Best remembered for the 1982 hit ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’ - which was featured in the classic gay film Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert -  Motown singer Charlene originally recorded the song in 1977, but had to wait five years before the record become a hit. Gaydar Radio’s Simon Le Vans spoke to Charlene about her time at Motown and how she ended up working in a sweet shop in East London.

You’re best remembered for the huge hit ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’. It was number 1 in 1982, but I believe it was recorded before then. Is that right?
Yes, it was recorded in 1976 when I was signed to Motown – but I don’t feel old enough!

Were then many white artists signed to Motown at the time?
Well, there was Rare Earth, who came and went quickly and Kiki Dee was on Motown for about two seconds before she was gone…

You had an album that charted over here at the time. Didn’t they follow up the single?
Well, we did put a single out but it didn’t catch on. It was with Stevie Wonder and me.

And that didn’t catch on?!
No!

Who else have you worked with?
I’ve worked with some incredible people at Motown. I met Diana Ross and she even named her daughter after my daughter!

That’s dead cool!!
Isn’t it incredible?! I’ve known Michael Jackson since he was a little boy. Then there’s Berry Gordy, Bob Gaudio, who was with the Four Seasons while I was at Motown, and Smokey Robinson, who’s now a great friend of mine. All these great people!!

Stevie Wonder was such a genius. He was way ahead of everyone.
Do you know his story? He was on the steps of Motown Hitsville in Detroit for three months playing his harmonica and they just wouldn’t let him make music. He would sit on the steps like a beggar boy. Finally they let him in to play and ‘Fingertips’ was his first huge hit. He was a little prodigy.

I read somewhere that you moved to the UK before the single was a hit and that you worked in a sweet shop. Is that nonsense?
No, it’s true!! I met my husband, Geoff Oliver, in Los Angeles. We fell in love and moved to England. At that time I was out of the music industry. I had been signed to Motown for eight years and nothing had happened. I was really discouraged so I moved to London where I married Geoff and I worked in his cousin’s sweet shop on Bow Road. So I was totally out of the music business.

Then, out of the blue I got a phone call at 2am and this guy says, ‘Your song’s on the charts. You’re selling 66,000 records a day!’

Well, what had happened was that a DJ in Miami called Scott Shannon had done a contest with my song and Olivia Newton John’s ‘Physical’. My song got every single phone call! So he rang up Motown and said, ‘You need to release this; you’ve got a hit!’ And this was all happening while I was working in a candy store in England!

Did you really have had no idea!?
I had no clue! Then bam, I’m off on Concorde to do Good Morning America in New York with Maurice Gibb, then TV shows all over America! It was unbelievable.

It’s 23 years later. Are you still recording?
Yes, I’ve got the most brilliant material. I’ve got a song called ‘Strong’ which is amazing and another one called ‘Symphony For A Broken Piano’ that I wrote myself and a lot of other really good tracks.

So where can we hear you? Have you got any gigs coming up in the near future?
Yes, I’ll be in Manchester on the 28 of August as part of the Mardi Gras festivities.

Have you been booked on Top Of The Pops yet?
No, but as soon as I get on the charts I’ll be there!

Charlene's new version of ‘I've Never Been To Me’ is out now, or hear the original by buying the soundtrack to Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert online.