Wishin' and Hopin'
Encyclopedia
"Wishin' and Hopin'" is a song written by Hal David
and Burt Bacharach
which was a Top Ten hit for Dusty Springfield
in 1964.
The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick
and was the B-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut album Presenting Dionne Warwick
. Warwick's rendition did become a charting single in France, reaching #79 in the autumn of 1963.http://infodisc.fr/Bilan_W.php
Dusty Springfield, who had heard the Warwick album track, recorded "Wishin' and Hopin in January 1964 at Olympic Studios
: personnel for the session included Bobby Graham
on drums, Big Jim Sullivan
on guitar, and the Breakaways
vocal group. Ivor Raymonde
arranged and conducted on the session for which Johnny Franz
, the president of Springfield's label: Philips
, was credited as producer; purportedly Springfield herself was the actual producer of virtually all of her mid-60s tracks. 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
.http://www.wonderboymi.com/Discographies/ds60s.html
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."
A New York City disc jockey named Joe Lacey began to play "Wishin' and Hopin off of his station's copy of Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You creating a buzz about the track which – following some encouragement from Hal David and Burt Bacharach themselves – Philips' US label finally issued as a single in May 1964; "Wishin' and Hopin broke nationally that June entering the Top Ten that July to peak at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
(#4 in Cash Box).
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'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 for the UK market by the Merseybeats
whose inaugural single had been another song (reissued in 1984) from the Presenting Dionne Warwick album: "It's Love That Really Counts" (UK #24). The Merseybeats "Wishin' and Hopin peaked at #13 on the UK chart dated 8 August 1964 the same week Springfield's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" spent at its #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 a 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 of Ready Steady Go!
– actually both acts lip-synched to a track spliced together from their respective versions – and on that show's Sound 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 of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
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".http://www.wonderboymi.com/Discographies/ds60s.html
"Wishin' and Hopin was also a hit single for Springfield in Australia (#2), New Zealand (#3) and South Africa (#2).
Bacharach himself recorded a version of "Wishin' and Hopin, which appeared on his debut Kapp Records
album Burt Bacharach Hitmaker! in 1965.
Scottish-American Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco
's rendition of this song recorded in 1995, is featured over the opening credits of the film, My Best Friend's Wedding
. That film, along with the Austin Powers
films, is suggested to have led to the renewed popularity of the Bacharach-David catalog.
Australian singer/actress Stephanie McIntosh
recorded her version of the song in 2006, and it appears on her debut album Tightrope
, but it does not appear on the UK version.
Donna Loren
performed the song on the television series Shindig
in 1964. In 1982 she recorded the song as a single (B-Side: "Somewhere Down the Road"; Warner Bros), which also appears on a compilation of her 1980's recordings, Magic: The 80's Collection (2009).
"Wishin' and Hopin has also been recorded by Rita Coolidge
, the Jody Grind
, Brenda Lee
and Nancy Sinatra
.
The Dusty Springfield recording featured in the film "A Home at the End of the World
" (2004).
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
which was a Top Ten hit for Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
in 1964.
The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
and was the B-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut album Presenting Dionne Warwick
Presenting Dionne Warwick
Presenting Dionne Warwick, the debut album by American singer Dionne Warwick, was released in 1963 on Scepter Records. The LP, produced in New York by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, appeared as number 508 in the Scepter catalog....
. Warwick's rendition did become a charting single in France, reaching #79 in the autumn of 1963.http://infodisc.fr/Bilan_W.php
Dusty Springfield, who had heard the Warwick album track, recorded "Wishin' and Hopin in January 1964 at Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
: personnel for the session included Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham
Bobby Graham was an English session drummer, composer, arranger and record producer. Shel Talmy, who produced The Kinks, David Bowie and The Who, described Graham as "the greatest drummer the UK has ever produced."...
on drums, Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...
on guitar, and the Breakaways
The Breakaways
The Breakaways were an English female vocal trio, formed in 1962. Britain's premiere session vocalists throughout the 1960s, The Breakaways also recorded a handful of little known girl group singles.-Career:...
vocal group. Ivor Raymonde
Ivor Raymonde
Ivor Raymonde was a British musician, songwriter, arranger and actor, best known for his distinctive rock-orchestral arrangements for Dusty Springfield and others in the 1960s.-Life and career:...
arranged and conducted on the session for which Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz was a UK record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. Although his name is not recognized by many Americans, Franz was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s...
