This is famous singer-songwriter Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk. Kind of a long, hard-to-pronounce name, right? She thought so too, which is why she just went by Melanie professionally. Some of her hit songs were “Brand New Key,” “What Have They Done to My Song Ma” and “Ruby Tuesday.” She wrote a song about her experience performing at the 1969 Woodstock music Festival called “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” which became her first top ten song in America. People love a song with a story.
Melanie went on to create her own record label called Neighborhood Records which she started with her husband Peter Schekeryk. Her song “Brand New Key” was released on her Neighborhood records label and did incredibly well, selling three million copies worldwide. It was featured in the movie Boogie Nights starring Mark Wahlberg.