Dear Pennies & Pens,
As you all know from the last post, I absolutely adore Donna Summer. Today, I’ll be talking about Donna’s 1980 album, The Wanderer. This album is another classic and it sounds amazing on vinyl.
The Wanderer was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. They were Donna’s frequent collaborators and I completely forgot to mention in them in my last post. My bad! But anyway, they made a great team and created some truly original music.
This album begins with the title track, “The Wanderer”. I love this song! It’s crazy how we act like music from back in the day is no longer relevant simply because it’s old. As I get deeper into vinyl and old school music, I am finding that this isn’t true. This song is so relevant to me and who I am. On this track, Donna talks about how she loves to travel and wander around. Like that is so me!
Another standout on this album is “Breakdown”. This song has a killer beat – the production is truly fantastic. It’s just a bop. My next highlight is “Cold Love” – I dig the lyrics on this one. After that, I love “Stop Me” – it’s definitely a banger.
My last and final favorite is the last song, “I Believe in Jesus”. This song is truly beautiful. Donna takes us to church on this track. It’s pretty cool how she was able to incorporate gospel on this album.
As a singer and songwriter, Donna was truly ahead of her time. If you look at the song credits, Donna wrote and produced her music. In the 70s and 80s, it was a pretty big deal for a Black woman to take the reins of her career in that way. So props to Donna for paving the way.
And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.
P.S. Did you like this post? Learn how to write your own album reviews with #MakeUrPenLoud: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger.
