History of the Song "The Wanderer"
"The Wanderer" as some people know it is one of my favorite songs of all time. I don't really know why. But as I sat back and thought about it I came up with a few reasons. I guess it starts from my childhood days listening to my older brother & sister playing DION 45 RPM Records. Then the rest falls into place. The Melody/Beat, the opening cords on the Guitar, Instruments (especially the Sax break) and then the lyric's. But from day one, I , like many other people have my own interpretation what the song means. In the following Dion explains the real meaning of the song.
"The Wanderer" written by Mr. Ernie Maresca and of course originally recorded by Dion. It reached #2 on the Billboard Charts in 1962. Maresca by the way had co-written Dion's previous #1 Hit "Runaround Sue". As the story goes Mr. Maresca intended "the Wanderer" to be recorded by another group known as "Nino & the Ebbtides." Nino passed on it in favor of another Maresca song, so Dion was given "the Wanderer" as a B-Side of his follow-up single, "the Majestic", a song which his record company had chosen for him. When the 45 was released to Radio Stations, DJ's flipped the record over and prefered "The Wanderer" which was recorded in November 1961 and entered the charts in December 1961 and rose to #2 in early 1962. It also reached #10 in the UK and #1 in Australia........"The Wanderer" still to this day, many people think it was a hit by Dion & the Belmonts when essentially the background vocals are with a Doo-Wop singing group known as "the Del Satins" led by Stan Ziska who later formed the hub of Johnny Mastro and the Brooklyn Bridge.
DION said of "The Wanderer" - "At it's roots, it is more then meets the eye. "The Wanderer" is black music filtered through an Italian neighborhood that comes out with an attittude. It's my perception of a lot of songs like "I'm A Man" by Bo Diddley or "Hoochie Coochie Man" by Muddy Waters. But you know, "The Wanderer" is really a sad song. A lot of guys don't understand that. Bruce Springsteen was the only guy who accurately expressed what that song was about. It's "I roam from town to town and go through life without a care. I'm as happy as a clown with my two fists of iron, but I'm going nowhere." ....In the fifties, you didn't get that dark. It sounds like a lot of fun but it's about going nowhere."
Now what a lot of people do not know. The writer Ernie Maresca original demo of the song, the lyrics were "with my two fists of iron and my bottle of beer", and the change to "with my two fists of iron but I'm going nowhere" had been at the record company's insistence of the change of lyrics.
"The Wanderer" after all these years, "Happy Birthday." Like fine wine the song gets better and better to listen to! Although recorded and covered by many Bands and Artist. Today when DION sings it on stage. The Electricity, Excitement and Beat of the song is like when DION sang and played it in the early 60's....Keep Rockin' DION & "The Wanderer"....Thank you Mr. Ernie Maresca!