Woodstock Day 7: Melanie

Melanie Safka, professionally known as simply Melanie, performed at 11 pm on August 15th when The Incredible String Band refused to play during the rain. Melanie was included in the festival because she worked in the same office building as the Woodstock organizers and asked to be part of it.

Melanie Safka at Woodstock

Melanie had a short and extremely sweet set. During her set, the crowd lit candles to accompany her music and she ended up writing about this experience in the form of her hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)." It's a great tune and you can watch her perform it in 1970 below. Her song became a huge hit in the US, Canada, and Europe and was what really launched her singing career.

Mel had many hits including "Brand New Key" (featured in 1997's Boogie Nights and is colloquially known as "The Roller Skate Song"), "Beautiful People" (which ended up being a huge hit in the Netherlands), "Bitter Bad," and "What Have They Done To My Song Ma." She's an American folk rocker from Astoria, NY and became very musically active in 1967. Below is her playing "Birthday of the Sun" at Woodstock.

Melanie performing "Birthday of the Sun" at Woodstock.

In 1972, Melanie was awarded Billboard's #1 Top Female Vocal Artist award and became an official UNICEF ambassador. In 1973, Melanie started to pull back from the spotlight to start her family, but she still wrote and sang. She is still making music today and has recorded 34 albums to date.

Melanie's website: www.melaniesafka.com
Melanie's twitter: @melaniesafka