Reviewed by Tony Cummings

An odd one, this. Biographies reviewed by Cross Rhythms tend to be either recording-by-recording chronicles of an artist's career or Christian testimonies full of spiritual insights and anecdotes about an artist's walk with God. This doesn't really fit either of those categories. Charlene will be remembered by all chart music devotees as the singer of the melodramatic ballad "I've Never Been To Me" which became a smash hit in 1982 in the USA, the UK and 26 other countries. This book chronicles the 20-odd years before her hit and the 20-odd years since. The pre-hit chapters do have plenty of Motown artist name-dropping as she spent the mid-'70s being groomed by the renowned music corporation for the hit that never quite came but those looking for detailed information about recording sessions, insights into the inner workings of Motown, or colourful anecdotes about Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, et al will be disappointed. Instead Charlene (via her ghost writer Jordan Paramor) spends most of the pages giving us, in rather stilted prose style, a gruelling account of teenage years (she married at 16) plagued by an abusive drug addict husband named Larry (Charlene never divulges his surname). As any pop historian will tell you, Charlene's international hit came after she had left Motown, left the music industry and settled down with her English-born second husband to a life of obscurity in an Essex sweet shop. By this time Charlene had become a Christian though her conversion is given far less space than many other events in her life and is then seldom referred to again though there is a powerful account of the dire consequences she suffered after praying "God I don't fear you and Satan I don't believe you exist." The second part of the book details the way in which, thanks to a dodgy contract from Motown, the singer is cheated out of most of the royalties for her huge hit. That's followed by chapters where the singer makes unsuccessful attempt after attempt to re-establish herself in the music scene. Disappointments come thick and fast with lying record producers, betraying friends and sheer bad luck producing in Charlene breakdowns and clinical depression. There is a glimmer of hope in all these letdowns when "I've Never Been To Me" is unexpectedly popularised in the transsexual production Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. I've always viewed the singer as a hugely underrated talent and her single "Used To Be" with Stevie Wonder something of a classic. But this strangely one dimensional account of her life doesn't really do justice to her Christian faith while the cover design is an exercise in high kitsch. But at least it brings a bit of much deserved attention to a fine singer. Here's hoping we'll get a new Charlene album before too long.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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