard Books, New York. ISBN   0-8230-7631-8
  10. ↑ "Separate Lives". Songfacts.com. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
  11. ↑ Roadie at IMDb
  12. ↑ Martin, Philip (June 5, 2016). "The Charming Guy on the stairs". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . Little Rock, Arkansas. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  13. ↑ Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography, p. 318. Crown, New York; ISBN   978-0-7679-2536-5
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