Stephen Bishop is going to be spending a lot more time with Randy Newman.
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No, we’re not referencing a collaboration between two renowned singer-songwriters. We’re talking about Randy Newman, Bishop’s pet dog. And in case you’re wondering, Bishop confirmed that the pup answers only to his full name. Only call him Randy, and he won’t come.
The canine Randy Newman does make an appearance on Bishop’s new album THIMK. Meanwhile, the songwriting Randy is one of the few veteran leading lights in the music industry who doesn’t show up on the record.
“I wanted to make a great record for my fans, a special record,” Bishop explained in a candid interview with American Songwriter. “And I invited all my friends to sing and play on it. I got some great superstars out of the deal.”
As for why Bishop might have more time to hang with the dog, it’s because he has announced that THIMK is going to be his final studio album. He closes out his recording career with a nice round number of 20 LPs. Even though the new record brims with sharp songwriting and charismatic performances, Bishop isn’t having any second thoughts about leaving it all behind.
“I just felt like it was time,” Bishop shrugs about the decision. “I’ve done a lot of things in my life. I’ve had a great career. I sang at the Oscars twice, presented at the Grammys, and did Animal House. I’ve done a lot of stuff.”
Bish’s Big Moments
“A lot of stuff” is a phrase that epitomizes Bishop’s humble outlook on spending six decades in the music business. For a long stretch there, it seemed like he would pop up on the scene after a few quiet years, and never in quite the same way as he’d done before. The highlights:
1975: Bishop’s friend, Leah Kunkel, passes a Bishop demo tape to Art Garfunkel, who records a pair of those songs on his 1975 album Breakaway. That leads to Bishop scoring his first record deal. He pays tribute on THIMK to Kunkel, who passed away late last year, by including a performance with her on “Only The Heart Within You.”
“I made it into a duet, which she always wanted to do,” Bishop explains. “And we recorded it and had Art Garfunkel sing on it. And it came out really great on a very personal song.”
1976: Debut album Fearless arrives. Bishop delivered a standout set of songs that spurned a pair of Top 40 hits, including the smash “On And On.” On THIMK, he includes “On And On” in surprising fashion as a kind of hidden track featuring old friend Jimmy Webb.
“Publishing,” Bishop quips when asked why he included “On And On,” before adding, “People know me for that song. I wanted to give a little tribute to it.”
1978: Bishop cameos in a film that isn’t given much chance of succeeding, as a favor to director John Landis. The film: Animal House. That’s him playing the folk song that causes an enraged Bluto, played by John Belushi, to smash Bishop’s guitar into pieces. On top of that, he sang the title track, sounding like a young Frankie Valli thanks to a supple falsetto.
1982: Despite rarely recording anything but his own songs, Bishop decides to sing a song for the motion picture Tootsie that was written by Dave Grusin and Marilyn, and Alan Bergman. Good call. “It Might Be You” put Bishop back on the pop charts. He revisits it on THIMK, giving a lovely vocal effort with Grusin playing piano. “I was really proud of what he did and what I did,” Bishop says of the new version.
1985: Bishop flips the script from three years earlier, this time writing a song for a film that others record and turn into a hit, a big hit, at that. “Separate Lives,” recorded by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, puts the songwriter at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts.
Bishop was reeling from a failed relationship when he wrote it. As a matter of fact, you can find a wistfully sad throughline in his work, one that rises to the surface of both the lyrics and music he’s delivered in his career, all the way to this final album. “I’ve always said that, in order to be a good songwriter, you have to have your heart broken,” Bishop explains. “I’ve had my heart broken before, and it comes in handy when you’re writing.”
While Bishop never climbed to the same commercial heights in the years following “Separate Lives,” he has continued releasing albums with regularity. His songs are often fodder for cover versions by top artists, everyone from David Crosby and Johnny Mathis to Barbra Streisand and Steve Perry.
But Bishop, heeding the advice of his wife Liz, decided that it was time to call it a day, at least from a studio standpoint. (He allows for the possibility of unearthed live performances being released.) He decided early on that he wanted to make THIMK, produced by Marcus Eaton, an event that his fans wouldn’t forget. And that meant calling on a few friends, aka one of the best guest-star lists you’ll ever find on an album.
A Fond Farewell with Friends
THIMK consists of some songs that Bishop had written but not recorded, some that were recorded but not released, and some that are well-known by fans but were given a fresh coat of paint. Hardly a track goes by without a few legends showing up to pitch in and help.
To give you an idea of the firepower found on THIMK, look no further than the lead track. Bishop wrote “Now That I’ve Hit The Big Time” in his pre-fame days in the early ‘70s. It recounts how his mother would come and visit him in Los Angeles.
“I played it for my wife,” Bishop recalls. “She said, ‘You have to record this song.’ It was a song that I hadn’t really played for that many people.” To bring the song home, Bishop called on old buddy Eric Clapton, who’s played on three of his previous albums, to play guitar, and Sting to sing backup.
That turns out to be the tip of the iceberg on the record:
- Graham Nash offers his inimitable vocal harmonies on “She’ll Always Be My Girl.”
- America’s Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell provide the potent vocal assistance on “Really Wanting You.”
- Michael McDonald and David Pack (of Ambrosia) lend their yacht rock-ing vibes to “One More Night.”
- Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and Marilyn Martin all join in on the peppy “Under The Rainbow.”
The star power on THIMK goes beyond just the singers. Look in the credits, and you’ll find session legends like Nathan East, Steve Gadd, Leland Sklar, and Greg Phillinganes, among many others. Many played on Bishop’s early records, and they return to ensure his grand finale is filled with smooth grooves and expert melodic flourishes.
Indeed, the singers, the players, and the material all wake echoes of the late ‘70s, early ‘80s soft-rock era. Bishop is proud to have been part of that scene, which is why he wanted to call back to it on the new record. “That’s when songs were really meaningful,” he says wistfully. “I really wanted to capture that same feeling.”
The Final Notes
We know you’ve been wondering. THIMK? Bishop once had a pin with the non-word on it. He insists that the album title “makes people think.”
In a way, the title is perfect. It’s a throwaway joke, one that’s in keeping with Bishop’s refusal to take himself too seriously, something that’s been a hallmark of his career. That, along with his refusal to dwell too much on legacy, makes him a refreshing change of pace in a music scene where egos can sometimes run amok.
“I hope it’s a good thing,” Bishop says when pressed on the question of his career-long impact. “They still play me on the radio, which is nice. I hope people remember all the songs that I’ve written. This album will probably reinforce my songwriting credits in some way. My legacy? I mean, I’ve been doing this a long time now. I did my first album in ’76. That’s a million years ago.”
When asked if there might be some scenario where he might reconsider, Bishop doesn’t budge. He says that he doesn’t feel the urge to write songs much these days. “I’m inclined to be lazy in that department,” he laughs.
Circumstances within his life made the choice to call it quits relatively easy for him. “I’ve got a son now, and I wanted to give some time to him,” he says. “And I also have arthritis in my hands, which makes it a drag to play guitar. So I came to that decision.”
You can still catch Bishop on social media, where he remains active. And you should really go back through his past catalog to rediscover some of the gems from the second half of his career that you might have missed. Or just start at the beginning with Careless, one of the era’s premier singer-songwriter efforts.
In many ways, THIMK works as an excellent roundup of his career. Many of his most famous musical moments make their way onto the album. It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit sad, and a whole lot nostalgic. But if you can’t be nostalgic when you’re summing up 50 years of recording, when can you be?
Now it’s time for Stephen Bishop to relax a bit and drink in the love of his family. And that includes the dog with the famous name.
Main photo by Alan Mercer
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