I interviewed her for my podcast just last week, so it was probably her final one.
Melanie was very gracious and told some fantastic stories that I don't think people know about her.
First, her husband/manager/producer, whose office was across the hall from Michael Lang's, asked if Melanie would play a garden party that they were planning for next summer. This was July of 1968. She agreed and thought nothing of it until late spring 0f 1969. So, she was actually the first artist to be booked for Woodstock. As it got closer to the date in 1969, she realized this was no garden party. She followed Sly and the Family Stone, who, just before they played their final song, passed out candles to the audience and asked that everyone light them. Out came Melanie, who hadn't played for more than a couple of hundred people in the clubs of NYC. She looked out across the concert site and saw thousands of people holding candles. She went on from her appearance to become an international star. When she got home later that year, she was moved to write a song about her experience. She wrote the song, "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)", and got the Edward Hawkins Singers who were recording in the studio next door to sing backup. They nailed it in one take.
Next came " Look What They Done To My Song, Ma" and then she left Buddha Records to start her own label, Neighborhood Records (distributed by Paramount.) She then released a single that went to number one around the world, "Brand New Key." As you correctly pointed out, she was really becoming a superstar. But it killed her career.
At the time of her death, she was just about to be back in the spotlight. She had been asked to sing a song for a tribute album for the late Pete Ham. She chose the classic, "Without You" which Ham wrote. It had been a big hit for Harry Nilsson, Mariah Carey, and others.
She truly was a star and I miss her…
Denny Somach
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She was our next-door neighbor until about a year or two ago, when she moved away. She and her son Beau had us over for dinner a few times, or we'd go out to eat. I hung out a lot with Beau - he's a helluva musician with *killer* chops - and helped him sometimes with recording tech issues. Melanie and I also had a mutual connection, Ron Frangipane. He had produced her and Mandrake's third album, "Puzzle." FWIW she was the first female artist to have three records in the top 40 at the same time ("Brand New Key" and the next two follow-up singles). That was a big deal in those days.
Melanie was a sweet lady. We were at her place one night and she played a new song she was working on, I don't remember if the title was finalized but I think it was "Ruins." To paraphrase, it was about being a ruin yet persisting. She was always looking to the next project, she didn't stop.
BTW she got very little financial benefit (as in virtually none, from what I could tell) from her hits. She didn't talk about it much, and I didn't press for details.
I really can't tell you too many stories about the celebrity part of her life, we always just related to her as Melanie, the neighbor who was also part of the music biz. She didn't need us to be fans, she had plenty of fans. She didn't have any airs about her. She sure looked comfortable in her own skin.
Rest in peace Melanie, but preferably peace includes a home recording studio for you.
Craig Anderton
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Thanks for writing your excellent piece on Melanie. I was fortunate to spend a few hundred hours in the studio engineering for her. We did a very unique double album, live (in the studio with a live audience) in 1977 or '78, called Ballroom Streets.
We started another record a couple years later with the Bee Gee's rhythm section backing her, but I don't think it was ever finished or released. Hopefully, her kids have Mel's cover of Lay Down Sally in their archives.
Each night, we had an audience of 30 people from the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area sit on the floor in the live room (Triiad Recording Studios, Ft. Lauderdale) while Melanie and her band (usually about 6 or 7 musicians) played the entire set list from beginning-to-end, LIVE.
Melanie and her husband/manager/producer Peter Schekeryk wanted to capture her live "vibe," but with studio quality sound.
After many nights of doing the same "show," over and over, I edited the 2", 24-track tape of the best takes/performances/minutes/sections into what became the double album, released on Tomato Records. There were virtually no overdubs, and all but one of Melanie's vocals on that record were the live vocals she sang with fans sitting at her feet, clapping along. No Autotune, vocal punch-ins, or comps!
It was an engineering and production challenge I relished, to say the least. Live monitors for the audience out in the room, wedges for band members to hear themselves, and no click track. Real musicians playing real music, warts and all.
