Melanie

Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk, professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for the 1971–72 global hit "Brand New Key", her cover of "Ruby Tuesday", her composition "What Have They Done to My Song Ma", and her 1970 international breakthrough hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" (inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock music festival).In the 1960s, Melanie started performing at The Inkwell, a coffee house in the West End section of Long Branch, New Jersey. After high school, her parents insisted that she go to college, so she studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she began singing in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village, such as The Bitter End, and signed her first recording contract.Initially signed to Columbia Records in the United States, Melanie released two singles on the label. Subsequently, she sig