On and On (Stephen Bishop song)

"On and On"
Side A of the US single
Single by Stephen Bishop
from the album Careless
B-side	"Little Italy"
Released	May 1977
Recorded	1976
Genre	Soft rock[1] pop[2]
Length	3:00
Label	ABC Records
Songwriter(s)	Stephen Bishop
Producer(s)	Henry Lewy, Stephen Bishop
Stephen Bishop singles chronology
"Save It for a Rainy Day" (1976) "On and On" (1977) "Never Letting Go" (1977)

"On and On" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop. The song, from his debut album Careless, became a major hit, peaking at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spending 28 weeks on the chart.[3] In Canada, the song peaked at number 6.[4]

On the U.S. Easy Listening chart, "On and On" peaked at number two.[5] It reached number three on the corresponding Canadian chart.

Despite failing to crack the top ten, it was the 30th ranked single on the Billboard magazine year-end chart for 1977 as a result of its almost seven-month chart run.[6]

Personnel

• Stephen Bishop – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar
• John Barlow Jarvis – electric piano
• Andrew Gold – electric guitar
• Michael Staton – steel guitar
• Mac Cridlin – bass
• Larry Brown – drums
• Victor Feldman – percussion, vibraphone, marimba

Track listing

US 7" single

A. "On and On" - 3:00

B. "Little Italy" - 3:35

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1977) Peak position Australia 66 Canadian RPM Top Singles[4] 6 Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[7] 3 New Zealand[8] 29 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] 11 U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[5] 2 U.S. Cashbox Top 100[9] 5

Year-end charts Chart (1977) Rank Canada RPM Top Singles[10] 71 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [11] 30 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary [12] 6 U.S. Cash Box [13] 28

Cover versions

• Kenny Rankin covered "On and On" in 1977. His version charted concurrently with Stephen Bishop's original, reaching No. 110 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under chart.^[citation needed]
• British reggae group Aswad took their version of the song to No. 25 in the UK in August 1989.[14]

References

1. Breihan, Tom (November 11, 2020). "The Number Ones: Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin's "Separate Lives". Stereogum. Retrieved August 6, 2023. Bishop's highest-charting single, the sleepy 1977 soft-rocker "On And On," peaked at #11.
2. Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (July 17, 2000). "The Six Million Dollar Tan: West Coast Pop". Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-312-19821-3.
3. "Stephen Bishop - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 33.
6. "Billboard Top 100 - 1977 - Longbored Surfer - Charts". January 26, 2010. Archived from the original on January 26, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
7. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
8. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. October 30, 1977. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
9. "Cash Box Top 100 10/01/77". Cashboxmagazine.com.
10. "Obsolete song title page". Tsort.info. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
11. "Top 100 Hits of 1977/Top 100 Songs of 1977". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
12. Billboard. December 24, 1977. p. Front cover. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
13. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1977". Cashboxmagazine.com.
14. "officialcharts.com". officialcharts.com. Retrieved August 2, 2022.

External links

• Lyrics of this song
• Stephen Bishop - On and On on YouTube