 At the age of thirteen, Stephen Bishop found himself at a
crossroads. A clarinetist with hopes of becoming a History teacher, he was
forever changed after watching the Beatles one night on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
He convinced his brother to buy him an electric guitar. He bought a “Mel Bay”
chordbook and began to learn to play guitar and make up chords as well, writing
his first song,”Surf’s Turf..” a pathetic sounding instrumental. He formed a
band called, “The Weeds” and began to play at local fraternity parties
incorporating his own original songs with various songs from top 40...
The Weeds won 2nd place at the Claremont Battle of the Bands,
prompting one of the judges to exclaim that “Stephen Bishop is going to be a big
songwriter someday!” Determined to fulfill that prophesy, Stephen Bishop made
the trip to Los Angeles. He walked the streets with his $12 acoustic guitar,
playing songs for various publishers in Hollywood eventually landing a
publishing deal at $50 a week for E.H.Morris Publishing. One of his songs was
recorded only to be followed by a long wait many years went by. At one point,
Stephen Bishop considered leaving L.A. to return home and work for his Dad’s
Insurance company. Through a good friend, Art Garfunkel heard some of his new
songs and recorded two of them on his Gold recording, “Breakaway.”
He started playing around town singing his songs in person
for artists like, “Barbra Streisand...Bette Midler..Diana Ross...Michelle
Phillips...” Shortly thereafter, Stephen Bishop was signed to ABC Records who
released his first album, “Careless.” His two hits from that album were,”Save It
For a Rainy Day,” and “On and On..” Soon the album went gold, as well as his
next album, Bish.
Stephen Bishop sang the theme, “It Might Be You,” from the
movie, “Tootsie,” as well as writing and/or singing 13 other films including,
“Animal House,” and “Separate Lives..” from “White Nights.” His songs have been
sung by artists such as: Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Barbra Streisand, Art
Garfunkel, Steve Perry, Stephanie Mills, Kenny Loggins, JohnnyMathis, Phoebe
Snow, David Crosby, The Four Tops and Pavarotti.
Stephen Bishop has been nominated for two Grammy’s and an
Oscar nomination for his song, “Separate Lives”. His new CD is entitled, “Blue
Guitars..” and his book on rough drafts, “SONGS IN THE ROUGH.” published by St.
Martins’ Press, has nearly sold out in it’s first printing. He has just sung and
co-written the song, “You Can Do Anything..” for the movie, “Barney’s Big
Adventure...”
Contact Grabow for more information or to book Stephen Bishop
for your next corporate or private event.
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