American people singer Melanie has died at 76. Greatest recognized for her track “Model New Key,” she stated the primary huge break of her profession was taking part in at Woodstock in 1969.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The American people singer Melanie has died.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE”)
MELANIE: (Singing) Stunning folks, you reside in the identical…
SUMMERS: Born Melanie Safka in 1947, the singer bought her begin in music at a younger age.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MELANIE: My complete household sang and performed devices. My mother was a jazz-blues singer, and my Uncle George was a union protest track singer.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
In a 2020 interview with the author Tim Quinn, she stated her first instrument was a ukulele, although she later grew to become recognized for taking part in guitar as she sang at coffeehouses in New York’s Greenwich Village through the people revival.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SUMMERS: In 1969, she bought her first huge break when she performed Woodstock.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MELANIE: (Vocalizing).
SUMMERS: She described the expertise in a 1991 interview with the discuss present host Kathy Fountain.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KATHY FOUNTAIN: You have been the infant of Woodstock, the darling of Woodstock.
MELANIE: Yeah. Oh, God. It was exhausting to stay down, too. I used to be – properly, I wasn’t actually a hippie. I used to be an oddball, and that was the distinction. You see, I did not fairly match within the little area of interest of…
FOUNTAIN: So that you did not stay in a commune or something.
MELANIE: No. Now I do. I’ve a household.
FOUNTAIN: Her set at Woodstock additionally impressed her first U.S. hit, 1970’s “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain).”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)”)
MELANIE: (Singing) Lay down, lay down, lay all of it down.
SHAPIRO: She later recalled that, by the point she took the stage at Woodstock, it had began to rain, and the competition announcer informed the group to mild candles to maintain the rain away. In order she sang, the hillside in entrance of her started to blaze with candlelight.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LAY DOWN (CANDLES IN THE RAIN)”)
MELANIE: (Singing) …On the ones who stand and frown.
SUMMERS: Melanie’s 1971 hit, “Model New Key,” introduced the singer much more acclaim.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BRAND NEW KEY”)
MELANIE: (Singing) Properly, I bought a pair of brand-new pair of curler skates. You bought a brand-new key.
SUMMERS: However the tune’s lyrics sparked controversy. Melanie informed singer Michael Johnathon in 2004 that, whereas many heard references to intercourse or medication, it wasn’t about any of these issues.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MELANIE: And I used to be remembering curler skating. And I remembered the scent of Astoria, Queens, the place I grew up. And I used to be remembering curler skating and the important thing that, , tightened the skates so that you would not fall and – which I typically did.
SHAPIRO: Melanie Safka stayed lively as a musician properly into her later years and launched greater than 30 albums earlier than she died Tuesday at age 76.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PEACE WILL COME (ACCORDING TO PLAN)”)
MELANIE: (Singing) For generally when…
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content will not be in its last kind and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability might fluctuate. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
