| "Wishin' and Hopin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byDionne Warwick | ||||
| from the albumPresenting Dionne Warwick | ||||
| A-side | "This Empty Place" | |||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Recorded | Fall 1962 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Scepter | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| Dionne Warwick singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Wishin' and Hopin'" is a song, written byHal David andBurt Bacharach, which was a USTop 10 hit forDusty Springfield in 1964.
Thesong was first recorded byDionne Warwick in the fall of 1962, and was theB-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" (also recorded in the fall of 1962) in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut albumPresenting Dionne Warwick. Warwick's rendition became achartingsingle inFrance, reaching No. 79 in 1963.[1] It was included again on Warwick's third albumMake Way for Dionne Warwick. The song was originally published by Jonathan Music Co., Inc., a music publisher owned by the husband and manager ofKitty Kallen. (By contrast, other than their songs written for movies, Bacharach and David were publishing their songs mainly with their own publishing companies at the time, Blue Seas Music, Jac Music, and through theLeiber & Stoller-owned U.S. Songs, Inc.). Several of Kallen's mid-1960s singles, including "Star Eyes", "Make Someone Love You", and "I'll Teach You How To Cry", had B-sides published by Jonathan music, though Kallen did not end up recording "Wishin' and Hopin'".
| "Wishin' and Hopin'" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byDusty Springfield | ||||
| from the albumA Girl Called Dusty (UK) Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You (U.S.) | ||||
| B-side | "Do Re Mi" | |||
| Released | May 1964 | |||
| Recorded | January 1964 | |||
| Studio | Olympic (London) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:53 | |||
| Label | Philips | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Johnny Franz | |||
| Dusty Springfield singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Dusty Springfield, who had heard the Warwick album track, recorded "Wishin' and Hopin'" in January 1964 atOlympic Studios. Personnel for the session includedBobby Graham on drums,Big Jim Sullivan on guitar, andthe Breakaways vocal group.Ivor Raymonde arranged and conducted on the session, for whichJohnny Franz was the producer. The track was included on Springfield's solo album debuts in the UK:A Girl Called Dusty, and the US:Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You.[2]
In February 1964, Springfield met with Burt Bacharach in New York City to listen to other songs to consider recording. Bacharach recalls at that time: "I [think] I tried to talk her into releasing 'Wishin' and Hopin'' [as a single] because she had some ambivalence about it."[3]
Springfield's version is recorded in the key ofB major with atempo of 108 beats per minute.[4]
ANew Yorkdisc jockey, Jack Lacy, played "Wishin' and Hopin'" following some encouragement from David and Bacharach, and Philips' US label issued it[5] as a single in May 1964; "Wishin' and Hopin'" broke nationally that June, entering the Top Ten in July to peak at No. 6 on theBillboard Hot 100 and No. 4 Easy Listening,[6] No. 4 inCashbox. It also got to No. 1 on The American Bandstand top ten in July 1964.Cash Box described it as "a tantalizing, cha cha beat-ballad affair that Dusty waxes in money-in-the-bank-for-all-concerned fashion" with a "superb ork-choral arrangement."[7]
The release of "Wishin' and Hopin'" as a concurrent UK single release for Springfield was precluded by the presence on the UK charts of Springfield's single "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" – one of the songs Bacharach had pitched to her when they met in New York City in February 1964. "Wishin' and Hopin'" was recorded by UK bandThe Merseybeats, whose inaugural single had been another song (reissued in 1982) from thePresenting Dionne Warwick album: "It's Love That Really Counts" (UK No. 24). The Merseybeats "Wishin' and Hopin'" peaked at No. 13 on theUK Singles Chart in 1964, the same week Springfield's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" spent at its No. 3 peak. Another UK male vocal group,The Eagles, also had a single release of "Wishin' and Hopin'", although it was the B-side of their non-charting single "Write Me a Letter".
Despite not being a UK hit single for Springfield, "Wishin' and Hopin'" was strongly identified with her in the UK public consciousness: she performed the song with the Merseybeats on the 8 August, 1964 episode ofReady Steady Go! – actually both acts lip-synched to a track spliced together from their respective versions – and on that show'sSound of Motown edition broadcast 28 April, 1965 which Springfield hosted, the only one of her own songs she performed was "Wishin' and Hopin'" with the vocal accompaniment ofMartha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Springfield's recording was featured in the filmA Home at the End of the World (2004).
"Wishin' and Hopin'" was also featured in "Tricks and Treats", the second episode ofAmerican Horror Story: Asylum.
The song was featured in Netflix'sSex Education.
Springfield recorded foreign-language versions of "Wishin' and Hopin'" in July 1964: in Italian as "Stupido Stupido" – which was a combination of lyrics in Italian and English, the latter being newly written rather than taken from the original song – and in German as "Warten Und Hoffen".[2] "Wishin' and Hopin'" was also a hit for Springfield in Australia (No. 2), New Zealand (No. 3), South Africa (No. 2),[8] and Canada (No. 2).[9]
| Chart (1964) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[10] | 2 |
| Canada (RPM) | 2 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] | 3 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[12] | 6 |
| USBillboardEasy Listening | 4 |
| Chart (1964) | Rank |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[13] | 35 |
