Stephen Bishop (singer)

Earl Stephen Bishop is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. His biggest hits include "On and On", "It Might Be You", and "Save It for a Rainy Day". He has also written songs for many other artists, such as Barbra Streisand, Phil Collins, and Art Garfunkel. He has contributed music and acted in films including National Lampoon's Animal House.

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Personal life

Earl Stephen Bishop was born and raised in San Diego, California. He attended Will C. Crawford High School. Originally a clarinetist, he persuaded his brother to buy him a guitar after seeing the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Bishop is married to Liz Kamlet, who is also his manager. In August 2025, he announced his retirement following the release of his final album, THIMK, explaining his desire to spend more time with his child.

Career

Music

In 1967, he formed his first group, the Weeds, a British Invasion-style 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 his platinum album Breakaway. Via Garfunkel's patronage, Bishop finally secured a recording contract with ABC Records in 1976. 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. 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, Garfunkel, and Chaka Khan all contributed their talents to the album.
Careless went gold as did Bishop's next album, Bish, released in 1978. 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. 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 songs "Dream Girl" and the titular theme to National Lampoon's Animal House, both of which he sang in falsetto. In 1980, he contributed backing vocals to "This Must Be Love", from Phil Collins' debut solo album Face Value. 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.
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." Other film music includes "Somewhere in Between" from The China Syndrome, "Your Precious Love" from Roadie, "If Love Takes You Away" from Summer Lovers, "Unfaithfully Yours " which was written and performed from Unfaithfully Yours, "Something New in My Life" from Micki & Maude, "The Heart Is So Willing" from The Money Pit, "All I Want" from All I Want for Christmas, and "You Can Do Anything" from Barney's Great Adventure. In addition, the original version of "Walkin' on Air" was featured in the 1986 film The Boy Who Could Fly.
In 1989, Bishop released the album Bowling in Paris with Phil Collins, 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 No. 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 the title track to their album Walkin' on Air.
Bishop released his 20th and final album in August 2025. The album, titled THIMK, features Art Garfunkel and Leah Kunkel.
Eric Clapton, in his autobiography, mentions Bishop as being one of his favorite singer-songwriters.

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 ; 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. Charming Guy's guitar was smashed against a staircase wall at the Delta Tau Chi house by John "Bluto" Blutarsky. The scene was filmed twice and Bishop had the second smashed guitar signed by the cast and framed.
He appeared in The Blues Brothers, billed as "Charming Trooper", who breaks his watch during a mall chase. He appeared very briefly in Twilight Zone: The Movie, billed as "Charming G.I.", in the Vietnam War scene. Bishop appeared, as "Blue London", in Harry Jaglom's Someone to Love.

Discography

Albums

Careless Bish Red Cab to Manhattan Sleeping with Girls Bowling in Paris Blue Guitars Happy Bishmas Yardwork The Demo Album 1 The Demo Album 2 Fear of Massage: Demo 3 Stephen Bishop Live at Duo Music Exchange America & Friends: Live at the Ventura Theater Saudade Romance in Rio Be Here Then Stephen Bishop Live Blueprint We'll Talk About It Later in the Car Rock Little Reindeer

''THIMK''

Collections

Best of Bish On and On: The Hits of Stephen Bishop An Introduction to Stephen Bishop Back to Back

''The Millennium Collection''