| The Wishing Chair | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | 10,000 Maniacs |
| Cover: | Wishing Chair.jpg |
| Released: | 23 September 1985 |
| Recorded: | June 1984 – May 1985 |
| Studio: | Livingston, London |
| Genre: | Alternative rock |
| Length: | 49:38 |
| Label: | Elektra Records (US/Europe/Germany/Canada) |
| Producer: | Joe Boyd |
| Prev Title: | Secrets of the I Ching |
| Prev Year: | 1983 |
| Next Title: | In My Tribe |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
The Wishing Chair is the first major-label album by American alternative rock band 10,000 Maniacs, released in 1985 by Elektra Records. Recorded in London, the album did not achieve the commercial success some of their later releases would receive, but received mostly favorable reviews and brought the band more visibility than had their previous independent releases. A live concert video of "Scorpio Rising" was produced and received a moderate amount of airplay on MTV.
All lyrics by Natalie Merchant and music by John Lombardo, except where noted.
"The Colonial Wing" and "Daktari" were originally released on the 12-inch single of "Can't Ignore the Train", along with "Grey Victory".
"Grey Victory", "Daktari", "My Mother the War" and "Tension Makes a Tangle" are re-recorded versions of songs that had previously appeared on the band's 1983 release, Secrets of the I Ching. ("Tension Makes a Tangle" also appeared in yet another version on the band's very first record, the 1982 EP Human Conflict Number Five, titled simply "Tension", as it was on Secrets of the I Ching.)