On and On Hitmaker

Background:

Pop-rock singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop had a major hit in 1977 with the song "On and On" and has written and/or performed many movie themes, including the theme from “National Lampoon's Animal House” (1978), Sydney Pollack-directed comedy movie starring Dustin Hoffman, “Tootsie” (1982), titled "It Might Be You," and the theme to the 1984 remake of the movie “Unfaithfully Yours” titled "One Love (Unfaithfully Yours)."

Bishop was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985 for writing the song "Separate Lives," for Taylor Hackford's movie "White Nights" (1985; starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, and Isabella Rossellini). The singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose songs have been sung by artists such as Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Art Garfunkel, Steve Perry, Stephanie Mills, Kenny Loggins, Johnny Mathis, Phoebe Snow, David Crosby, The Four Tops, Aswad, and Pavarotti, also provided his talent to the theme song in the holiday movie “All I Want for Christmas” (1994).

Meanwhile, Bishop had cameo roles as an aspiring folk singer in “National Lampoon's Animal House” (1978) and as the 'charming trooper' in “The Blues Brothers” (1980).

San Diego Native

Childhood and Family:

In San Diego, California, Stephen Bishop was born on November 14, 1951. His father runs an insurance company.

Bishop once lived with actress Karen Allen (born October 5, 1951), who plays Marion Ravenwood in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008), as well as appeared with Bishop in "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978). Patrick Bateman, the fictional anti-hero from Bret Easton Ellis' “American Psycho,” is an avowed fan of him.

Separate Lives

Career:

Initially planning to become a History teacher, Stephen Bishop was bitten by the music bug after watching the Beatles one night on the CBS variety show “The Ed Sullivan Show.” After urging his brother to buy him an electric guitar, young Bishop began to learn to play guitar and make up chords from “Mel Bay” chord book, resulting his first song, ”Surf’s Turf.”

The aspiring musician began to play at local parties with his band, “The Weeds,” with whom he would win 2nd place at the Claremont Battle of the Bands. After the band disbanded following high school, Bishop spent the next seven years looking for a recording contract and was finally discovered by Art Garfunkel in 1976.

After scoring a publishing deal for E.H.Morris Publishing, Bishop began writing songs for Chaka Khan, the Four Tops, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Diana Ross. He soon was signed to ABC Records and released his first album, “Careless” (1976), which spawned the major hit single “On and On,” which was a #11 hit in the U.S., and "Save It for a Rainy Day."

Bishop's debut album went gold, and he followed it up with his sophomore effort, “Bish” (1978), which also received gold certification. That same year, he sang the theme song to John Landis' comedy movie "National Lampoon's Animal House" (1978; starring John Belushi, John Vernon, and Tim Matheson), in which he also had a cameo role as the aspiring folk singer whose guitar is smashed by Belushi's character, as well as wrote and sang "Everybody Needs Love" in writer/director Jane Wagner's critically-panned romantic drama movie, "Moment by Moment," starring John Travolta and Lily Tomlin.

After singing "Somewhere in Between" in James Bridges' 1979 thriller film starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas, Bishop released his next album, "Red Cab To Manhattan" in 1980. He then performed "Your Precious Love" in Alan Rudolph's 1980 film "Roadie" and reunited with John Belushi in another John Landis movie, the musical comedy "The Blues Brothers" (1980; also starring Dan Aykroyd), playing the 'charming trooper' who breaks his watch during the mall chase.

In February 1981, Bishop guest-starred in an episode of the popular ABC sitcom starring Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, "Laverne & Shirley." In the following year, he performed "If Love Takes You Away" in writer/director Randal Kleiser's romantic drama/comedy movie "Summer Lovers" (1982; starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah, and Valerie Quennessen), and sang the hit theme “It Might Be You” from Sydney Pollack-directed comedy movie starring Dustin Hoffman, “Tootsie” (1982).

Bishop appeared as a charming G.I in Steven Spielberg-produced theatrical version of the 1950s and 60s TV series, "Twilight Zone: The Movie" (1983; starring Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Vic Morrow, Scatman Crothers, and John Lithgow). He continues to write and/or sing in the films "Unfaithfully Yours" (1984), a romantic comedy directed by Howard Zieff's remake of Preston Sturges' 1948 movie, "Micki + Maude" (1984), a comedy by Blake Edwards starring Dudley Moore and Ann Reinking, and "Movers & Shakers" (1985), a comedy by William Ashner featuring Walter Matthau, Tyne Daly, Gilda Radner, and Vincent Gardenia.

He also wrote the song “Separate Lives” for Taylor Hackford's movie "White Nights" (1985; starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, and Isabella Rossellini). The song that was sung by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #4 on the UK Singles Chart. As a songwriter, Bishop received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, but lost to Lionel Richie's “Say You, Say Me” for the same movie. "Separate Lives" also won a BMI Film & TV award for Most Performed Song.

Bishop released albums “Sleeping With Girls” (Asia Only) in 1986 and “Bowling In Paris” in 1989. During this time, he he performed "The Heart is So Willing" in "The Money Pit" (1986; starring Tom Hanks), Richard Benjamin's remake of H.C. Potter's 1948 film adaptation of Eric Hodgins' popular 1946 novel "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," as well as wrote and sang "Walkin' on Air" in writer/director Nick Castle's film "The Boy Who Could Fly" (1986). Meanwhile, he hosted the musical comedy show "Keep on Cruisin'" (1987) and appeared in writer/director/actor Henry Jaglom's romantic drama/comedy movie "Someone to Love" (1987).

The early 1990s saw the release of Bishop's album, “Best Of Bish,” which was followed by the albums “On And On:The Hits Of Stephen Bishop” in 1994 and “Blue Guitars” in 1996. Meanwhile, he also provided his talent to the theme song in Robert Lieberman-directed holiday movie that stars Lauren Bacall, Thora Birch, and Ethan Randall, “All I Want for Christmas” (1994).

Bishop, whose songs have been sung by artists such as Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Steve Perry, Stephanie Mills, Kenny Loggins, Johnny Mathis, Phoebe Snow, David Crosby, Aswad and Pavarotti, continues to add to his resume with the release of “Happy Bishmas” (2002), the acoustic guitar and vocal solo album “Yardwork” (2003), “Demo 1” (2003), “Demo 2” (2003), “Demo 3: Fear Of Massage” (2004), “Live At The Ventura Theater” (Japan Only; 2007), and “Saudade AKA Romance In Rio” (2007).

Awards:

• BMI Film & TV: Most Performed Song from a Film, "White Nights" (1985), for the song "Separate Lives," 1987