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One of the few female artists to appear at Woodstock has passed away at the age of 76. You'll find a special obituary from USA Life at the bottom of this post.
Over the past five years, I've highlighted all of Melanie's Greatest Songs, so today, I've decided to repeat my post from 3/24/21 highlighting her biggest Hit: "Brand New Key." Here goes:
The story behind today's "Great Song of the '70s" is just as weird as the song itself...and the person who sang it.
Melanie Safka was a vegetarian coming off a 27-day "water fast" when she had a sudden urge to stop at McDonald's and order a burger, fries, and shake.
While she was breaking her fast and throwing her vegetarianism through the Golden Arches, she had an idea for a song.
It was about a young girl trying to hook up with a boy...but he never seemed to be available. She thought back to her childhood when she was learning to ride a bike. She was doing okay when she thought her father was holding on to the back end, but the instant she discovered he wasn't...she fell off.
And from that, she wrote "Brand New Key,' which is NOT about bikes...but about roller skates and a skate key.
No, it doesn't make much sense, but after breaking a 27 day water fast, and putting herself into a fast food coma...why WOULD it?
(Note for those under 50: Back in the day, roller skates would attach to your your shoes. The key was used to adjust the skates so they would fit tightly and not slip or fall off.)
There is a lot of sexual innuendo in "Brand New Key," but Melanie claims that she wrote it in less than 15 minutes, never thought about it, and was later surprised that people would take it that way. She does admit, however, that in retrospect, her "brand new roller skates" and his "brand new key" might have been a bit Freudian.
She was also convinced that the song was ridiculous and would never see the light of day. Her husband, record producer Peter Shekeryk, thought otherwise. He kept telling her it was a hit, and she told him he was nuts. To settle the argument, he produced the song for her album. "Gather Me," and when it was released as a single...Peter was vindicated!
Even with some radio stations refusing to play it because of the innuendo, "Brand New Key" was a MASSIVE hit in 1972: Top 10 in 8 countries, including #1 in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and the US!
It was, by far, Melanie's biggest hit...and a "Great Song of 1972!
Tomorrow: Ronnie crosses formats...
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