"On and On" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop. The song, from his debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Careless'', became a major hit, peaking at number 11 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spending 28 weeks on the chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 6. On the U.S.

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart, "On and On" peaked at number two. 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.

Personnel

* Stephen Bishop – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar *

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

– electric piano *

Andrew Gold Andrew Maurice Gold (August 2, 1951 – June 3, 2011) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer who influenced much of the Los Angeles-dominated pop rock, pop/soft rock sound in the 1970s. Gold played on scor ...

– electric guitar * Michael Staton –

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* Mac Cridlin – bass * Larry Brown – drums *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

– percussion,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

Track listing

;US 7" single :A. "On and On" - 3:00 :B. "Little Italy" - 3:35

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Popular culture

The song was featured in the films: *''

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'' *'' The Hitcher'' *''

Margot at the Wedding ''Margot at the Wedding'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. It stars Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, John Turturro, Ciarán Hinds and Halley Feiffer. The film is about the familial storm th ...

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My Friend Dahmer ''My Friend Dahmer'' is a 2012 graphic novel and memoir by artist John "Derf" Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer. The book evolved from a 24-page, self-published version by Backderf in 20 ...

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Remarkable Power ''Remarkable Power'' is a 2008 comedy film directed by Brandon Beckner, who also co-wrote the script. The film features Tom Arnold, Kevin Nealon, Evan Peters, Nora Zehetner, Kip Pardue, Dulé Hill and Johnny Messner. It was filmed between Octobe ...

''.

Cover versions

Kenny Rankin Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin would often sing notes in a high range to express emotion. Biogr ...

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 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart. * British

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tur ...

took their version of the song to No. 25 in the UK in August 1989.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{Authority control 1976 songs 1977 singles Stephen Bishop (singer) songs Aswad (band) songs ABC Records singles Songs about Jamaica Songs written by Stephen Bishop (singer)