Wendell Castle - The Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester

Melanie. I guess I should have understood
who it was. But I hadn’t. It wasn’t until minutes before
her arrival in my office, with John Haldoupis
and her son Beau, that I realized who she was from
the background materials that I finally opened
and read.
I remember being all of eleven years old, hanging
out at the Limelight off Christopher Street and
Sheridan Square in the Village with my parents,
drinking real American Coke with ice in a glass,
ordering burgers and fries, playing What have they
done to my song, Ma? on the jukebox, sung by Claudine
Longet—years before she would be arrested for
killing her boyfriend, Spyder. It was a lovely, happy
time for me, and nothing brings it back more
18 Fall 2012 |
By Sarah E. Lentini
quickly than this particular piece of music—music
I’ve since learned that was one of many songs written
by Melanie.
Her most famous song, of course, came right after
and was emblazoned on the national psyche—it
was played so very much on the radio. Brand New
Key was everywhere. Much as Adele has taken over
the airwaves in the last 12 months, Melanie ruled in
1972. In fact, Billboard named her the #1 Top Female
Vocalist of the year. Brand New Key, a sweet tune
filled with what some saw as sexual innuendo, was
a bit shocking—at least for the radio stations of the
time, many of which banned the song. It charmed
audiences with a youthful romantic directness and
simplicity that ultimately verged on feminism.
Melanie Safka, one of the original
32 Woodstock performers, seen
here in a 1973 performance
at Carnegie Hall in a moment
of connection with her
audience, captured by leading
international photographer
and photo editor Maddy Miller
(maddymillerphoto.com).