A cheer for Melanie

A cheer for Melanie

by A Person | Published on October 21st, 2009, 2:15 pm | Life

I have been working through my LPs digitizing the ones not available in digital media. I just finished Candles in the Rain, and I'd forgotten just how good Melanie was. There was something about her voice that was both vulnerable and powerful at the same time. Took me right back.

If your only experience of her is 'Brand new key' can I suggest "Lay down - candles in the rain' "Ruby Tuesday', "What have they done to my song, ma?'

A Person wrote:I have been working through my LPs digitizing the ones not available in digital media. I just finished Candles in the Rain, and I'd forgotten just how good Melanie was. There was something about her voice that was both vulnerable and powerful at the same time. Took me right back.

Sometime during the past few years I heard a snippet of "Candles in the Rain". I'd never really listened to it although I used to hear it on the radio back in the day. I was quite young then. Anyway I download one of her albums and wow. "Brand New Key" was just a trifle for her. What a powerful voice she had, especially on Candles.It gives me chills, especially considering the subject matter.

Last night I did Grace Slick - let me rephrase that - last night I digitized some Grace Slick tracks.

Wow.

When I was a kid my parents would sometimes put some toys away for a few months and when they came out again it was as if they were new and at the same time old friends. This is similar. I haven't played my LPs for at least 10 years, the stylus got broken, the belt stretched and it's not easy to get replacements, and these songs are resonating at a deep level of my consciousness. I'm loving it.

My home stereo ceased functioning one piece at a time. First the turntable went out then the receiver. By then I had a computer with speakers and a P2P connection. Now I have a CD player in the car and an mp3 player so I haven't "felt" the music in a while. When I eventually replace the stereo I may also get a turntable to play my approximately 200 albums. At least you can say this for hip-hop, it kept the turntable companies producing.

My old Sansui SR222 turntable I bought second hand in 1977 (with a free copy of Dolly Parton's biggest breasts the previous owner left on it) gave up the ghost, the stylus got broken, and then when I found a replacement the belt sagged and started slipping, and the rubber motor mounts preished, it was a bit like the 'One horse shay'.

But then I picked up a direct drive Akai turntable from the dump* that was fully functional, so I have been working through my collection. I get enthusiastic for a while and then stop for a month or so. It's tedious, but I'm enjoying rediscovering the music of my teens. Some of it never went away, the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc are played all the time on radio, but some of the more obscure stuff like Melanie, Grace Slick, Procol Harum is never played.

*Living in the country, I have to take my garbage to the dump, and they have a freecycle area, where you can drop stuff off that still works but you can't be bothered to have a garage sale for. I have picked up some great stuff - a fully functional stereo cd player (new enough that it was still being sold in stores) and other stuff that I think the previous owner just hadn't worked out how to use. Sometime I bring back as much as I took, but that's another issue :lol:

I like the idea of having a freecycle area in the dump. I too live in the boonies and have to visit the dump. The only folks who get to remove stuff is employees though. Lucky bastards. In fact our dump, excuse me, landfill, no longer disposes of our refuse on site. So, I suppose it's not really a landfill. Evidently hauling a county's trash to another county is cheaper than bringing the site up to current environmental standards.

Yeah, what we have is a 'Transfer Station' too, they even renamed the road from 'Dump Road' to 'Country Rise" but Dump is easier to say.

:lol:

I was reading Wikipedia and learned this gem

When first released, Brand New Key was banned by some radio stations due to the lyrics being interpreted as being sexual innuendo:

"I got a brand new pair of roller skates / You got a brand new key / I think that we should get together and try them out you see / I been looking around awhile / You got something for me / Oh! I got a brand new pair of roller skates / You got a brand new key. / I ride my bike, I roller skate, don't drive no car / Don't go too fast, but I go pretty far / For somebody who don't drive / I been all around the world / Some people say I've done alright for a girl..."

And people say I have a dirty mind!