Reply With QuoteFound On Another Site: Earlene is yet another artist that I wished to share information about and once again very, very little is available. I can trace Bentley back to acting as early as 1975 when she appeared in an episode of the U.K. TV series "Gangsters" where she portrayed a singer.
Earlene burst on the disco scene in 1983....long after the 'original' disco-era. Producer Ian Levine, who has always brought the best in divas to the dancefloor, gave Bentley her first worldwide hit with "The Boys Come To Town." The song was tailor-made for the gay high-energy dance crowd. Originally released on the U.K. label Record Shack, it was quickly picked up for American distribution by the quintessential gay dance label Megatone. It topped the club charts and established her as a major disco artist of the 1980's.
What followed next was two more releases on Record Shack in 1984. "I'm Living My Own Life" and "Caught In The Act" were both superlative examples of the high-energy sounds emerging from England at the time. The former did get an American remix release on TVI Records, but the U.S. was generally moving towards Prince, Madonna and the top pop fare that did not have to be licensed from abroad.
Ironically her last known release on Record Shack was a duet with American star Sylvester. The two duetted on the 1985 number "Stargazing". The song, another uptempo number, did not fare as well as her (or his) previous releases. The trouble was not in their performance but in the general mix and layout of the song. Most of it's exposure was based on the name power of the two artists.
What happened in the following year was the beginning of the end of her recording career. Her 1986 releases: "Point Of No Return" on Champion records and "Don't Delay" on Nightmare records failed miserably. It seemed that Levine had lost interest and was delegating his second string material to Bentley, while Miquel Brown and Evelyn Thomas were getting the really good tunes. Or perhaps Bentley herself was becoming bored with the music scene?
One final 12" on Nightmare records was 1987's "I've Got You Covered." The song barely received notice and Bentley seemed to disappear from the music world.
From 1987 on it's hard to document her career, she resurface in the 1990's as a stage actress in London. It seems that her talent also extends to the stage. In 1993 she played a female army sergeant in the mini-series "Wild Justice" and in 2004 she played "Maggie Coombes" in an episode of the TV show "Doctors." Her stage work has included rave reviews for her appearances in "Children Of Eden" and "As Thousands Cheer."
We thank Earlene for her contributions to the music scene and hope she is happy and healthy. If anyone has any additional information to share with us please let us know so that we may give her the recognition she deserves.
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