Tina Charles (singer)

Did You Know?

• Charles recovered from meningitis as a newborn.
• Her brother Warren served as her tour manager during the height of her career.
• She married Bernard Webb in 1977; their son Max was born in London in June 1977.

Career

Charles began her career as a backing singer and session musician, recording her first solo single in 1969 with Elton John on piano. In the early 1970s, she sang on the Top of the Pops album series of cover versions. She appeared in the first series of The Two Ronnies in 1971, performing songs including "River Deep – Mountain High" and "Ruby Tuesday". In 1975, she and Linda Lewis provided backing vocals on Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's chart-topping "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)".

That same year, Charles sang lead on 5000 Volts' disco hit "I'm on Fire", which reached number 4 in the UK and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100; contractual issues prevented her from being publicly acknowledged as a group member at the time. Her breakthrough came in 1975 when producer Biddu, fresh from success with "Kung Fu Fighting", produced "You Set My Heart on Fire" and "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)". The latter spent three weeks at number one in the UK in March 1976 and won a Juno Award in 1977.

Biddu continued to collaborate with Charles on the album and the hit "Dance Little Lady Dance". In 1976 alone, she spent 42 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. Her touring band at that time included Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. Further hits such as "Love Me Like a Lover", "Dr Love", "Rendezvous" and "Love Bug" made her a pop star in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, though she never achieved US success; her only US-charting solo recording was "You Set My Heart on Fire", which reached number 3 on Record World's Disco File Top 20 in autumn 1975.

In 1978, she was a joint winner at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo with the song "Love Rocks", sharing the top prize with Japan's entry.