Those We Help MELANIE ANNE SAFKA-SCHEKERYK, known professionally as Melanie, is a singer-songwriter who achieved international acclaim for her 1971–72 global hit “Brand New Key.” In 1968, Melanie was an unknown musician singing in coffeehouses and small nightclubs in New York City when, as chance would have it, her husband and record producer Peter Schekeryk ran into some concert promoters who invited her to sing at a music festival they were organizing in Woodstock, NY, the following summer. “It was a real casual conversation,” she recounts. “They said, ‘Yeah, it’s going to be great. It’s going to be ‘An Aquarian Exposition.’ You’re an Aquarius, right? You should be there.’ So, I said, ‘Sure.’” One year later, Melanie was in England writing the score for a movie called “All the Right Noises.” “I was quite happy being behind the scenes. I never felt I was cut out to be a famous person. I said to Peter, ‘Well, it’s just going to be this little picnic,’ ” she says about Woodstock. “ ‘Maybe I don’t have to go.’ We talked about it, and he said, ‘No, no, you should really be there.’ So, I agreed.” Melanie was driven to Woodstock by her mother. “Then we hit traffic, and I am like, ‘Well, it’s the weekend. Par for the course.’ We kept driving. I finally made it to a phone booth and was told, ‘Don’t go to Woodstock. It’s no longer ‘An Aquarian Exposition.’ It’s called Woodstock, and it’s going to be in Bethel.’” Melanie, Singer/Songwriter from Woodstock, Taps Reverse Mortgage By Darryl Hicks DARRYL HICKS Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk, known professionally as Melanie, talks with Robert Filippone and Garrett Duffy of Norcom Mortgage at NRMLA’s Annual Meeting and Expo in October 2023. 34 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024
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