Did the weed-smoking, wine/beer-drinking audience members scattered around the studio's floor clap out of time into some of the microphones? Definitely!! And somehow it all worked out incredibly well.
Because of the skinny budget, each song was mixed in only 1 or 2 hours. Unheard of these days. Unheard of even back then! No automation, no plugins, and only 24 tracks. The mixes were almost as live as the recordings. I doubt that many engineers or producers today will ever get to enjoy that experience or challenge. My training with legends like Tom Dowd, Karl Richardson, and Don Gehman at Criteria Studios in Miami gave me the skills needed to pull it off, and I remain grateful for that to this day.
Am I telling you this to brag? No, I'm doing it underscore Melanie's (sometimes underestimated) chops as an artist. She was authentic and original in every way. BTW, most people knew her as a folkie, but she could rock out with the best of them. Check out the end of Beautiful Sadness: https://twtr.to/8WZrP from Ballroom Streets.
It's sad that we've lost her, but her music will live on as her legacy. There was so much more to Melanie than Brand New Key. Hopefully, your readers will do a deeper dive so they can hear what music sounded like when an artist's performance mattered more than perfection.
Warm regards,
Michael Laskow
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Thank you for recognizing Melanie and the huge impact she had during that brief but magical time. Like you, I also first became aware of Melanie when our local FM station started playing "Beautiful People." I was only 15 but I was drawn in by her unique voice and the positive message of the lyrics.
A few months later, I heard "Candles in the Rain" and immediately went out and bought the album. Thus began my lifelong love affair with Melanie's music. I soon bought her two earlier albums, "Melanie," "Born to Be," and the wonderful live album, "Leftover Wine." Most enlightened music lovers were listening to Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley and others at the time but for me, it was Melanie who connected with me more than any other singer-songwriter. Her next 3 albums, "The Good Book," "Gather Me," and "Stoneground Words" showed a growing maturity in her songwriting and voice but like you said, she was unable to sustain the momentum from the previous few years. My tastes in music evolved over the years but my affection for those early albums, never waned.
Melanie continued to release albums over the next two decades, some better than others and I would still buy them, hoping to recapture that magical connection from my youth. Thanks to YouTube, Melanie continues to reach legions of new fans.
Fast forward to 2022 and by some stroke of luck and good timing, I was introduced to Melanie by a long time friend, who mentioned to her that I was interested in having her record a song for a Pete Ham tribute album that I was working on. Much to my delight and amazement, she was very excited to be a part of it and her version of "Without You" is a major highlight on the album. I could not believe it but I was working with one of my musical heroes and I soon became fast friends with Melanie and her wonderful son, Beau Jarred. This led to another release on our label, a 51 year old live radio broadcast from a Miami station (called "The Magic Bus") that was digitized and restored by Beau.
Working directly with Melanie these past 2 years has been the highlight of my career and getting the call about her passing has broken my heart into pieces. My thoughts are with Melanie's wonderful children, Beau Jarred, Leilah, Jordie and her beautiful grandchildren. My memories of her will be with me as long as I live.
Rich Ulloa
Y&T Music
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Wow. Spot on. You're the second person who ever articulated this about "brand new key" to me. The first one was my neighbor and friend Harry Chapin, back in Huntington Long island.
Happy circumstance, i got to be part of one of Harry's songwriting workshops that he did all the time for free, then I became friendly with him and he told me a million stories and he dragged me around to Gigs—and it was really really fun. He became famous about the time the Melanie did. They did some gigs together and he talked about her once in a while. I'm not sure about your 1971 date. I thought it was A couple of years later than that. Whatever.
(Harry was an amazing guy, kind of insane but smart as a whip and had more energy than any six people I ever met. He liked to talk about the business and he had LOTS Of opinions. I loved hearing them, he was usually right. And his stories and named dropping were unparalleled.
I do remember him saying that because they were career contemporaries, he felt that the most egregious mistake Melanie ever made was releasing "brand new key." He said it was a bullsh*t bubble gum song that totally worked against her entire image, disappointed her fans, confused everyone about who she was and what she did, and pretty much trashed her career. (Just like you said in your post.) I recall he told me that about 1975.
