“I’ve Never Been to Me” – Single by Charlene from the album Charlene / Songs of Love (1977) and I’ve Never Been to Me (1982)
B-side “It’s Really Nice to Be in Love Again” (1977) / “Somewhere in My Life” (1982)
Released July 1977
Label Prodigal (1977) / Motown (1982)
Songwriters Ron Miller, Kenneth Hirsch
Producers Ron Miller, Don Costa, Berry Gordy
1977: Charted No.97 in US
1982: Charted No.3 in US; No.1 in UK; No.1 in Australia; No.1 in Canada; No.1 in Ireland.
Although its original release in 1977 barely registered on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, its re-release in 1982 reached number three on the Hot 100 and earned Charlene a gold certification in Australia,[1] where it held the number-one spot for six weeks. In addition, the song topped the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It was also a top-10 hit in Norway, Belgium, New Zealand and the Netherlands and became Motown’s first top-10 hit by a white female solo singer.
The earliest version of “I’ve Never Been to Me” to be released was by Randy Crawford, which appeared on her 1976 album Everything Must Change. Charlene had recorded “I’ve Never Been to Me” in 1976 for her debut album, the self-titled Charlene, a Prodigal release (P610015S1), and the ballad contained a controversial spoken section. Songs of Love (P610018S1) came out six months later in 1977 and was essentially a re-issue of Charlene, having a slightly different track listing but retaining “I’ve Never Been to Me” without the spoken bridge. In October 1977, “I’ve Never Been to Me” became Charlene’s third consecutive single to reach the lower part of the Billboard Hot 100. From the Charlene LP, the first single, “It Ain’t Easy Comin’ Down”, went to No. 97 in March 1977 (and No. 23 on AC). The following single, “Freddie” from the Songs of Love album, made it to No. 96 on the Hot 100 in May 1977 (and No. 40 on AC). The Hot 100 peak of “I’ve Never Been to Me” in its original formal release without the monologue was No. 97, and while Charlene’s preceding two singles had both reached Billboard’s Easy Listening chart, “I’ve Never Been to Me” failed to appear on that chart.
In 1982, Scott Shannon, a disc jockey at Tampa radio station WRBQ-FM, began playing the “I’ve Never Been to Me” track off the Charlene album (with the original recitative), and response from local listeners was such as to motivate Shannon, a former Motown employee, to alert Motown president Jay Lasker to the track’s hit potential. Lasker located Charlene who, discouraged by the poor performance of her 1977 Motown releases and by the label’s decision not to release a second album she had recorded, had left the music industry and met and married an Englishman, subsequently accompanying him to his native land and taking a job at a sweetshop in Ilford. Lasker personally telephoned her with the invitation to re-sign with Motown Records to facilitate the re-release of her “I’ve Never Been To Me” single, which occurred in February 1982.
A music video was made for the song’s 1982 reissue. The video was filmed on location at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, England and features Charlene wearing her actual wedding dress from her marriage to Jeff Oliver, whom she had married at the time of the song’s revival.
