"The Wanderer" is a song by American singer
Donna Summer, released as the
lead single from her 1980 eighth
album of the
same name, which was the first for her new label
Geffen Records after recording her previous albums with
Casablanca Records. Despite the label change, Summer continued to work with
Giorgio Moroder and
Pete Bellotte, who had produced the majority of her hits in the late 1970s. However, it marks a change in style for
The Queen of Disco, incorporating
new wave styled synth riffs and a shuffling beat.
This first 45 from the album became a big hit for Summer in the United States, peaking at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. and reaching number two in Cash Box magazine as well. It was Summer's eleventh single to sell over a million copies in the United States. In Canada, the song spent four weeks at number four. A
12" promotional single was issued, however, unlike all her Top 40 hits prior to this one it was not an extended version.
Composition
"The Wanderer" incorporates heavy
new wave styled
synth riffs and a shuffling beat. Vocally, it was a return to her understated 1975 debut sound - soft, whispery phrases were the norm in this song, taking on an almost Elvis Presley effect, instead of the power belt she had used often since her 1977 album Once Upon a Time and 1978
hit single "
Last Dance".
"The Wanderer" is a song by American singer
Donna Summer, released as the
lead single from her 1980 eighth
album of the
same name, which was the first for her new label
Geffen Records after recording her previous albums with
Casablanca Records. Despite the label change, Summer continued to work with
Giorgio Moroder and
Pete Bellotte, who had produced the majority of her hits in the late 1970s. However, it marks a change in style for
The Queen of Disco, incorporating
new wave styled synth riffs and a shuffling beat.
This first 45 from the album became a big hit for Summer in the United States, peaking at number three on the
Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks. and reaching number two in Cash Box magazine as well. It was Summer's eleventh single to sell over a million copies in the United States. In Canada, the song spent four weeks at number four. A
12" promotional single was issued, however, unlike all her Top 40 hits prior to this one it was not an extended version.
Composition
"The Wanderer" incorporates heavy
new wave styled
synth riffs and a shuffling beat. Vocally, it was a return to her understated 1975 debut sound - soft, whispery phrases were the norm in this song, taking on an almost Elvis Presley effect, instead of the power belt she had used often since her 1977 album Once Upon a Time and 1978
hit single "
Last Dance".