No doubt country was struggling after the Urban Cowboy phase and the the Neo- Traditionalists had not shown up yet. Time has not been very kind to the early and mid 1980's and I think that's too bad. That era of country has been a bit forgotten. Great Song As I First Got Into Country Radio In fact, she would be my pick to sing such a song, top of the list.Funny, that we got to know her from her first number one hit, Who's Cheatin' Who in 1981 that was a real punchy number, Alan Jackson took that same song to number one a few years later, but McClain had it first. I always loved to hear Charly McClain sing a slow, gentle love song, she was really good at it. She had a very unique voice that in some ways was not as powerful or as loud as the others, but there was an incredible, and alluring vulnerability in it, and the more "country" the song, the better she sounded. She was in the same era of Janie Fricke, Crystal Gayle, Sylvia, Tanya, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly, Shelly West, Rosanne Cash,a young Rebaand others. I played all her songs for many years on great stations all across the country. Then she did something not many do, one day she just walked away. That voice made her as popular as any woman of her era. In the 1980's she had a nice run of hits, had a following, in addition to an enviable, beautiful, soft, angelic voice that was her absolute calling card. She asked about Charly McClain and what happened to her.Actually, her name is Charlotte Denise McClain, but we all knew her as Charly. Her last number one came with 1985's "Radio Heart," but she continued to chart until her last recording came in 1989.Jackie asked me about an artist I haven't thought about in a very long time. She hit country's Top Ten for the first time in 1978 with "That's What You Do to Me," followed up with 1980's "Men," and hit the top spot one year later with "Who's Cheatin' Who." She stayed in the upper reaches during 1982 with "Dancing Your Memory Away" and "The Very Best Is You," then hit number one again in 1983 with her Mickey Gilley duet "Paradise Tonight." McClain married former soap star Wayne Massey in 1984, and their own duet ("With Just One Look in Your Eyes") reached number five. Signed to her first recording contract in 1976, McClain's distinct vocal sound provided an edge in recognizability - as did her appearance. That inspired her interest in recording, and by age 17 she was a regular on the club circuit. McClain's father had tuberculosis when she was eight, and, since she was underage for visitation rights at the hospital, she had to communicate with him through a tape recorder. When Epic Records decided it sounded catchier than Charlotte, it became a permanent professional banner. Originally named Charlotte, Charly McClain was given her masculine moniker by neighborhood friends in Memphis, and she also used it when she started playing hotel lounges.
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