2. Melanie: Midwest Auckland emo four piece Melanie released their full length album 42 Losers in May 2020 and have been playing a fine selection of gigs and house parties since
1. Born on the 3rd February 1947 in Astoria, New York deceased 23rd January 2024, Melanie made her first recording, "Gimme a Little Kiss", when she was five.
She first found chart success in Europe. Her 1969 song "Bobo's Party" reached number one in France. Later that year she had a hit in the Netherlands with "Beautiful People" before performing at Woodstock. Apparently, she was inspired to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" by the audience lighting candles during her set; the song became a hit in both Europe and the USA. Her biggest hit in the USA was "Brand New Key", also known as "The Roller Skate Song". She has been awarded three gold albums.
Three of Melanie's compositions were hits for The New Seekers: "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma", "Beautiful People", and "The Nickel Song".
With one exception her albums have been produced by her husband, Peter Schekeryk. Her three children - Leilah, Jeordie and Beau-Jarred -are also musicians. Beau-Jarred is a guitarist and accompanies his mother on The 2003 Australian hip-hop track "The Nosebleed Section" by The Hilltop Hoods sampled Melanie's "People in the Front Row".
In 2004 Melanie released Paled by Dimmer Light, which is co-produced by Peter and Beau-Jarred Schekeryk.
In 2010 the last album co- produced by her now late husband Peter Schekeryj and their son Beau Jarred Schekeryk was released: Ever Since You Never Heard Of Me
Melanie, who became the voice of an era in one magical instant onstage at Woodstock, has been putting the pieces in order.
Pieces of a career, scattered by the winds of experience and assembled again by the force of love into the most personal and brilliant moments of her musical journey.
Melanie is poised to enlighten new generations about what it means to sing with both passion and eloquence, to write at once with intelligence and emotion, and to inspire through song… and nobody does this better than Melanie.
Others learned this that night at Woodstock, where as a New York kid barely known outside of the coffeehouse circuit in Greenwich Village, she sang her song "Beautiful People" and inspired the first panorama of candles and cigarette lighters ever raised at a concert event. That, in turn, moved the young singer to write "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain"), which sold more than one million copies in 1970 and
prompted Billboard, Cashbox, Melody Maker, Record World, and Bravo to anoint her
as female vocalist of the year. Her single "Brand New Key," an infectious romp about
freedom and roller skates, topped the charts in 1971.
And so her story began.
With guitar in hand and a talent that combined amazing vocal equipment, disarming
humor, and a vibrant engagement with life, she was booked as the first solo pop/rock
artist ever to appear from the Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan
Opera House, and later opened the New Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the
Sydney Opera House, and in the General Assembly of the United Nations, where she
was invited to perform on many occasions as delegates greeted her performances
with standing ovations.
The top television hosts of all time -- Ed Sullivan, Johnny Carson, and Dick Cavett --
battled to book her. (After her stunning performance on his show, Sullivan goggled
that he had not seen such a "dedicated and responsive audience since ElvisPresley.")
Accolades rolled in, from critics ("Melanie's cult has long been famous, but it's a cult
that's responding to something genuine and powerful -- which is maybe another way
of saying that this writer counts himself as part of the cult too," wrote John Rockwell
in The New York Times) as well as peers ("Melanie," insisted jazz piano virtuoso
Roger Kellaway, "is extraordinary to the point that she could be sitting in front of us in
this room and sing something like 'Momma Momma' right to us, and it would just go
right through your entire being.")
In the years that followed Melanie continued to record, continued to tour.
UNICEF made her its spokesperson; Jimi Hendrix's father introduced her to the
multitude assembled for the twentieth anniversary of Woodstock. Her records
continued to sell -- more than eighty million to date. She's had her songs covered by
singers as diverse as Cher, Dolly Parton, and Macy Gray. She's raised a family, won
an Emmy, opened a restaurant, written a musical about Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity
Jane…
She has, in short, lived a rare life. But all of it was just a prelude to what's about to
come.
"For the first time, I'm not afraid to voice exactly what I feel. I used to feel that I didn't
want to say too much, but now I can say anything. I feel like a person who's never
been heard. Maybe people think they've heard me, but they never really have. I'm a
new artist who is having so much fun with my voice -- a person shouldn't be allowed
to have so much fun. I'm the woman I wanted to be when I was sixteen and going for
Edith Piaf. It's me -- I'm back."
(Written by Robert L. Doerschuk)
Natural man
Melanie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They crossed an orange with a pecan
I′ve been as nutty as fruit cake
Since the first time that I crossed with a man
The things that fly in L.A., in L.A. County skies
I've seen some things that I couldn′t explain
Some people see the space man
Never get to see a thing
We crossed our life with G.E., G.E. electric light
And we lit up a world that we don't understand
Too many walking hybrids
Will there ever be a ooh, natural man?
Ever be a natural man?
I was walking down the road the other day
And I thought I saw a natural man
Will there ever be a natural man?
Will there ever be a natural man?
Will there ever, goin' lookin′, goin′ lookin'
Goin′ lookin' for a natural man
The lyrics of Melanie's song "Natural Man" encompass several themes such as man's relationship with nature, technological advancement, and the search for an authentic and organic existence. The song's opening lines refer to the strange and unusual crop mutations in San Bernadino, which speaks to the idea that the natural world is becoming more and more altered by human intervention. The idea that nature is becoming less "natural" is further highlighted by the line "We crossed an orange with a pecan," which implies that even our food is no longer entirely natural.
As the song progresses, Melanie turns her attention to the skies of Los Angeles county and the mysteries that they hold. Some people see "the space man," while others don't see anything at all. This reference to UFO sightings and other unexplained phenomena can be interpreted as a commentary on our limited understanding of the world around us. We may have advanced technologically, but there is still so much that we don't understand.
The song's chorus is a call for a more authentic and organic way of being. The reference to "G.E. electric light" represents technological progress and the way that humans have become reliant on artificial light sources. The line "Too many walking hybrids" can be interpreted as a critique of the idea that humans have become something other than "natural." Instead, we have become hybrid beings, caught between our desire for technological progress and our need for a more authentic and organic existence.
Overall, "Natural Man" is a song that speaks to the tension between our desire for progress and our yearning for something more authentic and organic. It reminds us that, despite our advancements, there is still so much that we don't understand about the world around us.
Line by Line Meaning
The things that grow in San Bernadino
San Bernardino is a place where hybrid fruits like orange and pecan are grown.
They crossed an orange with a pecan
The hybrid fruits like orange and pecan were created by cross-breeding them.
I've been as nutty as fruit cake
The singer has been behaving in a crazy or erratic manner.
Since the first time that I crossed with a man
Since the artist first had an intimate relationship with a man.
The things that fly in L.A., in L.A. County skies
There are unidentified flying objects in Los Angeles County skies.
I've seen some things that I couldn't explain
The singer has witnessed some unusual events that they cannot understand.
Some people see the space man
Some people believe that they have seen an extraterrestrial being.
Other people they just never get to see a thing
Some people never get the chance to see anything out of the ordinary.
We crossed our life with G.E., G.E. electric light
The artist has integrated technology into their life, referencing General Electric's electric lights.
And we lit up a world that we don't understand
Technology has made the world brighter but also more complicated and difficult to comprehend.
Too many walking hybrids
There are too many people who are a mixture of different races, cultures, or beliefs.
Will there ever be a ooh, natural man?
The artist wonders if there will ever be a person who is pure and unadulterated.
I was walking down the road the other day
The singer was walking down the road recently.
And I thought I saw a natural man
The singer thought they saw a person who is pure and unadulterated.
Will there ever be a natural man?
The singer repeats their earlier question, wondering if such a person exists.
Will there ever, goin' lookin', goin' lookin', goin' lookin' for a natural man
The artist is still searching for a person who is pure and unadulterated.
Writer(s): בן דוד עמוס, Goffin,gerald, Wexler,gerald, Larkey,carole King
Contributed by Alexis F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.