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Melanie (singer)

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Melanie
Melanie in 1975
Melanie in 1975
Background information
Birth nameMelanie Anne Safka
Born(1947-02-03)February 3, 1947
Queens, New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 23, 2024(2024-01-23) (aged 76)
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • acoustic guitar
Years active1960s–2024
Labels
Websitemelaniesafka.com

Melanie Anne Safka Schekeryk (February 3, 1947 – January 23, 2024), professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, was an American singer-songwriter.[1][2]

Melanie is widely known for the 1971–72 global hit "Brand New Key", her 1970 version of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", her composition "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", and her 1970 international breakthrough hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", which was inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock music festival.[3][4]

Early life

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Melanie was born and raised in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Her father, Frederick M. Safka (1924–2009), was of Ukrainian ancestry,[5] and her mother, jazz singer Pauline "Polly" Altomare (1926–2003), was of Italian heritage.[6][7] Melanie made her first public singing appearance at age four on the radio show Live Like A Millionaire, performing the song "Gimme a Little Kiss".[8] She moved with her family to Long Branch, New Jersey, and attended Long Branch High School. Disturbed that she was rejected by her schoolmates as a "beatnik", she ran away to California. After her return to New Jersey, she transferred to Red Bank High School in Red Bank, New Jersey. She graduated in 1966, although she was prevented from attending her graduation ceremony because of an overdue library book. She was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 2014.[9]

Career

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Melanie on the cover of Cash Box, July 11, 1970

In the 1960s, Melanie started performing at The Inkwell, a coffee house in the West End section of Long Branch. After high school, her parents insisted that she attend college, so she studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.[10] She began singing in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village, such as The Bitter End, and signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records.[11] Melanie released two singles on the label in the U.S. She subsequently signed with Buddah Records and found her first chart success in Europe in 1969 with "Bobo's Party", which reached No. 1 in France. Her popularity in Europe resulted in performances on European television programs such as Beat-Club in West Germany. Her debut album received positive reviews from Billboard, which described her voice as "wise beyond her years" and said her "non-conformist approach to the selections on this LP make her a new talent to be reckoned with".[12][13]

Later in 1969, Melanie had a hit in the Netherlands with "Beautiful People". She was one of only three solo female artists[14] who performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969, and her first hit song, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", was inspired by the Woodstock audience lighting candles during her set[15] as well as being influenced by her following of Indian spiritual master Meher Baba.[16] The record became a hit in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States in 1970. The B-side of the single featured Melanie's spoken-word track, "Candles in the Rain". Her first top 10 hit in America was "Lay Down", which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard singles chart and achieved worldwide success. Her later hits included "Peace Will Come (According To Plan)" and a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday".[17]

Melanie on the "Mr Softee" free stage, August 1, 1970

In 1970, Melanie was the only artist to ignore a court injunction banning the Powder Ridge Rock Festival, which was scheduled to be held on July 31, August 1 and 2, 1970.[18] She played for the crowd on a homemade stage powered by Mister Softee trucks. Not long after this performance, she played at the Strawberry Fields Festival held from August 7 to 9, 1970, at Mosport Park in Ontario, Canada.[19] She also performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, held between August 26 and 30, 1970, at Afton Down. At the festival, she was introduced by Keith Moon and received four standing ovations. She appeared again at the Isle of Wight Festival in 2010. In June 1971, she was the artist who sang to herald in the summer solstice at Glastonbury Fayre (later the Glastonbury Festival) in England. She performed again at Glastonbury in 2011, the 40th anniversary of the original festival.[20]

Billboard advertisement, October 23, 1971

Melanie left Buddah Records when they insisted that she produce albums on demand. In 1971, she formed her own label, Neighborhood Records, with Peter Schekeryk, who was also her producer and husband. She had her biggest American hit on the Neighborhood label, the novelty-sounding late 1971 No. 1 hit "Brand New Key" (often referred to as "The Roller Skate Song"). "Brand New Key" sold over three million copies worldwide and was featured in the 1997 movie Boogie Nights.[21]

When first released, "Brand New Key" was banned by some radio stations because some inferred sexual innuendo in the lyrics. Melanie acknowledged the possibility of reading an unintended sexual innuendo in the song, stating:

I wrote ['Brand New Key'] in about fifteen minutes one night. I thought it was cute; a kind of old thirties tune. I guess a key and a lock have always been Freudian symbols, and pretty obvious ones at that. There was no deep serious expression behind the song, but people read things into it. They made up incredible stories as to what the lyrics said and what the song meant. In some places, it was even banned from the radio ... My idea about songs is that once you write them, you have very little say in their life afterward ... People will take it any way they want to take it.[22]

