"Unfaithfully Yours (One Love)" by Stephen Bishop

Song#:  1847
Date:  03/31/1984
Debut:  89
Peak:  87
Weeks:  3
Genre:  Adult Contemporary, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  Early in 1983, Bishop scored a #1 hit at AC with "It Might Be You" (#25 Pop), a song he performed for the film Tootsie. Instead of capitalizing on the hit and issuing his own album, Bishop continued to write and/or perform songs that found their way to films. His next single release would be this tune that served as the theme to the 1984 Dudley Moore vehicle, Unfaithfully Yours. Once again, AC latched onto the song and it reached #4 on that chart. Unfortunately, it didn't connect with Pop listeners and it disappeared quickly. It would also serve as Bishop's last single to reach the Pop chart. He would continue to contribute songs to movies and would finally issue a solo album in 1989 titled Bowling in Paris. It would be his first album in nine years and it featured guests like Phil Collins and Eric Clapton. Although it scored a middling hit at AC with "Walking on Air" (#13), the album pretty much came and went. Bishop has continued to write and record over the years with his latest album being 2016's Blueprint.

ReduxReview:  This is almost like Stevie Wonder-lite. Or Diet Wonder topped with splash of James Taylor. It's a bit of a pop shuffle that I could easily hear over the credits of a mediocre rom-com. So it fit the bill just fine for the movie and for AC. But I can hear how this failed at Pop. It just wasn't the type of song that was going to fit alongside the hits o' tha day. It's a bit on the old-fashioned side and, for me, quite forgettable. If you are in the mood for pleasantly bland pop as background music for whatever you are doing, it is perfectly fine. Get out the lemon Pledge and enjoy your dusting! However, as a Pop single contender, it's just too weak. Bishop has written far better songs.

ReduxRating:  4/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) It seemed that Bishop was the go-to guy for writing movie themes in the 80s. He wrote and performed songs for several films, but none would match the success of one that he supplied for the 1985 film White Nights. Bishop wrote the song "Separate Lives" that would eventually be performed by the duo of Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin. That single would be a #1 Pop and AC hit that led to an Oscar nomination for Bishop. Unfortunately he lost to another song that was on the same soundtrack - Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me."  2) This song was the theme for the romantic comedy Unfaithfully Yours, which starred Dudley Moore and Nastassja Kinski. The film was a remake of the 1948 Preston Sturgis screwball comedy of the same name. The Sturgis film was a critical success, but it faltered at the box office. Blame for the failure fell to the script which focused on an inept murderer. The black comedy was deemed too dark for audiences at the time. However, the film has gained a solid reputation over the years. By contrast, the 1984 remake was moderately successful at the box office, but it was mainly panned by critics.

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