Charlene Marilynn Oliver (née D'Angelo; born June 1, 1950), better known by the artist mononym Charlene, is an American easy-listening and R&B singer famous for the song "I've Never Been to Me", which, after its unsuccessful 1977 debut release, became a worldwide hit upon a re-release in 1982 and has remained an enduring adult contemporary music staple. Charlene is also a songwriter, record producer, and author.
Charlene Marilynn D'Angelo was born June 1, 1950, in Hollywood, California. As an infant, she battled meningitis. She married at age 16, dropped out of high school and soon became a young mother.
Her musical career began as a backup singer for Petula Clark at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
After an impromptu audition for Berry Gordy in 1973, she signed with Motown and, using the moniker "Charlene Duncan" (her married name), released at age 23 two unsuccessful singles: "Relove/Give It One More Try" (M 1262) in July 1973 and in January 1974 a cover of "All That Love Went to Waste" (M 1285) from the film A Touch of Class.
Charlene sought to find her niche at Motown by writing her own songs, doing demos for other artists (including Michael Jackson's "One Day in Your Life"), and working with various producers and writers before finally being teamed up with Ron Miller.
When Charlene's self-titled debut album (P6 10015S1) was released in November 1976 on Motown's Prodigal label, her artist name was shortened to Charlene and appeared as such on the cover, but confusingly the album still had "Charlene Duncan" printed on the spine. In March 1977, the first single, "It Ain't Easy Comin' Down" (P 0632F), went to #97 on the Hot 100 and #23 on AC.
In May 1977, an album entitled Songs of Love (Prodigal, P610018S1) (with cover artwork by Patrick Nagel) was issued. It was a repackaged version of Charlene with "Freddie" (an apparent tribute to Freddie Prinze, who had died that year) replacing "Shake a Hand" and the songs re-sequenced. Also, there is no spoken bridge in "I've Never Been to Me". "Freddie" was released as a single (P 0633F) and reached #96 in the Hot 100 (and #40 on the AC).
A third single from the Charlene/Songs of Love collections would turn out to have not only an unusual lyrical evolution but also an unexpected chart odyssey. The lyrics to "I've Never Been to Me" were originally written by Ron Miller from a male perspective, but he rewrote them from a woman's viewpoint for Charlene; and on her debut album, the ballad was recorded with a controversial narration to underscore the song's sentiment. On Songs of Love, the track omitted the spoken bridge; when this take was released as a single (P 0636F), it spent only three weeks on the Hot 100 and peaked at #97 in October 1977. When the song was revived in 1982, the rendition with the monologue (from the Charlene LP) was being played on radio, so it was the version that Motown reissued.
In 1978, a Charlene recording entitled "Are You Free", again produced by Ron Miller, appeared as a promotional single for the music label Ariola Records America. In addition to the Charlene/Songs of Love project, Charlene recorded for Motown a full album's length of material that was never even issued. In June 1980, Motown released one more single, "Hungry / I Won't Remember Ever Loving You" (M 1492F). The track "Hungry" was taken from the stage musical Daddy Goodness, and both cuts on the single were from the same collaborators of her biggest hit. However, this attempt failed, and Motown decided to release the singer from its label.
Success of "I've Never Been to Me"
Charlene recorded "I've Never Been to Me" in 1976, and it reached #97 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1977. Five years later, the song became an unexpected sleeper hit. When released again in 1982, the single (1611 MF) spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100, peaked at #3, and stayed there for three weeks. It also reached #7 on AC and #60 on Hot Country Songs. The song has been her only top 40 hit.
In 1982, Scott Shannon, a disc jockey then working at Tampa radio station WRBQ-FM, began playing the version from the Charlene album (with the original spoken bridge) at the behest of his girlfriend, and response from local listeners was such as to motivate Shannon, a former Motown employee, to alert Motown president Jay Lasker of the track's hit potential. By this time, Charlene had lost her recording contract, moved to the United Kingdom, and was working in a sweetshop in Ilford in London. Upon locating Charlene, Lasker personally telephoned her to invite her to re-sign with Motown in order to facilitate the re-release of "I've Never Been to Me".
In 1976, Charlene's legal name was Charlene Duncan from her marriage to record producer Larry Duncan; shortly following the song's re-release in 1982, her name became Charlene Oliver by her subsequent marriage to Englishman Jeff Oliver, whom she wed on March 27, 1982. The song's music video was filmed at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England, with Charlene appearing in her actual wedding dress.
"I've Never Been to Me" was one of the year's biggest hits and experienced international success, becoming popular in 26 countries around the globe. It reached the #1 spot in the UK, Canada (4 weeks), Ireland (3 weeks) and Australia (6 weeks). It was also a top ten triumph in Norway, Belgium, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. In addition, "I've Never Been to Me" became Motown's first top ten hit by a white female solo singer. (Only after leaving and suing Motown Records did Teena Marie score in 1985 with "Lovergirl".) Charlene even became one of a handful of artists on Motown Latino when she issued a Spanish-language cover of her hit called "Nunca he ido a mi" (1624LF).
The song ranked at No. 38 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1982 list.
The concurrent release of her album, I've Never Been to Me (Motown 6009 ML), was also relatively successful, peaking at no. 36 on Billboard's Top 200. The LP mixed previously recorded tracks with some new material and featured two different album covers: one showed Charlene in an elegant white dress with a bow and the other used her image in a moody pastel rendering.
Subsequent recordings and releases
The Last American Virgin soundtrack