, the president of Springfield's label: Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
, was credited as producer; purportedly Springfield herself was the actual producer of virtually all of her mid-60s tracks. The track was included on Springfield's solo album debuts in the UK: A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty was the debut album of British singer Dusty Springfield. It was released in the UK on Philips Records in 1964.Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with...
, and the US: Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You
Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You
Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You is the first album of singer Dusty Springfield to be released in the USA. It was issued on the Philips Records label in 1964 and includes Springfield's hit singles "I Only Want To Be With You", "Stay Awhile" and "Wishin' And Hopin'".Springfield's British debut...
.http://www.wonderboymi.com/Discographies/ds60s.html
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."
A New York City disc jockey named Joe Lacey began to play "Wishin' and Hopin off of his station's copy of Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You creating a buzz about the track which – following some encouragement from Hal David and Burt Bacharach themselves – Philips' US label finally issued as a single in May 1964; "Wishin' and Hopin broke nationally that June entering the Top Ten that July to peak at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
(#4 in Cash Box).
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'single "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting...
" – one of the songs Bacharach had pitched to her when they met in New York City in February 1964. "Wishin' and Hopin was recorded for the UK market by the Merseybeats
The Merseybeats
The Merseybeats are a Merseybeat band that emerged from the Liverpool scene in the early 1960s, performing at The Cavern Club along with The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers and other similar artists....
whose inaugural single had been another song (reissued in 1984) from the Presenting Dionne Warwick album: "It's Love That Really Counts" (UK #24). The Merseybeats "Wishin' and Hopin peaked at #13 on the UK chart dated 8 August 1964 the same week Springfield's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" spent at its #3 peak. Another UK male vocal group the Eagles
The Eagles (UK band)
The Eagles were a British music quartet active from 1958 until the mid 1960s. They formed in 1958, at the Eagle House youth club in Knowle West, Bristol....
also had a single release of "Wishin' and Hopin although it was the B-side of a 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 of Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
– actually both acts lip-synched to a track spliced together from their respective versions – and on that show's Sound 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 of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
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".http://www.wonderboymi.com/Discographies/ds60s.html
"Wishin' and Hopin was also a hit single for Springfield in Australia (#2), New Zealand (#3) and South Africa (#2).
Bacharach himself recorded a version of "Wishin' and Hopin, which appeared on his debut Kapp Records
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...
album Burt Bacharach Hitmaker! in 1965.
Scottish-American Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco
Ani DiFranco is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, guitarist, poet, and songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums, and is widely considered a feminist icon.-Biography:...
's rendition of this song recorded in 1995, is featured over the opening credits of the film, My Best Friend's Wedding
My Best Friend's Wedding
My Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film directed by P. J. Hogan. It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett, and Philip Bosco.The film received mostly positive reviews from critics...
. That film, along with the Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
films, is suggested to have led to the renewed popularity of the Bacharach-David catalog.
Australian singer/actress Stephanie McIntosh
Stephanie McIntosh
Stephanie McIntosh is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Sky Mangel in the Australian soap opera Neighbours and her music career, which began with the release of her debut album Tightrope in September 2006.-Background:McIntosh attended Firbank and then Melbourne Girls...
recorded her version of the song in 2006, and it appears on her debut album Tightrope
Tightrope (Stephanie McIntosh album)
Tightrope is the debut album from Australian pop singer Stephanie McIntosh, which was released on 11 September 2006, and re-released on 19 March 2007...
, but it does not appear on the UK version.
Donna Loren
Donna Loren
Donna Loren is a singer and actress. A very prolific performer in the 1960s, commenciong while still attending Venice High School in western Los Angeles, she was the Dr Pepper spokesperson from 1963–1968, prolific vocalist on ABC-TV’s Shindig, and a cast member of the American International...
performed the song on the television series Shindig
Shindig!
Shindig! was an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeley and production executive Art Stolnitz....
in 1964. In 1982 she recorded the song as a single (B-Side: "Somewhere Down the Road"; Warner Bros), which also appears on a compilation of her 1980's recordings, Magic: The 80's Collection (2009).
"Wishin' and Hopin has also been recorded by Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, the Jody Grind
Kelly Hogan
Kelly Hogan is an American singer-songwriter born in Atlanta, Georgia.In the 1990s, Hogan sang with The Jody Grind , singing on their full-lengths One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure and Lefty's Deceiver . The group disbanded after two of its members were killed in a car crash...
, Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
and Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"....
.
The Dusty Springfield recording featured in the film "A Home at the End of the World
A Home at the End of the World (film)
A Home at the End of the World is a 2004 drama film directed by Michael Mayer. The screenplay by Michael Cunningham was adapted from his 1990 novel of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
" (2004).