November 14: "Tootsie" theme song singer Stephen Bishop is 62-years-old today.

Photo from stephenbishop.com

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Stephen was born in San Diego, Californian 1951. 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." He formed a band called, "The Weeds" and began to play at local faternity parties incorporating his own original songs with various songs from top 40.

In addition to "It Might Be You," the theme from the movie, Tootsie he had a major hit in 1977 with the song "On and On," which was a #11 hit in the U.S.. His other hits include "Save It for a Rainy Day" and "Everybody Needs Love."

 

Bishop has also performed many movie themes, including the theme from National Lampoon's Animal House which he sang in falsetto. He also provided his talent to the theme song in the Christmas movie, All I Want for Christmas.

His song "Separate Lives," sung by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the movie White Nights, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1985, 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. "I write much better when I'm heartbroken and sad or melancholy," Bishop has said.  

From "Animal House"

Bishop also wrote the theme to the 1984 remake of the movie Unfaithfully Yours, entitled "One Love (Unfaithfully Yours)." The song received regular airplay during this period, usually on soft rock / adult contemporary radio stations. Despite moderate radio success, a soundtrack for the movie was never released. The song appeared on Bishop's best-of compilation albums Best of Bish.

In 1989 he released his fifth album called Bowling In Paris  with Phil Collins who co-produced and performed on some songs, Eric Clapton, Sting, Steve Lukather, Ronnie Caryl, Michael Omartian, Mo Foster, Adrian Lee, and others.

Bishop's songs which have tracked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart are "It Might Be You," which peaked at #25 in 1983; "Save It For A Rainy Day" (#22, 1977); "On And On" (#11, 1977); and "Everybody Needs Love" (#32, 1978).

In addition to singing the theme song off-screen, Bishop had a cameo role in National Lampoon's Animal House as the aspiring folk singer whose guitar John Belushi smashes. Bishop still keeps the smashed guitar as a memento.

He appeared in another John Landis movie, The Blues Brothers, as the "Charming Trooper" who breaks his watch during the mall chase. Bishop also had a cameo in The Kentucky Fried Movie, appearing as a hustler in the infamous "Catholic High School Girls in Trouble" segment. He was the musical guest on the March 11, 1978 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

 

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Bishop also contributed the song 'The Heart Is So Willing' for the 1986 remake of the film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, called The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. Patrick Bateman, the fictional anti-hero from Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, is an avowed fan of Stephen Bishop.

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For more about Stephen, visit his Website at -
http://www.stephenbishop.com/

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