On October 3 1985, Madonna’s second single from the motion picture Vision Quest, Gambler was released by Geffen Records in select markets.
Gambler was entirely self-written by Madonna and produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez.
Gambler was never released in the United States, but it went to #4 in the UK. The single also reached the top-ten in the charts of Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway.
The music video for the song is an excerpt from the film.
Madonna has performed the song only once, on her Virgin Tour in 1985.
Alex Henderson from Allmusic called the song “an ultra-infectious gem that, unfortunately, isn’t on any of the Material Girl’s CDs” and felt that Gambler should have been a big hit.
Would you like to see Madonna perform “Gambler” on a future concert tour?
I remember saving up and paying $50 for a copy of the 12” from a collectable record store in the 90s because it was never released in Australia as a 12” and was very hard to find here and I was desperate to hear the extended mix. Still have it. Still love it 🙂
I’m a Gambler-one of the few Madonna items I don’t have yet! Maybe I’ll order the Vision Quest soundtrack from Amazon!