Memories of Melanie: A friend shares fun times with the singer

I Couldn't Throw It Out, Season 2, Episode 23
Memories of Melanie: A Friend Shares Her Treasures

Michael Small:
Hello and welcome to I Couldn't Throw It Out. On this episode, we're paying tribute to a singer -songwriter named Melanie, whose death in January was a really sad moment for many of us. Chances are, you remember Melanie from the chorus of this number one pop hit.

[Song excerpt begins]

Well, I've got a brand new pair of roller skates
You've got a brand new key

[Song excerpt ends]

Michael Small:
But guess what? That song is just one small part of Melanie's career. Here are some things you may not know. She was the youngest performer at Woodstock. Then she was so popular in the 1970s that Ed Sullivan compared her to Elvis Presley. And in 1972 she was Billboard's number one female vocalist. Even now Melanie's fans include Miley Cyrus, Morrissey, and many others. To understand her full impact, we're going to talk with someone who saw it all firsthand. Photographer Maddy Miller is going to share some of her favorite treasures that she collected during more than 50 years of close friendship with Melanie. Plus, you'll hear my interview with Melanie when she told me about her out -of -body experience while performing at Woodstock. So, keep listening.

[Song excerpt begins]

I couldn't throw it out
I had to scream and shout
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out 

[Song excerpt ends]

Michael Small:
Hello Sally Libby.

Sally Libby:
Hello Michael Small. We are going to do something a little different today. We're here for an episode of I Couldn't Throw It Out because of something sad that happened. On January 23rd of this year, a singer-songwriter named Melanie Safka died. She was 76 years old and she was known all around the world only by her first name, Melanie. There are a lot of people out there who might not understand what this means. If they're young, they might be like, Melanie who? And if they're older, they might be like, oh yeah, I remember her from that song and Sally.

Not to say that you're older. But what was the song?

Sally Libby:
Brand new key. It was also known as the roller skating song.

Michael Small:
That song was a hit in 1972, but some people heard it much later on on the soundtrack of the movie Boogie Nights, which came out in 1999. They played the song when a character named Roller Girl, who was a porn star, had a sexual encounter while wearing roller skates. Remember that one?

Sally Libby:
Yep, that was Heather Graham in that movie.

Michael Small:
Exactly. And the song has also been featured on episodes of Family Guy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The song was so well known that in 1976, a British group called the Wurzels, they had their own hit with a parody version. There's a video of them riding around on a tractor and they're singing, I've got a brand new Combine Harvester and I'll give you the key. The fact is that song, did not actually represent Melanie, at least not the whole Melanie. And it gives you not really a great idea of who she was or what a huge impact she had on people, including me, to the point where on the day when Melanie died, I heard from about six people who checked in to see if I was OK.

Sally Libby:
Right.

Michael Small:
Because they remembered that I was kind of obsessed with her at one point. And I saved many treasures relating to her, including the tape of a short interview I did with her in 1998, which I'm going to play for you. I figure that today we're going to try to help people understand why her impact went so far beyond that song. And we'll try to give Melanie the kind of tribute that she deserves. We'll try, okay?

Sally Libby:
Yes.

Michael Small:
For people who don't know Melanie, I think we need to summarize what happened in her career. Sally, do you want to start with some of the things that you know about her?

Sally Libby:
Um, let's see. Well, uh, 1970 when she was 23, remember the New Seekers had a top 20 hit with her song. Look What They Done To My Song, Ma.

Michael Small:
In 2012, she re -recorded that song in a duet with Miley Cyrus and it had 11 million views on YouTube. So it definitely was even better known than the version by the New Seekers. In 1970, she also had her first top ten single, which was called Lay Down Candles in the Rain, and it was about her experience of singing at Woodstock when it started to rain and everybody lit candles. One of the amazing things in that song is that she's accompanied by this entire chorus, the Edwin Hawkins singers, and she is still able to sing above them, like her voice can rise above an entire chorus and be heard. To give you an idea, here's a little sample.

[Song Excerpt Here]

Sally Libby:
Such a strong, powerful voice.

Michael Small:
Yes. And she took advantage of that on many songs. In 1970, she actually was on the Ed Sullivan Show. For those who don't remember, if you were a talent, you had to be on that show. The Beatles were on. There's a tape of her on that show. And one of the things that she was also known for is that people loved her so much that when she would go out on the stage, they would come out on the stage and lie at her feet. She just seems so lovable. And they did that on the Ed Sullivan Show. And Ed Sullivan came out and said to her, not since Elvis Presley appeared on this show have I seen such loyalty expressed by a group of youngsters. You're just great. Delighted to have you here.

Sally Libby:
And then did he curl up too?

Michael Small:
But that's pretty amazing. I mean, to be compared to Elvis Presley.

Sally Libby:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
So 1972 was her big year. Sally, tell us what happened then.

Sally Libby:
Okay. In 72 Brand New Key, as I said earlier, which is also called The Roller Skate Song was in the number one spot on the billboard charts for two weeks, keeping Don McLean's huge hit American Pie in the number two spot.

Michael Small:
Wow.

Sally Libby:
And then still in 72, Melanie was the second female artist to have three songs on the pop charts at the same time. Uh, Mary Wells was the first one in the sixties.

Michael Small:
And that would be Brand New Key, Ring the Living Bell and her version of the Rolling Stones song. Ruby Tuesday. Yeah. That's right. Those three were all on the charts at the same time. Here's a little example of her power singing on Ruby Tuesday.

[Song excerpt]

Sally Libby:
Also in 72, Melanie was named Billboard's number one female vocalist ahead of Cher, Roberta Flack, and Aretha Franklin.

Michael Small:
Okay, so that's a lot. That adds up.

Sally Libby:
I'll say.

Michael Small:
But then I have to mention that was followed by a big gap in terms of her fame. She didn't have big hits like that afterwards, but she did not disappear. She recorded 28 studio albums and 13 live albums.

Sally Libby:
Wow.

Michael Small:
She was dedicated to continuing to be a musician and wrote a lot of great songs. I would think at some point they're going to get discovered and people are going to do covers of those songs because they sort of lend themselves to sing along behavior. And meanwhile, she did in 1989, win an Emmy award with her co -writer because she wrote the theme song to the TV series, Beauty and the Beast. It's called The First Time I Love Forever. It's hugely popular and it seems like in more recent years fans started to emerge everywhere. Like Sally, who are some of the ones you found?

Sally Libby:
She's been sampled by Kanye West, Queen Latifah, and Bjork.

Michael Small:
Plus there's Nirvana's Kris Novoselic and Jarvis Cocker from the band Pulp. Both of them have been identified as Melanie fans. And Morrissey of The Smiths, who is super cool, recorded her song, Some Say I Got Devil, which is one of my favorites, I would put that at maybe number one of my all -time favorite Melanie songs. He recorded it in 2019. To give you an idea of the original source material, here's a little sample of Melanie's version. 

[Song excerpt]

Michael Small:
So her impact was much broader than many people realize. One of the many memorable things about Melanie is the way she looked in photographs. She was always photographed out in nature, looking totally natural and beautiful, wearing these flowing gowns with long hair and big eyes. And the extremely talented photographer who is responsible for many of those iconic images is named Maddy Miller.
By some twist of fate. I've known her most of my adult life. We worked together for 15 years in the 80s and the 90s at People Magazine. She was the picture editor of special issues. And I am so happy that Maddy agreed to join us today to help us with our tribute and to share some of the treasures that Melanie gave her over the years. So welcome Maddy.

Maddy Miller:
Hi, Michael.

Sally Libby:
Thanks so much for joining us.

Maddy Miller:
It's nice to be part of this. It really is.

Michael Small:
Maddy, we are especially grateful that you joined us because we know it's really difficult to lose a friend. And it was less than two months ago. That brings me to the first thing I wanted to bring up about Melanie. From everything I saw, she was a really positive person. Is that accurate or not really?

Maddy Miller:
I think she was a positive person. She felt really hard. You know, she had deep feelings about things and those were the songs. I mean, she was, yeah, she was fun and she was positive, but I would say that there were many layers, many layers to her.

Sally Libby:
She seemed like somebody that you would just want to befriend right away.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, well we did. We just became instant friends.

Sally Libby:
How did you first meet?

Maddy Miller:
I was working at Look Magazine as a picture researcher. This was, you know, in the late sixties. And I was going around town photographing things that struck my interest. And there was a disc jockey on WNEW named Roscoe. I loved listening to him. I loved his voice. And I got in touch with him and I said, can I photograph you? And he said, sure, come to the studio. I was taking his picture and you know, they would spin the records and he played Melanie. And I said, who is that? I've never heard a voice like that. And he said, her name is Melanie. The song was Beautiful People. He said, if you want to see her, she's going to be in Brooklyn next week. So I got a ticket. I brought my camera. I went to the concert. I sat at the foot of the stage. I took pictures. Next to me was Melanie's husband. We started chatting. And I said, you know, I worked for Look Magazine. I was such a big shot. I was like 12, you know? And I said, I'm going to suggest a story. And I did, and they said, okay. And I photographed Melanie for Look Magazine. And it was right after she had done Woodstock. I didn't even know that she had done Woodstock. All I did was hear her voice. And we met and we just like within five minutes hit it off like a house on fire. You're from Queens, I'm from Queens. What school did you go? Just staying like that.

Sally Libby:
So meant to be. Now I read that Beautiful People she wrote about the blackout, a big blackout in New York, and she went around giving the residents candles.

Maddy Miller:
Right, or something like that, yeah. I don't remember the whole story, but it had something to do with the subway and the neighbors and giving out candles, yeah.

Michael Small:
That song, Beautiful People, was a hit for her.

Maddy Miller:
It didn't make the sales, but the disc jockeys played it, so it was known as what was called a turntable hit.

Michael Small:
And by the way, Ed Sheeran recorded a song called Beautiful People and that is not it. This was the original one. Some of the things she said in the song is: If I weren't afraid you'd laugh at me, I would run and take all of your hands and I'd gather everyone together for a day. And when we gathered, I'll pass buttons out that say Beautiful People. Then you'll never have to be alone because there'll always be someone with the same button on as you. Include him in everything you do. Here's a little taste of the song. Beautiful People.

[Song excerpt]

Michael Small:
That was really her big breaking in moment. She performed it at Woodstock.

Maddy Miller:
Right.

Sally Libby:
She performed three songs at Woodstock, right?

Maddy Miller:
Five.

Sally Libby:
Oh, five? And she was the youngest performer. She was only 22.

Maddy Miller:
And she was the only woman. There were, I mean, there were only maybe five women that performed at Woodstock. I mean, three solo artists, but she was the only one that walked out on the stage all by herself without any accompaniment. Joan Baez was Joan Baez, but I think she had another guitarist. And yeah, Melanie walked out on that stage, like in the middle of the night or something.

Michael Small:
Back in 1998, I covered an event for Entertainment Weekly at the Woodstock site. It was a reunion concert called A Day in the Garden, and I got to meet Melanie. And I talked with her about her experience at the original Woodstock. So this tape is one of my treasures. And I want to share for the first time about five minutes of what she told me.

[Taped interview begins]

Michael Small:
You were on that stage at the original Woodstock. What do you remember? What was it like? What stayed with you from that?

Melanie:
I had a remarkable out of body experience. I left my body.

Michael Small:
While you were on stage?

Melanie:
No, while I was walking onto the stage.I left my body.

Michael Small:
Was there a chemical involved?

Melanie:
No, I was totally straight. I was probably the only one of the whole group that was in stone. But I had a total out of body experience. I left my body for I don't know how long. And then I have this vivid memory of just hovering over myself and watching myself sing. And I didn't hear anything.

Michael Small:
You couldn't hear the crowd?

Melanie:
No, I didn't even hear me. I just watched.

Michael Small:
You remember what... You sang Beautiful People, didn't you?

Melanie:
I sang Beautiful People. And I was there for Beautiful People. I was there and I was there... I think it was something to do with the candle lighting ceremony that really just made me feel this flow of humanity.

Michael Small:
Was it the dark of night or evening?

Melanie:
It was dark. It was 9 o'clock, 9:30.

Michael Small:
And so you did, they did light the candles. Was it raining?

Melanie:
It always rains here. I thought, Michael Lang, what planning, you know? Let's do a festival in August when it always rains.

Michael Small:
So do you know why you had that experience?

Melanie:
I mean, it was just like... Well, it was because I was in complete mortal terror.

Michael Small:
Was it? You've never done a show that big?

Melanie:
I had never performed for more than 500 people in my life.

Michael Small:
Oh, wow.

Melanie:
And I didn't, I mean... The unknown of it was too unfathomable for me. I just could not believe that I would be allowed to live after I went on that stage. And I think this is sheer terror of it. After that, I could do anything. I could do anything. I became festival queen. I performed in front of more hundreds of thousands of people. And it's actually sometimes more frightening to perform in a little room with people that you can see each face, you know? And you can almost see what they're thinking. That's kind of frightening. When you looked out then, there were just so many people. It was a sea of humanity. I landed by helicopter. I actually went to... I was in England when I was going to be doing Woodstock. I was in the same office building as Michael Lang and those guys. So, yeah, it's just... Hey, can I go to the Three Days of Peace, Love and Music? It sounds really nice. I had pictured three little days in the country and a couple of thousand people maybe, having picnics, eating cold chicken, sitting on a hill and watching. I thought it would be nice. I'd like to go. And they said, yeah. And so the day of Woodstock came, but I was in England. I was writing a film score. This was... And I was thinking maybe I should stay here in England and finish this thing. But Peter said, "No, you go back and I'll finish it. And you do the show." And I'm, all right. I came back here not having any idea what I was getting into. None. I mean, I didn't read the paper. I didn't do anything. I just arrived. My mother drove me up. And we hit traffic. And that was it. We hit traffic. I made a phone call. And they told me to go to this hotel. It was in a different place, and they had a helicopter and they said only band members and managers in the helicopter. I said, "Well, my mother is the only one with me." And they said, "I'm sorry."

Michael Small:
Oh no, you left her stranded.

Melanie:
I left my mother.

Michael Small:
You went to Woodstock with your mother.

Melanie:
I came to Woodstock with my mother and I never saw her again for the rest of the day.

Michael Small:
Did you make any friends like performers at Woodstock? No, I was, the closest thing that happened is Joan Baez was in this big tent next to me, I guess. And I was in a little... tent. I developed this nervous hacking cough and it was getting deeper and more bronchial and it sounded like you know the demon you know and but and it was getting worse and worse and some point during the day somebody came over with a pot of tea and they said, "Joan Baez heard you coughing and thought you needed some tea." That was such a beautiful gesture. It made me cry. I mean it was...

Michael Small:
But otherwise you're pretty isolated.

Melanie:
I was pretty isolated. Yeah, I mean, I'd walk out to the crowd and nobody knew who I was. I didn't have an artist pass. And so they like people would pick me up and say, "Where's your artist pass? You know, you can't go back there." And I sing them a few lines of Beautiful People, which was the only song that was being played on any kind of radio station. And then they let me back. But so I didn't wander too far from my tent.

[Recorded interview ends]

Sally Libby:
Oh, that is so wonderful.

Michael Small:
Yes, I was so happy that I got to hear that story right from Melanie. And speaking of good stories, I'm wondering, Maddy, did you do the photos for any of Melanie's albums?

Maddy Miller:
I did. I did Gather Me, which was the big album. And then my pictures are sort of scattered about on other albums.

Michael Small:
Do you remember anything about the photo shoot? Like, where were you? What were you going for?

Maddy Miller:
Our idea was to do a picture at sunrise on the beach. So Melanie said, "Well, we need to stay up all night." Why do we need to stay up all night? "Well, so I have that look." Okay. So, um, so we were at her apartment in Long Branch, New Jersey, and we stayed up all night. You know, we went to a cafe, we ate salads, we listened to music, we drank coffee. Her mom came over. Her mom was in charge of the alarm and getting us, you know, getting everybody up to get there. We checked out what time sunrise was. It was to have a clean canvas, look a little tired. We got there, we were a little punchy, a little silly, and most of the pictures reflected that, not the one that was actually on the cover. Well, she was so photogenic.

Sally Libby:
She was beautiful, really.

Maddy Miller:
It was really fun. She put on this red dress with these like baubles on it, and she had this crown, this kind of crown. The crown was actually something that was in the Wizard of Oz. It was a munchkin prop that she'd gotten.

Sally Libby:
Oh, wow.

Maddy Miller:
This is an outtake.

Sally Libby:
Oh, it's so beautiful. Love that.

Michael Small:
By the way, any photos that Maddy shows us today will be on our website at throwitoutpodcast.com so you can see the same beauty that we're seeing. Was her beauty as evident in person as it is in photos or was she just more photogenic?

Maddy Miller:
No, she was beautiful. And she had a great thing going on with her eyes for a photographer. You know, she... She knew how to, she worked the camera and she, the eye contact was great. She was like a dream to photograph. And particularly when you get along with somebody, you know, cause you can talk. The pictures were just very authentic. They were not like over propped or over styled or over made up.

Michael Small:
But you did not take the famous photo of Melanie with the cow, did you?

Maddy Miller:
Yes.

Michael Small:
Oh, you did take the cow photo.

Maddy Miller:
Oh. Yeah. Doomed her to be cute forever. We thought, it was a cow, you know, and she had that song, I Want To Be a Farmer. And she had that other song, I Don't Eat Animals. And, you know, we were in Virginia and there was, we were riding along, here's this cow. So we went, we took pictures of each other with the cow, you know, and it was a beautiful picture. And so, I don't know, they put it on an album or something and they started like picking on her, you know, it's like, you know, it's cute. And I said, you know, Linda Rondstat posed with a pig and everybody thought that was so cool.

Sally Libby:
Exactly.

Maddy Miller:
You know, now people think it's cool.

Michael Small:
I thought it was cool. I also had that on my wall in my bedroom. I love that picture. I think the reason why we responded to it, it was the whole organic movement, which I was very into. And so she's outdoors with a cow and it's like, yes, this is my person because I want to be outdoors with a cow too.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
You know, I don't want to be sitting and breathing chemicals. I want to be with a cow.

Sally Libby:
There you go. And Melanie.

Michael Small:
And Melanie too. She was the closest thing I came to having a girlfriend in high school. And I never even met her.  She was the type of person that people felt that intimate connection, I did, even though they didn't know her. In that moment, she represented something that was important in our country and in our culture. Since you were there, what was it that people connected to so powerfully for that moment?

Maddy Miller:
I think people just, I don't know, they connected with her and they would give her things. They would give her pieces of string, you know, and roller skates and half bottles of wine. They would just want to like hold her hand and it was nice, you know, it was nice. It was harmless. It was sweet. When she did that concert at Carnegie Hall, I was standing in the back with her mom, Polly, and all of a sudden the kids started coming onto the stage and sitting around her. And then more and more, but it was quiet. Then all of a sudden there was sort of this rush and more, you know, like the whole stage was filled with like young people just sitting around her and she, Melanie remained very calm and her mother's going, "Oh my God, they're gonna kill her, they're gonna kill her." But I'm like, I have to take pictures. And I got some, you know, great pictures of that happening. It was amazing. So many people have told her that her music was the soundtrack of their lives. A lot of it was the soundtrack of my own life, any of our lives. You know, she just really knew how to sing about emotions that people were feeling.

Michael Small:
Now, Maddy, can you think of something that you connected with from one of her songs?

Maddy Miller:
I don't know. There's so many. Autumn Lady. I think that's probably my favorite. She wrote that song. "The Autumn Lady is lying now. She spent all her nights under raspberry lights." It's a song about a woman aging. And she wrote it when she was 16 years old. We used call each other the autumn lady. And then it happens, you know. She has an old soul.

Michael Small:
There was then this shift where she kept producing albums, but they weren't getting radio play and people didn't know that music so well. Do you have any insight into why that happened and also any insight into how did she react when that happened?

Maddy Miller:
I don't know. I just know that she just never stopped working and she never stopped touring. She wrote a song called The Saddest Thing. That's another song that she wrote when she was very, very young. And in Korea, so many Korean singers recorded it. You go up to any person, any Korean person and ask them if they've heard of that song. They have. I was in a cab in New York one day and my cab driver was Korean and we were talking. I asked him, I said, do you know the song? And he said, oh yes. She was invited to Korea and given this award.

Sally Libby:
It's so random. Wow.

Maddy Miller:
The Hilltop Hoods in Australia sampled a song of hers called People in the Front Row. And they call the song The Nosebleed Section. They never gave her credit. And her voice keeps coming through on most of their songs. Their song was such a huge hit. It was voted one of the 10 all -time hits in Australia. She went to Australia on tour and somebody introduced her and they then acknowledged her and they gave her a wonderful tribute a couple of weeks ago. They wrote a really wonderful, wonderful tribute to her. None of their songs were anywhere near that melodic. It's her song. It's her voice.

Sally Libby:
That's amazing.

Michael Small:
Thank you so much. We didn't know about that. We'll put a link to it on our site. Do you have any stories about seeing Melanie in concert with other bands?

Maddy Miller:
I went with Melanie to England for the Isle of Wight concert in 1970. They get the schedule, they change it around and you end up sitting around and sitting around and sitting around. And she ended up having to go on. Now here again, it was Melanie all by herself with the guitar, 600 ,000 people at the Isle of Wight. She had to follow The Who. And it was like, how am I going to do that?

Michael Small:
And now, we're taking a brief pause for a little expression of gratitude. This week, Amazon Music Podcasts in Canada put I Couldn't Throw It Out first on their list of podcasts that are hidden gems.

Sally Libby:
Woohoo!

Michael Small:
If you're looking for a place to listen to podcasts, we fully endorse Amazon Music, particularly in Canada. The address is music .amazon .ca slash podcasts. Because they give the best suggestions, right, Sally?

Sally Libby:
Yes.

Michael Small:
Now back to our episode.

Maddy Miller:
She had to follow the Who. They went on at about, it was after midnight. And of course, you know, they're gonna do a two hour set. So they did their two hour set. I was like right on stage with them.

Michael Small:
Did you photograph them?

Maddy Miller:
I was paralyzed. I truly was paralyzed. I took like maybe five pictures where, you know, normally I shoot like, you know, 8 ,000 rolls. And then they went off the stage and the stage was like a complete mess. And the cleanup crew, like, disappeared and Keith Moon came out. He came over to Melanie and he says, "Don't worry. Well, you know, everything's going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine. Calm down." And he cleaned up the stage and he introduced her.

Sally Libby:
Oh, that's wonderful.

Maddy Miller:
I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was the sweetest thing in the whole world. And she sang, she did like, she did almost a two hour set. And I'll never forget it, because I went over to like, I was all the way around like on that side and she sang Mr. Tambourine Man as the sun was rising. She loves that song, because her favorite line in that song is, I'm gonna dance beneath the golden sky.

Michael Small:
The diamond sky.

Maddy Miller:
With one hand waving free. And she sings that line like nobody. One of my most treasured memories I have of being anywhere with her. Keith Moon gave us each a drumstick.

Michael Small:
Whoa, do you have it?

Maddy Miller:
No, she lost hers. So I gave mine to her son. He had it framed.

Sally Libby:
Nice.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
Wow, that's a wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Sally Libby:
Yes.

Michael Small:
Are there any of her later songs that people might have missed that you want to say, make sure you hear this one?

Maddy Miller:
There were some brilliant songs that she was singing at shows that she hadn't recorded yet. There was one called Ruin. That's very funny, where she compares herself to like an old statue that you'd go and visit, like, and now I'm a ruin. Very funny, very, you know, so Melanie.