In a 2013 interview with music journalist Ray Shasho, Melanie elaborated on the origin of "Brand New Key":

Of course I can see it symbolically with the key, but I just thought of roller skating. I was fasting with a twenty seven day fast on water. I broke the fast and went back to my life living in New Jersey and we were going to a flea market around six in the morning. On the way back ... and I had just broken the fast, from the flea market, we passed a McDonald's and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonald's and I got the whole works ... the burger, the shake and the fries ... and no sooner after I finished that last bite of my burger ... that song was in my head. The aroma brought back memories of roller skating and learning to ride a bike and the vision of my dad holding the back fender of the tire. And me saying to my dad ... "You're holding, you're holding, you're holding, right?" Then I'd look back and he wasn't holding and I'd fall. So that whole thing came back to me and came out in this song. So it was not a deliberate or intentional sexual innuendo.[23]

The follow-up single to "Brand New Key" was "Ring the Living Bell". To compete with this release, Melanie's former record company released "The Nickel Song", which she had recorded while still signed to Buddah Records. Both songs were simultaneous top 40 hits while "Brand New Key" was still on the charts, setting a record for the first female performer to have three top 40 hits at the same time.[24]

Melanie won Billboard's No. 1 Top Female Vocalist award for 1972[25] and was awarded two gold albums, and a gold single for "Brand New Key". Three of her compositions were hits for the New Seekers. She is also known for her musical adaptations of children's songs, including "Alexander Beetle" and "Christopher Robin". When she became an official UNICEF ambassador in 1972, she agreed to forego a world tour in favor of raising money for the organization. She also took time to raise her daughter.[26][27]

Melanie had another top 40 hit single in 1973 with "Bitter Bad", a song that marked a slight departure from the hippie sentiments of her earlier hits, with lyrics such as "If you do me wrong I'll put your first and last name in my rock n' roll song".[28] Melanie's other chart hits during this period were the self-penned "Together Alone"[29] and a cover of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which reached No 37 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1974.[30]

Later career

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In 1976, Melanie released one album on Atlantic Records, Photograph, which was produced by Ahmet Ertegun. The album was praised by The New York Times as one of the year's best, although it was largely ignored by the public.[31] It was re-issued on compact disc in 2005 with an additional disc of unreleased material.

Also in 1976, Melanie appeared at the tribute concert for Phil Ochs, who had committed suicide on April 9 that year. Held on May 28 at New York City's Felt Forum, Melanie performed an emotional version of Ochs's songs "Chords of Fame" and "Miranda".[32] She had appeared with Ochs on stage in 1974 at his "Evening with Salvador Allende" concert (also held at the Felt Forum), along with Dave Van Ronk, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and others.[33]

In 1983, Melanie wrote the music and lyrics for a theatrical musical, Ace of Diamonds, with a book by Ed Kelleher and Seymour Vall based on a series of letters written by Annie Oakley. Though never fully produced, several staged readings were performed at the Lincoln Center, with Melanie as the narrator and pop singer and actress Annie Golden as Oakley.[34]

Melanie won an Emmy Award for writing the lyrics to the theme song for the television series Beauty and the Beast.[35] With one exception, her albums were produced by her husband, Peter Schekeryk, who died suddenly in 2010.[36] Her three children — Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau-Jarred — are also musicians. Beau-Jarred is a guitarist and accompanied his mother on tour.[37]

One of Melanie's later albums, Paled By Dimmer Light (2004), was co-produced by Peter and Beau-Jarred Schekeryk and includes the songs "To Be The One", "Extraordinary", "Make It Work", and "I Tried To Die Young".[38]

Melanie performing in 2009

In 2007, Melanie was invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Her sold-out performance was critically acclaimed, with The Independent saying, "It was hard to disagree that Melanie has earned her place alongside Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Nico, and Marianne Faithfull in the pantheon of iconic female singers. Meltdown was all the better for her presence."[39] The concert was filmed for a DVD, Melanie: For One Night Only, which was released in October 2007. She recorded "Psychotherapy", sung to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic", which parodied aspects of Freudian psychoanalysis. The song has been played on The Dr. Demento Show. In July 2012, Melanie headlined along with Arlo Guthrie and Judy Collins at the 15th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, which is held to celebrate Woody Guthrie's life and music.[40]

In October 2012, Melanie collaborated with John Haldoupis, artistic and managing director of Blackfriars Theatre in Rochester, New York, to create an original musical about her love story with her late husband. Melanie and the Record Man made its premiere on October 19, with performances scheduled until October 28. The musical, conceived and designed by Haldoupis, featured Melanie's music and told the story of meeting Peter, falling in love, and working together to produce her music. Melanie performed during the musical and was also the narrator. In June 2014, she toured Australia for the first time since 1977.[41]

