Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk, professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
real name: Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk (née Safka)
labels: Buddah Records, Neighborhood Records
genres: traditional folk music, pop music, country music
awards: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
plays: guitar, voice
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Melanie Anne Safka was born on February 3, 1947, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Her father, Frederick M. Safka, was of Ukrainian ancestry, and her mother, Pauline "Polly" Altomare, was a jazz singer of Italian heritage. She had one younger sister, Stephanie. 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".
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. She began singing in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village, such as The Bitter End, and signed her first recording contract with Columbia Records. 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 and BBC in Concert in the UK. Her...
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. 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 died by 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". 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.
Are you them, or do you know them? The mail slot is open.
"Brand New Key" is a pop song written and sung by the American folk music singer Melanie. Initially a track of Melanie's album Gather Me, produced by Melanie's husband Peter Schekeryk, it was known also as "The Rollerskate Song" due to its chorus.
It was her greatest success, scoring No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart during December 1971 and January 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 9 song of 1972.
Country singer Deana Carter covered the song on her 1999 top-10 album Everything's Gonna Be Alright. The cellist band Rasputina had a version on the album Thanks for the Ether. Todd Rundgren played a cover on his 2018 tour. On August 1, 2018, at Daryl's House Club in Pawling, New York, Melanie joined Rundgren onstage to sing "Brand New Key".