Stephen Bishop

Singer

Popular As Stephen Bishop (singer)

Birthday November 14, 1951

Birth Sign Scorpio

Birthplace San Diego, California, U.S.

Age 72 years old

Nationality United States

#34056 Most Popular

1951

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 has appeared in and contributed musically to many motion pictures, including National Lampoon's Animal House.

Earl Stephen Bishop was born and raised in San Diego, California.

Originally a clarinetist, he persuaded his brother to buy him a guitar after seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.

He is married to his manager Liz Kamlet.

He attended Will C.. Crawford High School.

1967

In 1967, he formed his first group, the Weeds, a British Invasion-styled band.

After the Weeds folded, Bishop moved to Los Angeles in search of a solo recording contract.

During a lean eight-year period, where he was rejected "by nearly every label and producer," he continued to write songs, eventually landing a $50-a-week job with a publishing house.

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 the platinum album Breakaway.

1976

Via Garfunkel's patronage, Bishop finally secured a recording contract with ABC Records in 1976.

Bishop's 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 went to number 22 on the Billboard singles chart.

The next single, Bishop's highest charting to date, "On and On", peaked at No. 11.

The album itself rose to number 34 on the Billboard albums chart.

Eric Clapton, Art Garfunkel and Chaka Khan all contributed their talents to the album.

1977

He had a cameo role, billed as "Charming Guy", in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), appearing as a hustler in the infamous "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble" segment.

1978

Careless went gold, as did Bishop's subsequent album Bish, released in 1978.

Bish included one charting single, "Everybody Needs Love", which made it to number 32.

The album also includes a smooth classic called "A Fool At Heart" that features Chaka Khan and Natalie Cole on background vocals.

In 1978, he contributed the original song "Dream Girl" and theme to National Lampoon's Animal House, which he sang in falsetto.

In addition to singing the theme song off-screen, Bishop had a cameo appearance in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) as the aspiring folk singer billed as "Charming Guy with Guitar" who sang "The Riddle Song" before his musical instrument 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.

1979

Other movie music includes: "Somewhere in Between" (written and performed) from The China Syndrome (1979), "Your Precious Love" (performed with Yvonne Elliman) from Roadie (1980), "If Love Takes You Away" (written and performed) from Summer Lovers (1982), "Unfaithfully Yours (One Love)" (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).

1980

Bishop's third album, Red Cab to Manhattan, released in 1980, failed to chart and was his last released in North America for nine years.

Bishop has written and performed music for many feature films.

In 1980, Bishop contributed backing vocals to "This Must Be Love", from Phil Collins' debut solo album Face Value.

1982

Bishop's next hit, charting at number 25 in 1982, 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.

1985

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, losing 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.

Bishop said: "I write much better when I'm heartbroken and sad or melancholy."

1986

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.

1987

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.

Bishop has appeared in several motion pictures as a "charming" character, including four directed by John Landis.

1989

In 1989, Bishop released the album Bowling in Paris with Phil Collins (co-producer on some 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.

This version became a #13 hit on the Adult Contemporary chart.