Melanie Safka was born and raised in the Astoria neighbourhood of Queens, New York City. Her father, Frederick M. Safka, was of Ukranian ancestry, and her mother, jazz singer Pauline “Polly” Altomare, was of Italian heritage. In the 1960s, Melanie started performing at The Inkwell, a coffee house in the West End section of Long Beach. After high school, her parents insisted that she attend college, and so she studied acting at the AADA 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. 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.
Later in 1969, Melanie had a hit in the Netherlands with “Beautiful People”. She was one of only three solo female artists 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. The record became a hit in Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States in 1970. Her first top 10 hit in America was “Lay Down”, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard and achieved worldwide success. Her later hits included “Peace Will Come (According To Plan)” and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday”.
Melanie left Buddah Records when they insisted that she produce albums on demand. In 1971, she formed her own label, Neighbourhood 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 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. 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.
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. Melanie won Billboard‘s No. 1 Top Female Vocalist award for 1972 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 favour of raising money for the organization. She also took time to raise her daughter. She 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”. Melanie’s other chart hits during this period were the self-penned “Together Alone” and a cover of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, which reached No 37 in the UK in March 1974. Melanie won an Emmy Award after writing the lyrics to the theme song for the television series Beauty and the Beast. She died on January 23, 2024, at the age of 76.
