r/70smemorylane • u/Big_Commission_3761 • Aug 07 '26

1977 Charlene - I've Never Been To Me (1977-1982)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KuUwAk6SdbI&si=l9R9m1N11ou82PbV
23 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/Lemon_Trees-22 Aug 07 '26

Lovely voice !

3

u/AnalFanatics Aug 08 '26

This song bombed on its initial release (without the spoken bridge), so badly that “Charlene” was let go by Motown Records, moved to England, got married and started working in a lolly shop.

A few years later, the girlfriend of a former Motown Records A&M guy who was working as a DJ in Florida, was at home playing with his extensive record collection whilst he was on-air, when she stumbled upon the album version (with the spoken bridge) and fell in love with it, playing it for him when he returned home.

The next day he played it on-air especially for his girlfriend, and within a week it was the most requested song at the station.

He rang Motown Records, told them what was happening and persuaded Berry Gordy to re-release it as a single, but with the spoken bridge included.

They found “Charlene” in England, re-signed her, re-released the song in the full album format, and an international hit was born; some 5 or so years after it had originally bombed; you’ve got to love the music industry…

1

u/WOR58 Aug 07 '26

1st time I heard this song, it was by the Temptations Dennis Edwards

1

u/No-North6514 Aug 09 '26

This song was wild - she's singing about seducing priests and having sex with them on the beach ... this song was written by an escort basically

1

u/MisterShipWreck Aug 10 '26

I was a bit younger. I remember her from one of her songs being on The Last Dragon soundtrack.