In April 2015, Melanie was inducted into Red Bank Regional's "Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame".[42] She received the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award at the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards on November 14, 2015, in Monroe, North Carolina.[43] On New Year's Eve 2019, she performed on the BBC's Jools' Annual Hootenanny.[44]

At the time of her death in 2024, Melanie was working on a covers album titled Second Hand Smoke.[45]

Personal life and death

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Melanie married record producer Peter Schekeryk in 1968. They had three children;[10] daughter Leilah born in 1973, daughter Jeordie in 1975, and son Beau-Jarred in 1980.[46] Leilah and Jeordie, when aged seven and six, released a cover of "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" that charted in Canada, reaching No. 27.[47][48] Peter Schekeryk died in 2010.[49] Melanie was a vegetarian in the early 1970s; she also practiced fasting.[50][51]

Melanie identified herself politically as a libertarian, stating, "I am not a Democrat, a Socialist, or a Republican."[52][16] She said that she had experienced acceptance from a "universal force of motherhood" after receiving a hug from Mata Amritanandamayi, a.k.a. Amma ("Mother") or as the "hugging saint" from India, as she is also known, which had inspired her to write "Motherhood of Love".[53]

Melanie resided in the Nashville metropolitan area.[54] She died on January 23, 2024, at the age of 76.[45][55] Her three children shared their mother's death in a Facebook post and her reps mentioned "an illness", but no cause was given.[56]

Discography

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Main article: Melanie Safka discography
Studio albums
  • Born to Be (1968)
  • Melanie (1969)
  • Candles in the Rain (1970)
  • The Good Book (1971)
  • Gather Me (1971)
  • Garden in the City (1971)
  • Stoneground Words (1972)
  • Madrugada (1974)
  • As I See It Now (1974)
  • Sunset and Other Beginnings (1975)
  • Photograph (1976)
  • Phonogenic – Not Just Another Pretty Face (1978)
  • Ballroom Streets (1979)
  • Arabesque (1982)
  • Seventh Wave (1983)
  • Am I Real or What (1985)
  • Melanie (1987)
  • Cowabonga – Never Turn Your Back on a Wave (1988)
  • Silence Is King (1993)
  • Silver Anniversary (1993)
  • Old Bitch Warrior (1996)
  • Lowcountry (1997)
  • Antlers – A Christmas or True Believers (1997)
  • Beautiful People (1999)
  • Moments from My Life (2002)
  • Victim of the Moon (2002)
  • Paled by Dimmer Light (2004)
  • Ever Since You Never Heard of Me (2010)
  • The First Farewell Tour (2022)

