Han’s entry today in The Worst Hits of the 80’s is “I’ve Never Been To Me” by Charlene. “I’ve Never Been To Me’ was written surprisingly by two men-Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch. There were two versions of “I’ve Never Been To Me” one was for a male singer and one version for a female singer. The song had been released by both male and female singers before Charlene’s release. Randy Crawford had the first release, Nancy Wilson who recently passed away recorded it among others. In 1978 Mary McGregor released a single that was a minor easy listening hit.  Charlene released the single in 1977 and it went nowhere on the charts. Ok we are all in the clear but no -some DJ in Tampa had to start playing it. Charlene had left the music industry at this point having married and Englishman and moved to England. Motown had seen a potential hit in this and had the song re-released. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1982 and rose to #3. It did even better in other countries going #1 in Australia, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom. Predictably Charlene would not be able to capitalize on this surprise success- she never had another hit.

I’ve Never Been To Me is pathetic.  “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.”  Those are just some of the worst lines of this nauseating song.