The Wanderer - Dion

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuqI7yid3ew]

I hear all kinds of people complain about today's music and the negative influence it has on the youth of America. They talk about the way it endorses drug use, promiscuous sex, and the objectification of women. The people who say that aren't wrong in any way about today's music, but they tend to think of music from "the good old days" as being above that level of "filth". That's where they're wrong.

This classic tune from Dion proves it. The song is all about a guy who goes from girl to girl, more than one in a day in some cases, and then, he sings a song about it! Of course, I'm sure all boys and girls did in the sixties (song released in 1962) was hold hands and stay out no later than 8:00 PM.

The song itself has a great groove based around a 12-bar blues, save the bridge which is only eight bars. This song is all about that shuffle "da da-da da-da da-da" rhythm driving it. The horns fill in well and Dion's voice is good, but that groove is what really pushes this song along. I would've personally taken it a little bit faster, but it works where it is, too.

Update: Recently, the video below made its way into my Facebook newsfeed. The group singing is members of The Del-Satins, the group that replaced Dion's original backing band, The Belmonts. One of the firBelmontshey worked on with Dion was The Wanderer, and they sound just as good here as they did on the original recording.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GwRKsOnk84]