She was a bigger star, but Harry was true to what he did, and his fans adored him, and he put on the most wonderful live shows. I was always amazed that he could make chicken salad out of chickensh*t no matter where he was or what he did. I still miss him. He put out some clunky songs too, but nothing ans awful as "brand new key." Lol
Rik Shafer
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For a short window of time, our agency Blue Raven Entertainment represented Melanie and booked her shows exclusively. She was a very unique person like so many of the talented. Interestingly, we had her booked on the ill fated Woodstock 50. Michael Lang paid Melanie in full and in the end, she was able to keep that which was meaningful to her at the time. Alas, the Woodstock era comes to a close. She was a sweet, gentle soul and we enjoyed our association with her.
Rachel Hill
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I never let my lack of love for "Brand New Key" affect my ardor for "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". It's one of THE records. Great writing, great performing, great production. Some may chafe at her voice, but the power, the passion, is indisputable. And she WAS weird, fey. But to be herself so completely, without care for modern concerns like "image", was a beautiful thing, something to love her for. We were hippies, for Christ's sake, being who you were without caring what others thought -- the lame OR the hip -- was the ideal. Probably why I shrugged off "Brand New Key". So she wants to be silly this time: let her. God knows her early stuff had enough angst and open wounds to tide us through the goofy grins.
I revere her work and mourn her loss.
Berton Averre
P.S. "Close to It All": https://twtr.to/tPtd_
Sincere/Confessional/Philosophical has over the years become pretty dreary. But if we apply the positive aspects people tout -- "It's clearly coming from the heart", "You can tell she's singing about her life" -- well I'd put this odd sprite up against the blatant babes. The difference being Melanie Safka could whisper her screed, pull you in. And then take it to the height of pain, or fear.
Not many Melanies in our world. And isn't that a pity?
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A funny Melanie story. I was at Woodstock with my Jewish summer camp, Camp; Willoway, when I was 13. I was probably the only person there in chinos with a button down shirt studying my Haftarah. We had tickets for all three days, but after the concert reached the news parents made us leave Saturday morning. We ended up on the back cover of the Life Magazine special and the centerfold also…just our backs.
Meanwhile, we slogged through folk night, which was fairly terrible to a kid who only knew a few rock acts on the bill and wanted to see the Who, Jimi, the Airplane….and Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.
If memory serves, it was like 2 a.m. when Melanie came on and Arlo and Joan were scheduled next. But more rain was coming and Melanie seemed interminable.
The rain picked up and I kept wishing Melanie would end so I could see the two artists I knew that night.
But then there was a long rain break and I missed them, falling asleep and cursing Melanie the whole time.
Anyway, I came to appreciate her later and always laugh at how much I hated her that night.
PS: No one talks about the guru who rambled on for I think 40 minutes Friday night. He didn't make the movie either. He was total pain for me also.
Peace and Love
brad kava
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Wow. Some of your best words.
"Candles.."(on repeat/ long version) was one of my early experiences with good heavy headphones. And it was today that I learned that it was the beloved Edwin Hawkins choir in the hauntingly beautiful BGVs.
The short version? I loved it too when it flowed out of the AM radio in my 64 Plymouth Valiant. I'd never leave the car until it was finished and faded with my head full of wonder and pulse rate a bit higher.
The time we have is somehow both long and oddly brief. These tracks, these artists ( breathing or not) are our communal stepping stones across the turbulent water.... till death do us part.
From your Melanie piece, I have all of your aforementioned singles. Heck, thanks to streaming we all do. Unlike you, I count "Brand New Key" as a plus but I so get your point.
I'm gonna miss Melanie like I miss Mary Travers and Laura Nyro....the long-dressed poetic hippie-chicks with style, talent and swagger-ish attitude.
But with all our clocks ticking, I'm going to focus not of missing things but making things. Like Buffett told us, we're just living and dying in 3/4 time.
