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
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 23, 2024(2024-01-23) (aged 76)
Genres
  • Folk
  • pop
  • country
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1967–2024
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] She is best known for the 1971–72 global hit "Brand New Key", plus her 1970 version of "Ruby Tuesday", which was originally written and recorded by the Rolling Stones, her composition "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma", and her 1970 international breakthrough hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" (inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock music festival).[2][3]

Early life

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,[4] and her mother, jazz singer Pauline "Polly" Altomare (1926–2003), was of Italian heritage.[5][6] 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". She moved with her family to Long Branch, New Jersey, and attended Long Branch High School. Bothered by being pegged by her classmates as a "beatnik" in school, she ran away to California and, after her return to New Jersey, transferred to Red Bank Regional High School in Red Bank, New Jersey; she graduated in 1964, though she was blocked from attending her commencement exercise due to an overdue library book.[7]

Career

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 go to college, so she studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York,[8] where she began singing in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village, such as The Bitter End, and signed her first recording contract.[9]

Initially signed to Columbia Records in the United States, Melanie released two singles on the label. Subsequently, she signed with Buddah Records and first found chart success in Europe in 1969 with "Bobo's Party" which reached No. 1 in France. Melanie's 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 heralded her voice as "wise beyond her years. Her non-conformist approach to the selections on this LP make her a new talent to be reckoned with".[10][11]

Later in 1969, Melanie had a hit in the Netherlands with "Beautiful People". She was one of only three solo women[12] who performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and the inspiration for her first hit song, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", apparently arose from the Woodstock audience lighting candles during her set.[13] The recording 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". "Lay Down" became Melanie's first top ten hit in America, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard singles chart and achieving worldwide success. Later hits included "Peace Will Come (According To Plan)" and a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday".[14]

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

In 1970, Melanie was the only artist to ignore the court injunction banning the Powder Ridge Rock Festival scheduled to be held on July 31, August 1 and 2, 1970.[15] She played for the crowd on a homemade stage powered by Mister Softee trucks. Shortly following this performance, she played at the Strawberry Fields Festival held from August 7 to 9, 1970, at Mosport Park, Ontario.[16] She also performed at the Isle of Wight Festival held between August 26 and 30, 1970, at Afton Down, where she was introduced by Keith Moon and received four standing ovations (she also appeared at the 2010 Isle of Wight festival). She was also the artist who sang to herald in the summer solstice at Glastonbury Fayre (later the Glastonbury Festival) in England, in June 1971. She performed again at Glastonbury in 2011, the 40th anniversary of the original festival.[17]

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 1972 number one "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.[18]

When first released, "Brand New Key" was banned by some radio stations because some heard 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."[19]

In a 2013 interview with music journalist Ray Shasho, Melanie revealed the true 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 McDonalds and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonalds 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.[20]

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 concurrently.[21]

She was awarded Billboard's No. 1 Top Female Vocalist award for 1972.[22] She was awarded two gold albums (and a gold single for "Brand New Key"), and three of her compositions were hits for The New Seekers. She is also well 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.[23]

Melanie had another top-40 hit single in 1973 with "Bitter Bad", a song that marked a slight departure from the hippie sentiments of 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"). Other chart hits during this period were the self-penned "Together Alone" and a cover of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". In 1973, Melanie started to retreat from the spotlight to begin a family.

Later career

In 1976 Melanie released one album on Atlantic Records, Photograph, which was overseen 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.[24] It was re-issued on CD 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' song "Chords of Fame" and his "Miranda". 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.

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 starring Melanie as the narrator and pop singer and actress Annie Golden as Oakley.[25]

In 1989 Melanie won an Emmy Award for writing the lyrics to "The First Time I Loved Forever", the theme song for the TV series Beauty and the Beast. With one exception, her albums were produced by her husband, Peter Schekeryk, who died suddenly in 2010.[26] Her three children – Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred – are also musicians. Beau-Jarred is a guitarist and accompanied his mother on tour.

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". In early 2005 most of Melanie's back-catalog was re-released on the internet-only music label ItsAboutMusic.com. After a series of disagreements, the relationship between the artist and the label was severed.[citation needed]

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 received critical acclaim, with The Independent saying, "it was hard to disagree that Melanie has earned her place alongside Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Marianne Faithfull in the pantheon of iconic female singers. Meltdown was all the better for her presence."[27] The concert was filmed for a DVD titled 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 parodies aspects of Freudian psychoanalysis. It has been played on The Dr. Demento Show. In 2012, Melanie headlined at the 15th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, along with Arlo Guthrie and Judy Collins. The festival is held annually in mid-July to celebrate the life and music of legendary singer-songwriter and folk musician Woody Guthrie.

