Stephen Bishop

by Steve Huey
Stephen Bishops light pop style garnered him a small amount of success as a solo artist in the late 70s and a greater reputation as a quality songwriter. After his first group, the Weeds, disbanded following high school, Bishop spent the next seven years looking for a recording contract and was finally discovered by Art Garfunkel in 1976. Bishop had worked in a publishing house, where he wrote songs for Chaka Khan, the Four Tops, and Barbra Streisand. His debut album, Careless, was nominated for a Grammy and produced several chart singles, including On and On. Guest performers on the album included Garfunkel, Khan, Gary Brooker, Steve Cropper, and Phil Collins, who later recorded Bishop material on his Face Value album. Bishop achieved his greatest visibility as a composer of movie themes, contributing to Animal House, Roadie, Tootsie, The China Syndrome, Unfaithfully Yours, and a number one duet for Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin from White Nights, Separate Lives. Bishop also appeared in The Blues Brothers and Kentucky Fried Movie.