One-hit-wonders: "I've never been to me"
Tonight we had roasted oysters and corn on the cob for dinner served with a bottle of the Marchesi family's Montenore 2006 Willamette Valley, Oregon, Pinot Noir. At $15, it's as good as most of the French Burgundy wines that I have had costing ten times that.
We always switch off the TV during dinner and listen to music instead. Tonight we listened to one of the Motown albums with mostly Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson but also the one-hit- wonder, Charlene Duncan, who was not really black but a colored - part Negro/part Italian from California - where mixed marriages have created the most wonderful offspring (about which more later.)
"I've Never Been to Me" and Gloria Gaynor's "I will Survive" about which much more later) have been branded fag songs (as Myrhaf insinuates.) So, call me a fag but both songs speak volumes to me. Charlene's song is about regret (which we all have) and Gloria's song is about defiant bravery (which we all need at certain times.)
For fags like me, it's also about the joy that we survived the AIDS epidemic while we watched hundreds of our less cautious and circumspect fags die. (Chas and I saw 14 friends die in the first year of the "gay plague" in San Francisco.)
From Wikiedia:
"I've Never Been to Me" is a hit single performed by American singer Charlene.Charlene truly was a one-hit-wonder. Her life is as poignant as her famous song. I hope she found happiness in a "sweet shop" (which we know as a candy store) in Ilford, Essex which I know well. It's plain and boring and comfortable and cozy - England's version of New Jersey. I have a hunch that she did find contentment. What a truly beautiful woman and an incredible singer.
In 1977 the song reached number 97 on the Hot 100 singles chart. In 1982, Tampa, Florida disc jockey Scott Shannon, then at WRBQ, started playing it. Audience reaction was impressive, and spread quickly, resulting in the song being reissued by Charlene's label. The single reached Number 3 in the USA, and Number 1, by June 1982, in the UK.
Charlene was signed to Motown Records, but this has been her only hit save for a late 1982 duet with Stevie Wonder, "Used to Be," which charted but failed to make the top 40.Charlene did two versions of the song. The version which was initially released was actually the second version which Charlene recorded. Her original version (which became more popular) has an expanded bridge, over which the singer makes an impassioned comparison between the non-committal "fantasy about people and places as we'd like them to be," versus the committed real love of a family.
[...]In 1982, Tampa, Florida disc jockey Scott Shannon, then at WRBQ, started playing it, by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in an Ilford, Essex sweet shop. Audience reaction was impressive, and spread quickly, resulting in the song's re-issuance by Charlene's label, the version WITH the original spoken bridge. The re-release became a huge hit in Britain as well.
The use of the line "I've been to crying for unborn children that would have made me complete" hints strongly at abortion. The line refers to a woman who is at a point in her life that she wished she had taken the time to have children. However, this was deemed too close to feminist issues and when Charlene's song was first released in 1976, the version used was the one without the spoken bridge. When the song became an unexpected hit in 1982 it was the version with the spoken bridge intact that was released. It has also been widely reported that the 1982 single was a re-recording, it is not.
Originally written from a male point of view, the song was rewritten by Ron Miller for Charlene. The male version is sung from the perspective of an old man begging for a dime for a cup of coffee, addressing a younger man who is "raising hell" the way the old man used to do. The female version is sung to a housewife who wishes that she could trade her everyday life for the exciting, fantastic life led by the singer. The singer tells of some of the highlights of her life, but the tone is bittersweet and she wishes that someone had told her what she is telling the listener. She has learned what is important, but now it is too late. She finds her life hollow and without purpose, having lost her real self years before — the "me" she has never been to, is the life that she would have led if she hadn't been lured away by false ideas.
When this song was first released in the USA, in 1976, Charlene's full name was Charlene Duncan through her marriage to record producer Larry Duncan, but when the song was released for a second time in 1982, the name she had taken was Charlene Oliver because of her marriage to Englishman Jeff Oliver.
It soon rose to the top of the Pop charts and Adult Contemporary charts that year. Her LP album I've Never Been to Me, released in 1982 proved to also be successful for Charlene. Her song was one of the biggest hits of the year and became a standard in pop music.
Charlene has not yet been able to follow-up the success of her one big hit "I've Never Been to Me", but has continued to record and release songs to the public. She released another album in 1983, but was not so successful.
"I've Never Been to Me" was featured as the opening song to the movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The song is mimed onstage by two Sydney female impersonators at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, Sydney, Australia.
Because of her one big hit, Charlene became a one-hit-wonder in music. Charlene and her big hit "I've Never Been to Me" were featured on VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders show, hosted by William Shatner in 2002. Her position on that list was at #75. The song was described on the VH1 show as "the post-disco hangover," referring to the song's probable appeal to listeners who, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, regretted leading hedonistic lives during the disco era.
In 2006, "I've Never Been to Me" was released as one of the songs on Singstar Anthems, one of the popular Singstars.
One urban legend says the song was inspired by the character Quint from the movie Jaws.
The song was described on the VH1 show as "the post-disco hangover," referring to the song's probable appeal to listeners who, in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, regretted leading hedonistic lives during the disco era.
The controversial line "I've been to crying for unborn children" did not refer to abortion, but to a woman who regrets not having children.
Charlene is presently married and runs a sweet shop in Ilford, Essex, England. She is still hoping to make it in the modern pop era, but it seems clear that she won't be getting any more number 1's considering her last one was 26 years ago. Charlene has a pet dog called Sam.
Here are the lyrics to the song:
Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your lifeHere is the original video which was filmed in England (and which prompted Charlene to marry an Englishman and move there.) I can't embed it because:
You're a discontented mother and a regimented wife
I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do
But, I wish someone had talked to me
Like I wanna talk to you.....
Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me
Please lady, please lady, don't just walk away
'Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived million lies....
Oh, I've been to Nice and the Isles of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
[spoken]
Hey, you know what paradise is?
It's a lie, a fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding, it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love......
Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete
But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free
Hey lady......
I've been to paradise, (I've been to paradise)
But I've never been to me
[sung]
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Nice and the isles of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to cryin' for unborn children that might have made me complete)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
This video has been matched by YouTube's copyright identification software. While it will continue to be available for viewing on this site, it unfortunately can no longer be embedded externally.Here's the video from when Charlene was in Australia a few years ago to promote the launch of the stage version of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert - The Musical.
And this is how the song was used to introduce the movie, Priscilla - Queen of the Desert:
posted by Joubert at 10:10 PM
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