Terence Trent D’Arby “Wishing Well” hit #1

Wishing Well Terence Trent D’Arby

Writer(s): Terence Trent D’Arby, Sean Oliver (see lyrics here) Released: June 1987 First Charted: June 20, 1987 Peak: 11 US, 11 CB, 3 RR, 44 AC, 11 RB, 1 CO, 4 UK, 12 CN, 9 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 23.2 video, 53.16 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: When Terence Trent D’Arby released his debut album, Introducing the Hardline, in 1987, he proclaimed himself a genius who’d made an album “that was better than Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” SG He later said, “A lot of it is what I truly believed, but a lot of it was exaggerated to make a point. You have to hit people over the head to make them notice.” FB Genius or not, the “’Wishing Well’ video makes it clear: D’Arby was a rare and special talent. He could sing. He could move. He could dress. “ SG “He was a star “D’Arby was an old-school ’60s-style soul rasper…[who] drew on gospel and on the soul singers – Al Green, Sam Cooke, James Brown – who had drawn on gospel in earlier decades.” SG The Manhattan-born singer was embraced much quicker in the UK where “Wishing Well” charted nearly a year before it topped the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, when “Wishing Well” debuted on the chart in January 1988, D’Arby was already working on his third top-10 hit in the UK. By the time he’d reached #1 four months later, D’Arby had been nominated for Best New Artist and performed the song at the Grammys. The song “has a slick, simple groove anchored to a big drum sound, with sparkly bluesy guitars and evocative little synth drones. The song is both playful and portentous, and it’s got an extremely catchy whistled hook that’ll bounce around the inside of your skull. D’Arby sings the absolute hell out of it, screaming and grunting and hitting heavenly falsetto runs.” SG “Lyrically, ‘Wishing Well’ is basically a love song, though its lyrics are flowery romantic-poet gibberish…D’Arby sings of a wishing well that’s full of both butterfly tears and crocodile cheers, which doesn’t make any sense.” SG He said, it “was written when I was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of mind. I like the feel of the words on that song. Actually, most of my lyrics are written in about 10 minutes.” FB Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Terence Trent D’Arby FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 697. SG Stereogum (4/30/2021). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan Related Links: First posted 8/5/2022.