Wishing Well (Terence Trent D'Arby song)

"Wishing Well"
Single by Terence Trent D'Arby
from the album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby
B-side"Elevators & Hearts"
ReleasedJune 8, 1987 (UK)[1]
January 1988 (US)[2]
Recorded1987
Genre
Length3:33
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
  • Terence Trent D'Arby
  • Sean Oliver
Producer(s)
Terence Trent D'Arby singles chronology
"If You Let Me Stay"
(1987) 		"Wishing Well"
(1987) 		"Dance Little Sister"
(1987)
Music video
"Wishing Well" on YouTube

"Wishing Well" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Terence Trent D'Arby. The second single from the 1987 album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, the song reached number one on both the Soul Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 on May 7, 1988 (1988-05-07).[3] "Wishing Well" was certified "Gold", indicating sales of 500,000, by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 1991. Written by D'Arby and Sean Oliver, D'Arby said "Wishing Well" was written "when I was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of mind", and that he "liked the feel of the words".[4] Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 paired with D'Arby in production of the song, which was released on CBS Records.[4][5] Once released, "Wishing Well", along with D'Arby's debut single "If You Let Me Stay", went into "heavy rotation" on MTV.[6] D'Arby performed the song live at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, where he lost the Grammy Award for Best New Artist to Jody Watley. When the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it had charted for 17 weeks, the longest progress to number one in the US charts since Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" in 1983.[7]

Ben Greenman of The New Yorker credits "Wishing Well", along with other D'Arby songs, with "[bringing] soul music into the eighties".[8] Writing about D'Arby for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the song "sparse funk", and noted how "Wishing Well" was his first major hit in the United States.[9] Kathi Whalen of The Washington Post credited the song's chart success to D'Arby's combination of "'60s soul and pop on top", and called "Wishing Well" "bouncy".[10]

  1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 6 June 1987. p. 43.
  2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 145.
  4. ^ a b Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Random House LLC. p. 697. ISBN 978-0-8230-7677-2.
  5. ^ Hogan, Ed. "Wishing Well". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Corcoran, Michael (June 1988). "In the Ring with Terence Trent D'Arby". Spin. 4 (3). Spin Media LLC: 45–46. ISSN 0886-3032.
  7. ^ DeKnock, Jan (May 6, 1988). "'Wishing Well' Finally Pays Off". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company.
  8. ^ Greenman, Ben (June 4, 2013). "What Ever Happened to Terence Trent D'Arby?". The New Yorker. Condé Nast Publications.
  9. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2003). All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-87930-744-8.
  10. ^ Whalen, Kathi (December 21, 1989). "Terence Trent D'Arby". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC.