Billboard #1 Hits: #265: “Brand New Key”- Melanie. December 25, 1971. #1 on Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks.
- Single:”Brand New Key”- Melanie
- Record Company- Neighborhood
- Genre- Folk Pop
- Written by Melanie Safka
- Time: 2:26
- B-side:”Some Say {I Got Devil}
- Album- Gather Me
- Grade: C
- Peaked at #1 3 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100.
Melanie’s greatest hit- also known as “The Rollerskate Song” because of the chorus.
From wikipedia-
In an interview Melanie described what she claimed was the inspiration for the song: “I was fasting with a 27-day fast on water. I broke the fast and went back to my life living in New Jersey and we were going to a flea market around six in the morning. On the way back… and I had just broken the fast, from the flea market, we passed a McDonald’s and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonald’s and I got the whole works… the burger, the shake, and the fries… and no sooner after I finished that last bite of my burger… that song was in my head. The aroma brought back memories of roller skating and learning to ride a bike and the vision of my dad holding the back fender of the tire. And me saying to my dad… ‘You’re holding, you’re holding, you’re holding, right?’ Then I’d look back and he wasn’t holding and I’d fall. So that whole thing came back to me and came out in this song.
slicethelife 
Melanie Safka grew up in New Jersey and she broke out with Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) at Woodstock.
I believe she performed at Woodstock- before her debut album was even released.
Boy, that one is a blast from the past. My brother had the single and played it incessently for awhile back then.
Lots of people cringe at this song, but it’s fun, and it’s from my childhood and I loved it then and still do. 🙂
I’ve never cared for it but I guess I don’t hate it!
If I heard it for the first time today, as an adult, I don’t know whether I’d feel the same about it.
This is one of those childhood favorites that got a whole new “read” as an adult … because she’s kind of stalking the person she’s singing to.
I always liked this song well enough.