Her last charted single was "You Got the Job", which peaked at No. 65. She recorded one studio album with Mercury Records before the end of the decade. She continued to chart until her last recording came in 1989.
Upon fulfilling her contract, she parted ways with the record label the following year. The album became McClain's last album with Epic. Her 1987 Still I Stay album brought only one Top 40 single "Don't Touch Me There" peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Country Chart. Later YearsĪfter 1986, McClain's success began to subside. The Radio Heart album peaked at No. 15 on the Top Country Albums chart in 1985. It was titled "You Are My Music, You Are My Song". The third single off the album was also a duet with Massey. McClain married former soap star Wayne Massey in 1984, and their duet "With Just One Look in Your Eyes" reached number five. The album also spawned two other Top-10 hits that year. The album's title track became a No. 1 Country hit in 1985 McClain's last No. 1 to date.
McClain's lonely life on the road was also chronicled in a 1981 HBO special titled So You Want to Be a Star.Īfter having a series of hit singles in 1984, McClain released another best-selling album, Radio Heart in 1985. McClain also acted, appearing as a guest star on such shows as Hart to Hart (in 1981 episode titled "Rhinestone Harts") and CHiPs (in 1983 episode "Country Action").
The record contained the Top-5 hit, "Candy Man" (#5 on the Billboard Country Chart), and the top twenty hit, "The Right Stuff". In 1983, McClain hit No. 1 with her Mickey Gilley duet "Paradise Tonight." "McClain's and Gilley's duet partnership became so successful, they released a duet album the following year titled It Takes Believers. Her Who's Cheatin' Who album peaked at No. 28 on the Top Country Albums chart, and her 1981 album, Surround Me With Love went to number 9. McClain's albums were beginning to become more successful as well. In 1981, McClain scored three Top-10 hits off her Surround Me with Love album: the title track, "Sleepin' with the Radio On", and "The Very Best is You". This brought McClain breakthrough success for the 1980s. McClain hit No. 1 on the Country charts in 1981 with "Who's Cheatin' Who". The Women Get Lonely album followed in 1980, featuring the Top 10 hit "Men", which peaked at No. 7 in 1980, and the Top-20 duet with Johnny Rodriguez, "I Hate the Way I Love It." However, breakthrough success still eluded McClain. In 1979 McClain released Alone Too Long (1979), which included the Top-20 hits "When A Love Ain't Right" and "You're a Part of Me". She hit country's Top Ten for the first time in 1978 with "That's What You Do to Me," followed by two other Top 25 hits, "Let Me Be Your Baby," and "Take Me Back." McClain's second album, Let Me Be Your Baby, was released in 1978. McClain's initial singles in 19, from her debut album Here's Charly McClain, failed to chart highly on the Country charts. McClain debuted in late 1976 with her first single, "Lay Down," which peaked at No. 67 on the Billboard Country Chart. McClain's distinct vocal sound provided an edge in recognizability-as did her attractive appearance. Steady RiseĪt the age of twenty, McClain signed her first recording contract with Epic Records in 1976. By the age of seventeen, she was a regular on the club circuit, and appeared at the Memphis show Mid-South Jamboree from 1973–1975.
Her first TV appearance was on the local WBBJ morning show in Jackson, Tennessee. The band would perform together for the next six years. She began her musical career at age twelve performing with her brother Mike and their band, Charlotte & The Volunteers. As she was under age to comply with hospital visiting policy, she had to communicate with him through a tape recorder. Her first experience recording was when father Niles had tuberculosis when she was eight. McClain would later go on to use it when she began her career playing hotel lounges. The nickname "Charly" would come from the neighborhood friends that she played with as a child. McClain was born Mato Virginia Jo (née Wiggins 1934 – 2009) and Niles B.