Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Randy Crawford

I’ve Never Been to Me

First recorded by Randy Crawford (1976).
Hit versions by Nancy Wilson (R&B #47 1977), Mary McGregor (MOR #29 1978), Charlene (US #97 1977 |US #3/MOR #7/C&W #60/UK #1/CAN #1/IRE #1/AUS #1 1982).
Also recorded by The Temptations (1984).

From the wiki: “‘I’ve Never Been to Me’ is the title of a ballad, written and composed by Ron Miller and Kenneth Hirsch in 1976 and first recorded by Randy Crawford on her 1976 album Everything Must Change. The song is best known as lyrically formatted for a female vocalist (see below for male-oriented arrangement) and as such is addressed to a desperate wife and mother who would like to trade her prosaic existence for the jet-setting lifestyle the song’s narrator has led.

“Nancy Wilson’s cover was the first version of the song to be released as a single, serving as the title track of her June 1977 album, reaching #47 on the Billboard’s R&B chart.

“Charlene’s ‘I’ve Never Been to Me’ had two releases between 1976-1977. The first, in 1976 for her debut album, the self-titled Charlene, was recorded with a spoken bridge. (This would be the version that saw its subsequent re-release in 1982.) When her next album, Songs of Love, was released six months later, the song was added without the spoken bridge. It was this version that was first released as a promotional single, in September 1977, and it became Charlene’s third consecutive single to stall in the lowest reaches of the Hot 100 in Billboard (#97).

“Meanwhile, in February 1978, a mid-tempo recording of ‘I’ve Never Been to Me’ by Mary McGregor was released as the advance single from her In Your Eyes album> It became a modest hit, reaching #29 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart.