Charly McClain

Neighborhood friends in Memphis first tagged the young Charlotte McClain with the masculine nickname Charly, which she carried into her earliest hotel-lounge performances. Epic Records later judged the shorter name more memorable than her birth name and adopted it as her lasting professional identity. At eight years old she lost direct hospital access to her tuberculosis-stricken father because of her age, so the pair exchanged messages on a tape recorder—an experience that ignited her interest in recording. By seventeen she had become a steady presence on the local club circuit. Epic offered her first contract in 1976, where her sharply identifiable vocal quality and visual presence quickly set her apart. Country’s Top Ten welcomed her for the first time in 1978 with “That’s What You Do to Me,” followed in 1980 by “Men” and then her initial number-one single, 1981’s “Who’s Cheatin’ Who.” Strong placements continued through 1982 with “Dancing Your Memory Away” and “The Very Best Is You,” and she returned to the top in 1983 via the Mickey Gilley duet “Paradise Tonight.” In 1984 she married former soap-opera star Wayne Massey; their own duet, “With Just One Look in Your Eyes,” climbed to number five. “Radio Heart” supplied her last number-one record in 1985, yet she maintained chart activity until her final sessions in 1989.