Much Peace,
Skip Bishop
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Been listening to Melanie while I read your email. She had a great voice and a couple of hits. But back in the 70s was she on mine or my friends radar, I'd have to say no. I was 12 in 69 so Woodstock was not much of a concern to us and I really hadn't got into "music" yet. That happened a few years later when my older brother bought a stereo and Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Average White Band, Gordon Lightfoot and many other artists entered my consciousness. We listened to that stereo constantly.
As we got a bit older and had parties at Mom's house, there was one constant at every party and I'm not sure why, it was Bob Dylan-Blood on the Tracks and dope, lol!!
It's sad Bob that all these champions of our musical past like Melanie are passing. David Bowie was a tough one, my one serious regret was not seeing Bowie in Toronto when I had a chance. I've seen Dylan 9 times but when he passes that is going to be a tough one.
I'm 66 Bob still working and like you I think that one day it'll be my turn. I try to enjoy myself as much as I can but it's tough.
I've lost two brothers, a sister and her husband in the last few years. Three of my sisters have Alzheimer's.
I never thought it would happen like it has. I am the least healthy, my brother and sister were very health conscious, yet they are gone and I'm still here.
Anyway Bob I hope you stick around for a very long time as I enjoy your emails and will sorely miss you if you were gone.
Doug Gillis
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Thanks Bob,lot of memories.I wish I couldn't remember Brand New Key,but now I have that earworm.Stay well,Ted Keane
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Great job describing that point in time from FM vs AM, to the Woodstock movie to Melanie. Only problem is now I have Brand New Key as an Earworm!
Lyndon Virkler
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Melanie, another voice I hadn't heard, just added two of her songs to my spotify list, thanks Bob.
Jeff Watz
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Her hip period was overshadowed by the true stars of Woodstock and I could never go back once Brand New Key came out. How do you screw it up. It was too awful to get past.
John Brodey
_______________________________________
I went to see Melanie 10 years ago in NYC at a small venue called The Cutting Room. She was pretty good! She was accompanied by her very talented son on guitar.Made me want to keep writing my little songs for fun.
Russ Turk
_______________________________________
Candles in the Rain on WNEW-FM. I bought that album when I couldn't afford to buy albums, and listened to it end to end. Everything that seemed right about hippie folk 60's music was right there for me in my tween mind. And the songs held up for a lifetime, they hold up now. Look what she did with her songs.
Michael Alex
_______________________________________
I felt the same way - when I saw the news about Melanie it hit me hard: different from Jimmy and Tom. She was part of the family, a member of the tribe. When I was stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky in 1969, hers was one of the albums that was in constant rotation in our barracks's room; the others were Its a Beautiful Day, Zeppelin II, Fever Tree and Steppenwolf. But Melanie carried the flag, her spirit buoyed us up and held us together through those dark days. Her voice and passion made us feel like we were part of something special, that we could carry on through all the bullsh*t. I often feel lately that all our heroes are dying, that our known world is coming to an end. I'm glad that there are still those like yourself that resonate with that, and carry that essence on. Keep it up.
Marty Jorgensen
Spirit of 66
_______________________________________
In Joe Boyd's book "White Bicycles," he tells the story of how Melanie came to play that night at Woodstock. The Incredible String Band was slated to go on that evening, but it was raining. The band was skittish about playing in the rain. Maybe they were afraid of being electrocuted or damaging their unique acoustic instruments. And they had plenty of them.)
So Melanie, who was going to play in the morning, took the evening slot, played in the rain and was a huge hit. The Incredible String Band played the next morning to a tired, srung out, mud caked audience. And their performance went nowhere.
Timing is everything . ..
Mitchell Manasse
_______________________________________
Don't know if you've heard her song 'Johnny Boy' but it's worth a listen if you haven't. It's on Youtube.
Greg Stroh
_______________________________________
I HATE THAT SONG!!!!! NEEDLESCRATCH!!! SO moronic.
Aly Etchison
_______________________________________
I am apparently feeling quite like you, or at least what you wrote. "Brand New Key" was the breaking point for me, but from my perspective at the time Melanie was a "Jersey Girl" and should have known better!
Hope you are well.
Best,
Mike Marrone
_______________________________________
A funny Melanie story. I was at Woodstock with my Jewish summer camp, Camp; Willoway, when I was 13. I was probably the only person there in chinos with a button down shirt studying my Haftarah. We had tickets for all three days, but after the concert reached the news parents made us leave Saturday morning. We ended up on the back cover of the Life Magazine special and the centerfold also…just our backs.
Meanwhile, we slogged through folk night, which was fairly terrible to a kid who only knew a few rock acts on the bill and wanted to see the Who, Jimi, the Airplane….and Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.
If memory serves, it was like 2 a.m. when Melanie came on and Arlo and Joan were scheduled next. But more rain was coming and Melanie seemed interminable.
The rain picked up and I kept wishing Melanie would end so I could see the two artists I knew that night.
But then there was a long rain break and I missed them, falling asleep and cursing Melanie the whole time.
Anyway, I came to appreciate her later and always laugh at how much I hated her that night.
PS: No one talks about the guru who rambled on for I think 40 minutes Friday night. He didn't make the movie either. He was total pain for me also.
Peace and Love
brad kava
_______________________________________
I'm only 56 but I get it. It is weird.
Melanie was actively working on a new album. 76 is not that old.
When Christine McVie died, I was crushed. But when I learned yesterday Melanie died, I was devastated. I never met her or even saw her live, but she seemed like she could be my second mom.
Her songs were odd, but fun and clever. Your take on Brand New Key is fascinating and helps to explain why her albums wind up in the dollar bin today. However, I still see lots of the post-Brand New Key albums come in, so someone was buying those when they came out. Strange to me, as she didn't really have any more hits.
If you haven't seen this live video of Candles in the Rain from Dutch television, stop what you're doing and watch it. When I found it a couple of years ago, it floored me, it's so outstanding. And it reminded me of a song I hadn't heard or thought of probably since I was in Catholic grade school in 1972. Unearthing those memories is a trip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ52lk9wjZI
Thanks for the piece.
catmonster
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I wasn't there at the time, but Melanie's "Steppin'" came out after Rollerskates and that's a real mother. She's got some other killers on that run of early 70s albums. Maybe consider poking around with fresh ears. Probably won't change your take, but might give a few new tunes to enjoy.
Best wishes,
Pat Myers
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Funny thing about Brand New Key for me. I was 4 years old when it came out, so of course I heard it regularly throughout my early years. But there was a parody version that came out later called "Combine Harvester" and the local radio station would play it. Consequently, a local John Deere dealership re-recorded that version for a radio spot that got played all the time, trying to sell combine harvesters to the area farmers. So I always associate that song with combine harvesters, not roller skates. Haha!
I found the the video for Combine Harvester on YouTube: https://twtr.to/9uTEv
Dave Nelson
_______________________________________
That hits the nail right on my head.
That stupid roller skate song , back when we could punch the preset button on your car radio with a disdainful flourish , quickly finding a better listen .
Is 67 old? Or just almost? I am that guy.
Gerry Lauderdale
Boston
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When i was 11, I had an acoustic guitar and played "Lay Down" in my open classroom and my teacher called my Mom saying the subject matter was "inappropriate". As an 11 year old then, I had no idea what the song referred to lyrically, but loved Melanie's voice and her melodies, hence covering her songs then and later on. To me, she was fabulous and whatever the industry did or did not do for her, I have her records!!! RIP beautifully talented Melanie!!!!
I would not have known Melanie if it wasn't for "Brand New Key" and as a kid, I delved in deeper.
Something I hold dear to my heart....
"Someday I got devil
Someday i got angel
But I'm just this girl in trouble
I don't think I'm in danger
No I'm not in danger
Some have tried to sell me
All kinds of things to save me from
Hurting like a woman
And crying like a baby"
Diane Gentile
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I fell in love with Melanie's unique voice before her Woodstock fame after hearing her version of "Mr Tambourine Man" on her first album; like you it was during my college radio days. Since then, I have enjoyed a career in radio and about seven or eight years ago I got the chance to interview Melanie and found her to be nicely balanced, no pretension; she was still touring at the time, was doing music with Miley Cyrus but when she assessed her life she said was most proud of her kids and said her best times were spent with grandchildren. It was a sweet interview with a happy person.
Mike Fiss
The Villages, Florida
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We die…and if we're lucky, we become a picture on a piano.
Damn!
I really liked Brand New Key. It was emblematic of that time.
Best,
Will Eggleston
_______________________________________
I'm not sure I completely understand why, but Melanie's death hit me hard. I was always a fan; hell, I even contorted myself into forgiving "Brand New Key." I've spent the past couple days listening and remembering. So, of course, a lot of that first listening happened at Middlebury; I practically wore out the grooves of Photograph, often replacing the needle to re-listen to her cover of "The Letter."
I kept attaching visuals of Midd to your recollections. My freshman dorm was Battell South, soon to be demolished ... sigh. The buildings -- and we -- are temporary.
Best,
John Hyman
_______________________________________
I closed my music career working at a small label based in Miami....Pyramid Records....it was 2000 or 2001.... we had some good records and I still think we had the best Doobie Brothers album. Anyway......Pyramid was thinking about signing Melanie. I immediately did what you described. "Uh-oh", I thought. " she did 'brand new key'....that's going to be a tough sell"...but I listened to the demo and it was very good and then she stopped by the office. Sweet and kind., she converted me on the spot. We ended up passing but, when I read she passed, I thought of meeting her and the album we didn't release.....no thoughts of " brand new key". RIP.
Louis Heidelmeier
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FROM: Mr. DaiWoosnam, Grimsby, UK.
Bob, I salute you for that piece on Melanie Safka. Not only was it written in your trademark staccato Hemingwayesque style where every word pays its rent in your sentences, but I loved the way that you extended your piece beyond the subject of Melanie, to cover the subject of 'time passing'… and how time accelerates and ends up cheating us all. (Something I feel even more strongly than you, being six years your senior.)
Before signing off, a personal memory of Melanie. The year is 1970. I am at a music festival on The Isle of Wight (off the south coast of England). Earlier that year, I had packed in my job as a lighthouse keeper on The Needles Lighthouse, about a mile from where the festival was being held.
I thought of my fellow keepers, as they just must have been hearing the massively amplified sounds on the late August breeze. I mused on what they would make of 500,000 of what they'd call 'hippies' grooving to the music. There were more music pilgrims there than were at Woodstock the previous year. Indeed, that attendance has never been equalled for a festival here in Britain. The much vaunted Glastonbury doesn't even get close.
But do you know something Bob? In a deliberate attempt to match the never-equalled bill at the '69 Woodstock, the 1970 Isle of Wight pulled out all the stops. You will not have time to read the full list of artistes in appearance, so I will spare you it, suffice to say that male performers ran the gamut from Jimi Hendrix (he was to die less than a month later) to Leonard Cohen, via Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Kris Kristofferson, Donovan and Miles Davis (yes!); groups from The Who to ELP and The Doors; and female performers from Joni Mitchell (making up for the fact she had not made it to Woodstock), to the nonpareil Joan Baez… via the aforementioned Melanie.
And do you know my most indelible memory of that festival? Even beyond the incredibly modest £3 ticket price and the unspeakable squalor of the open-air latrines? Yes, you've guessed Bob: it was Melanie.
The whole event was overrunning like crazy. I recall Sunday dawn was breaking as Melanie closed the Saturday night with her rendition of 'Ruby Tuesday', a bang average base-metal song which she being the alchemist she was, transformed into a GOLDEN memory.
A memory of the first signs of dawn breaking over the beautiful island, and Melanie's glorious vibrato taking that song on the breeze to my former colleagues, the three lighthouse keepers on the Needles Rock down below.
TTFN,
Dai.
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We covered Lay Down Candles with Blondie a few times
Chris Stein
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