Melanie, the singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the New York folk scene, performed at Woodstock and scored a string of hits in the 1970s including “Brand New Key,” has died.
Published yesterday at 11:56 am.
Andrew Dalton Associated Press
Her spokesman, Billy James, told The Associated Press that Melanie died Tuesday. She was 76 years old and lived in middle Tennessee. The cause was not immediately announced.
“Our world is much darker, the colors of dreary, rainy Tennessee fading with his absence today,” his children Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred said in a post on his Facebook page announcing his death.
With a voice that could change from a high, shy timbre to a rough, deep, soulful timbre, Melanie wrote and sang hits such as Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma and Lay Down (Candles in the Rain).
She is best known for “Brand New Key,” a song from her 1971 album Gather Me, in which she wrote about a girl who rides a bicycle and ice skates in front of the house of a boy she dreams of. It became a number one hit in the United States and several other countries.
Reminiscent of popular songs of the 1920s and 1930s, it combines youthful simplicity with adult sophistication.
The song was covered several times in the following decades. She also played a key role in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 film Boogie Nights.
From Queens to Woodstock
Melanie Safka was born in the New York City borough of Queens, the son of a jazz singer. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed in the cafes of Greenwich Village and other New York folk centers.
She released her self-titled debut album in 1969 and had success in Europe with Bobo's Party and Beautiful People.
This summer, she was one of only three solo artists, along with Joan Baez and Janis Joplin, to perform at the generation-defining Woodstock Music and Art Fair in upstate New York.
The candles held by the audience on the festival's opening night inspired his first American hit, 1970's “Lay Down” (Candles in the Rain), which reached number six on the Billboard charts. That same year, “Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma” was released, a song that was covered by artists from Ray Charles to Miley Cyrus and adapted into commercials for decades.
By the mid-1970s, her popularity waned, but she retained her following and continued recording and performing into the 2010s.
Mélanie was married to her manager and producer Peter Schekeryk from 1968 until his death in 2010. They had three children together.