Other credits

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References

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  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 635–637. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. ^ Keepnews, Peter (January 25, 2024). "Melanie, Singer Who Made a Solo Splash at Woodstock, Dies at 76". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  3. ^ "'Brand New Key' – Melanie". Super Seventies RockSite. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  4. ^ "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". Super Seventies RockSite. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  5. ^ Rosenbaum, Connie (May 28, 1978). "Melanie—An Intensely Personal Singer" (PDF). The Ukrainian Weekly. p. 15 – via www.ukrweekly.com.
  6. ^ "Melanie Safka is known to her fans simply as Melanie". Melaniemusic.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  7. ^ Spelling, Ian. "Melanie's new songs lend their vigor to her old hits", North Jersey Entertainment Newspaper, October 12, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  8. ^ "Melanie", Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
  9. ^ Voger, Mark. "Melanie recalls Red Bank High ('miserable') and Woodstock ('incredible')", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, July 27, 2014, updated March 29, 2019. Accessed January 26, 2024. "Melanie is looking forward to her induction into the Red Bank Regional High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame next year. (She was class of 1966 at the former Red Bank High School.) ... Melanie believes that because of this reputation, she was blackballed from marching in her graduation ceremony."
  10. ^ a b Interview with Kathie Lee, 1985. Retrieved September 5, 2011 on YouTube
  11. ^ Shedden, Iain (June 5, 2014). "Look what they did to her songs". The Australian. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  12. ^ "Melanie Safka biography". Billboard. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  13. ^ "Melanie Safka Exclusive: "My Mother Drove Me To Woodstock" (Part 1)". classicrockhereandnow.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  14. ^ Whiteside, Jonny (October 5, 2016). "Music Preview: Almost five decades after Woodstock, Melanie Safka still delivers powerful message". Glendale News-Press. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  15. ^ Beviglia, Jim. "Melanie, "(Lay Down) Candles In The Rain"". American Songwriter: The Craft of Music. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Staff (January 25, 2024). "Melanie, singer and songwriter whose career took off at one o'clock in the morning at Woodstock – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Rhodes, Mick (September 1, 2016). "Melanie brings music history to Claremont". Claremont Courier. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  18. ^ Santelli, Robert (1980). Aquarius Rising – The Rock Festival Years. Dell Publishing Co. p. 200.
  19. ^ Yorke, Ritchie (August 22, 1970). "Brower Promotes Strawberry Field Pop Festival Into Winner". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 34. New York, NY. pp. 80, 82. ISSN 0006-2510.
  20. ^ Uncut, July 2011.
  21. ^ Woodbury, Jason P (January 9, 2012). "Melanie Talks "Brand New Key", Starting Over, and McDonald's". Phoenix New Times. Phoenix New Times, LLC. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  22. ^ ""Brand New Key" – Melanie". Superseventies.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  23. ^ Classic Rock Music Reporter. "'Melanie' Safka Exclusive: "My Mother Drove Me To Woodstock" (Part 1)". Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  24. ^ American Top 40, February 26, 1972
  25. ^ "Billboard : Talent in Action" (PDF). World Radio History. December 30, 1912. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  26. ^ "Brand New Key singer Melanie dies aged 76". Wales Online. January 25, 2024.
  27. ^ Freeman, Paul. "Melanie: Still One of the Most Beautiful People". Pop Culture Classics. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  28. ^ Bitter Bad: Melanie
  29. ^ MELANIE Together Alone ('73)
  30. ^ Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Melanie
  31. ^ Rockwell, John (November 14, 1976). "Melanie's Back And She's Not Kissing Cows". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  32. ^ Various artists: The Memorial Concert, Felt Forum, New York City, NY, May 28th, 1976
  33. ^ Phil Ochs Setlist at Felt Forum, New York, NY, USA
  34. ^ a b Melanie, singer-songwriter of 'Brand New Key,' dies at 76, Chicago Sun-Times
  35. ^ Melanie, quoted in Uncut, July 2011
  36. ^ "Staying Alive: Melanie at Greenwood Coffee House" by Davi Napoleon.
  37. ^ CD Album – Artist: Melanie, Title: Paled By Dimmer Light
  38. ^ "Beautiful People – Forums powered by UBB.threads". Melaniesmusic.com. March 28, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  39. ^ Webb, Jela. Woody Guthrie Folk Festival (Okemah, Oklahoma July 11 –15, 2012). Archived September 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine No Depression, July 20, 2012. Also published in Maverick Magazine, Nov.-Dec. 2012, Issue #117, p. 20.
  40. ^ "Melanie". Melanie. Archived from the original on September 23, 2004. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  41. ^ "Little Silver: Melanie To Join Hall Of Fame". Red Bank Green. April 16, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.[dead link‍]
  42. ^ "Melanie Safka takes home honors at the 2015 AMG Heritage Awards". Artists Music Guild. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  43. ^ "Is Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny live?". Radio Times.
  44. ^ a b Willman, Chris (January 24, 2024). "Melanie, Singer Who Performed at Woodstock and Topped Charts With 'Brand New Key,' Dies at 76". Variety. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  45. ^ "Melanie Returns After 17 Years with Pyramid Set". Billboard. October 19, 2002. p. 15.
  46. ^ "RPM Top 50 Singles – January 16, 1982" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  47. ^ "Continental Drift". Billboard. September 23, 1995. p. 23.
  48. ^ "Peter Schekeryk, Husband & Producer for Melanie, Passes Away". VVN Music. November 27, 2010.
  49. ^ "Melanie's Back And She's Not Kissing Cows". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  50. ^ "Melanie recalls Red Bank High ('miserable') and Woodstock ('incredible')". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  51. ^ "Melanie – Libertarian". Advocates for Self-Government. Retrieved January 10, 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  52. ^ "MELANIE Motherhood of Love". YouTube. January 8, 2013.
  53. ^ "Woodstock performer Melanie to perform East Nashville concert". The Tennessean. October 10, 2014.
  54. ^ van den Wildenberg, Norman. "Woodstock Legend Melanie Passed Away". Maxazine. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  55. ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (January 24, 2024). "Singer Melanie, Who Performed at Woodstock and Had Hits Such as Brand New Key, Dies at 76". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  56. ^ Browne, David (September 8, 2000). "Music Review: 'Hyacinths and Thistles'". EW.com. Retrieved January 27, 2024.

Further reading

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