The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
Melanie
Brand New Key
At No.18, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is Melanie with “Brand New Key”.
Now, I’ll be honest.
The first I ever heard of this song was not from Melanie, but from a cover version by those cheeky british piggies ‘Pinky and Perky’ who, by the time I came along, were onto the 3rd Hit Parade album in their series (and yes, I still own that album).
So alas, I didn’t hear the original for a long long time.
This song, to me, always sounds like it should be placed in the late Sixties. So it was a surprise to find it was in the UK Single Chart when I was born.
The girl from the Astoria district in Queens, New York…
…who, at the tender age of 18, and as a relatively unknown singer, had managed to get into the Woodstock festival by just asking if she could play there (they said yes).
Since that day a few years before, she’d gone on to have a solid music career with a steady stream of albums and singles which were achieving some success, not just in the United States, but also in Canada, Europe, and Australia too.
At this time of her life, she was searching for answers in different religions, and health comestibles.
She had got the inspiration for this new song…
…at the end of a 27-day fast for which she had only consumed water in that time.
The headstrong girl, who preferred the term ‘Oddball’ to the label of ‘Hippie’, which she was always characterized as by the media, had lived on a vegetarian diet for the past 7 years.
Any dedicated vegetarians out there may want to look away now.
It was while she was slowly weaning herself back on to foods, by eating minuscule portions such as grated cooked carrot, and spoonfuls of orange juice, that an insatiably powerful urge took over for a big fat burger, fries, vanilla milkshake, the works.
If it was the experience of eating all of that, and of it bringing back a memory of the last time she’d done such a thing (i’d like to think that it was), who knows. But she’s admitted that the song came to her immediately after that overblown junk food fest.
The song initially brings back evocative memories of a playful childhood, but there are some out there that think there is a more adult sexual theme, whether subconsciously or consciously, woven into the meaning of the lyric.
For Melanie, she’s explained that it brought back simple childhood memories…
…of learning to ride a bicycle, with her father running behind, helping her trying to keep her balance. The same can be said of the rollerskating and rolling up and down the path trying to stay upright. However, I can see what they mean, especially when she sings “I don’t go too fast, but I go pretty far” which she always delivers with a definite twinkle in her eye.
But, although playful in tone, the strong confidence always shines through when she proudly states she’s “..done alright for a girl”.
Whatever the conception of the song, whatever the connotation, it didn’t hamper the popularity. In fact, it most probably boosted it to a more inquisitive audience than it could ever have hoped for.
It entered the chart during the Christmas week of 1971…
…and quickly climbed to it’s highest position of No.4 on the 16th of January 1972.
“Brand New Key” would end up spending 12 weeks in the chart, 5 of them in the Top 10, before it’s gradual drop off, eventually roller skating out of the Top 50 after the 18th of March.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
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