First recorded by Dionne Warwick (FRA #39 1963).
Hit versions by Dusty Springfield (US #6 1964), The Merseybeats (UK #13 1964).
Also recorded by The (UK) Eagles (1964).
From the wiki: “Wishin’ and Hopin” was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach, and was first recorded by Dionne Warwick as the B-side of her 1963 single ‘This Empty Place’ and for her debut album, Presenting Dionne Warwick. The single charted only in France, peaking at #39, but Warwick’s was the recording Dusty Springfield heard and which prompted her to complete her own version in 1964. 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). It was Bacharach himself who encouraged Dusty, who was ambivalent about her recording, to release it as a single.
“Despite not being a UK hit single for Springfield, ‘Wishin’ and Hopin” became strongly identified with her in the UK public consciousness: she performed the song with The Merseybeats on a 1964 episode of Ready Steady Go!. In 1965, in the “Sound of Motown” edition of Ready Steady Go! broadcast in the UK and 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.
“The Merseybeats were one of two UK bands to cover ‘Wishin’ and Hopin” in 1964. The Eagles (not the California, USA, group) were the first to release a single but with no apparent chart impact. The Merseybeats’ arrangement version peaked at #13 on the UK Singles chart. The group’s previous, debut single had been another Bacharach-David song from Warwick’s album and a 1962 Shirelles’ B-side single release, ‘It’s Love That Really Counts (in the Long Run)’.”
The Merseybeats, “Wishin’ and Hopin'” (1964):
Dusty Springfield, “Wishin’ and Hopin'” (1964):
Dusty Springfield & Martha Reeves, “Wishin’ and Hopin'” on Ready Steady Go! TV broadcast (1965):