In October 2012 Melanie collaborated with John Haldoupis, the artistic and managing director of Blackfriars Theatre in Rochester, New York, to create an original musical about her love story with her late husband, Peter. Melanie and the Record Man made its world premiere on October 19, with performances scheduled until October 28. The musical, conceived and designed by Haldoupis, features the music of Melanie and tells the story of her 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.[28]

In April 2015 Melanie was inducted into Red Bank Regional's "Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame".[29] Melanie 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.[30]

On New Year's Eve 2019, she performed on the BBC's Jools' Annual Hootenanny.[31]

Personal life

Melanie married record producer Peter Schekeryk in 1968. They had three children:[8] daughter Leilah born on October 3, 1973; daughter Jeordie on March 27, 1975; and son Beau Jarred on September 11, 1980.[32] Leilah and Jeordie, when aged 7 and 6, released a cover of "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" that charted in Canada, reaching No. 27.[33][34] Peter died in 2010.[35] Melanie was a vegetarian in the early 1970s; she also practiced fasting.[36][37]

Melanie identified herself politically as a libertarian, stating: "I'm a total Libertarian, and I am not a Democrat, a Socialist, or a Republican."[38] For a time, at the beginning of her career, Melanie was a follower of Meher Baba and this influenced some of her songs (such as "Love to Lose Again" and "Candles in the Rain"). She stated that, in 2006, she underwent a life-altering experience with Mata Amritanandamayi or Amma ("Mother") as she is also known, or as the "hugging saint" from India, which inspired Melanie to write "Motherhood of Love".

Melanie resided near Nashville, Tennessee.[39] She died on January 23, 2024, at the age of 76.[40][41]

Discography

Main article: Melanie Safka discography
  • Born to Be (1968)
  • Melanie aka Affectionately 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 (1978)
  • 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)
  • Low Country (1997)
  • Antlers (1997)
  • Beautiful People (1999)
  • Moments from My Life (2002)
  • Crazy Love (2002)
  • Paled by Dimmer Light (2004)
  • Ever Since You Never Heard of Me (2010)

Other credits

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 635–637. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. ^ "'Brand New Key' – Melanie". Super Seventies RockSite. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  3. ^ "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". Super Seventies RockSite. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  4. ^ Rosenbaum, Connie (May 28, 1978). "Melanie--An Intensely Personal Singer" (PDF). The Ukrainian Weekly. p. 15 – via www.ukrweekly.com.
  5. ^ "Melanie Safka is known to her fans simply as Melanie". Melaniemusic.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Spelling, Ian. "Melanie's new songs lend their vigor to her old hits", North Jersey Entertainment Newspaper, October 12, 2007. Retrieved December 20, 2007.
  7. ^ Voger, Mark (July 27, 2014). "Melanie recalls Red Bank High ('miserable') and Woodstock ('incredible')". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  8. ^ a b Interview with Kathie Lee, 1985. Retrieved September 5, 2011 on YouTube
  9. ^ Shedden, Iain (June 5, 2014). "Look what they did to her songs". The Australian. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "Melanie Safka biography". Billboard. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  11. ^ "Melanie Safka Exclusive: "My Mother Drove Me To Woodstock" (Part 1)". classicrockhereandnow.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Rhodes, Mick (September 1, 2016). "Melanie brings music history to Claremont". Claremont Courier. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  15. ^ Santelli, Robert (1980). Aquarius Rising – The Rock Festival Years. Dell Publishing Co. p. 200.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ Uncut, July 2011.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ ""Brand New Key" – Melanie". Superseventies.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  20. ^ Classic Rock Music Reporter. "'Melanie' Safka Exclusive: "My Mother Drove Me To Woodstock" (Part 1)". Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  21. ^ American Top 40, February 26, 1972
  22. ^ "Billboard : Talent in Action" (PDF). World Radio History. December 30, 1912. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  23. ^ Freeman, Paul. "MELANIE: STILL ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE". Pop Culture Classics. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Melanie, quoted in Uncut, July 2011
  26. ^ "Beautiful People – Forums powered by UBB.threads™". Melaniesmusic.com. March 28, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  27. ^ "Melanie". Melanie. Archived from the original on September 23, 2004. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  28. ^ "Little Silver: Melanie To Join Hall Of Fame". Red Bank Green. April 16, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  29. ^ Awards, 2015 AMG Heritage. "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Is Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny live?". Radio Times.
  31. ^ "Melanie Returns After 17 Years with Pyramid Set". Billboard. October 19, 2002. p. 15.
  32. ^ "RPM Top 50 Singles – January 16, 1982" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  33. ^ "Continental Drift". Billboard. September 23, 1995. p. 23.
  34. ^ "Peter Schekeryk, Husband & Producer for Melanie, Passes Away". VVN Music. November 27, 2010.
  35. ^ "Melanie's Back And She's Not Kissing Cows". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  36. ^ "Melanie recalls Red Bank High ('miserable') and Woodstock ('incredible')". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  37. ^ "Melanie – Libertarian". Advocates for Self-Government. Retrieved January 10, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  38. ^ "Woodstock performer Melanie to perform East Nashville concert". The Tennessean. October 10, 2014.
  39. ^ van den Wildenberg, Norman. "Woodstock Legend Melanie Passed Away". Maxazine. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  40. ^ 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 January 25, 2024.

Further reading

  • Lambo, John. Melanie: The First Lady of Woodstock (2011).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melanie Safka.
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