Michael Small:
She certainly wrote a lot of songs that were quite sad and especially for people who think of her as the roller skate song, they don't really get that. As you said, she was many layered and she had a very deep side and she felt things very strongly.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, but the roller song was also like, she didn't write it the way it came out. She said she wrote it kind of like as a swamp song. And then she went away and Peter produced it. And, you know, and he hired those guys that sang ;avender blue, dilly dilly. And he had them go in the background, hump, ha ha, hump, ha ha. He kind of put the twist on the song right in the production. She had no clue. She said to me, well, I don't get it. Like, you know, I don't get why everybody's saying, why they're banning it on radio stations.

Sally Libby:
They were putting sexual connotations in there.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah. And then she said, the thing about "for somebody who don't drive, I've been all around the world." All around the world apparently had some kind of, you know, sex...

Michael Small:
Yes, absolutely.

Maddy Miller:
Melanie said to me, do you know what that means? I said, I don't know. I'll ask my boyfriend.

Michael Small:
I never believed her when she said she didn't know it was sexual. I mean, my dad knew it was sexual.

Maddy Miller:
No, she didn't. She said, like she said, I wrote it as some kind of like swamp song, you know, like, you know, just kind of fun, like, but nothing like what it turned out to be. She said she wrote it after eating a Big Mac after being on a fast.

Sally Libby:
Oh, that's right. I read that. She was on a 27 day fast.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, out in California.

Sally Libby:
Yeah. And then her doctor said, oh, and she was a vegetarian, said, I think you need to eat some meat. She was feeling weak, so she got a Big Mac.

Michael Small:
What do you mean by she thought it was her swan song?

Maddy Miller:
Like, a swamp song.

Sally Libby:
Swamp? What's a swamp song?

Michael Small:
Like slow and...

Maddy Miller:
Yeah. I rode my bicycle. Oh, that's funny. And they bounced it up.

Michael Small:
Yeah. I know that Melanie had mixed feelings about the song. I saw a video where she seemed a little perturbed when an interviewer knew her only from that song. When I talked with her at the Woodstock event, the song had just appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Boogie Nights. So... I had to ask her about it. Here's what she told me.

[Recorded interview starts]

Michael Small:
When I tell people about Melanie, they go, the roller skate song. And I always think, why is that the song you remember?

Melanie:
Yeah, isn't that funny? And that really came like three or four years after I had started out. I had like two hits before that. Oh, yeah. That's the one.

Michael Small:
Well, are you sorry you recorded it?

Melanie:
No. No, I said, you know, having a song that's a fond memory for someone, you can't beat that. You know, I could. If I tried to write another song like that, I couldn't. I've never been able to write on command. And in fact, when I was with that record company, you know, the president came. Well, it was our own label, but it was distributed through Paramount. The owner said, Melanie, we need another record like Brand New Key. And I'm like, yeah, right. Just what I want to do. But even if I could have, I wouldn't have. But I couldn't. It's a fond little ditty.

[Recorded interview ends]

Michael Small:
She had such a great sense of humor. Many of her songs were really funny. And that's one reason why I fell in love with her. There wasn't a lot of humor in music that was still musical. And I'm just wondering, did you ever have a funny experience together where you went and did something that led to hilarity?

Maddy Miller:
It all just sort of did. We used to go antique shopping, you know, at four o 'clock in the morning. We had to wear like boots and bring like flashlights and, you know, the depths of New Jersey were like... Because that's when the dealers would go and you'd get all the deals and everything was funny.

Sally Libby:
So you were used to staying up all night a lot, huh?

Maddy Miller:
No, yeah, we never went to bed. Always. And on the road, forget it.

Michael Small:
But wait, the stores were open at 4 a .m.?

Maddy Miller:
They have these kind of places where you go antique shopping and they're outdoors.

Michael Small:
And you had to get there first?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, and she has her mother recruited to like drive us there.

Michael Small:
Now, did you ever hear, I guess her father left when she was five or something. Did you ever hear about her father?

Maddy Miller:
The family was close. He lived nearby and her parents, you know, were still friendly and he was always around.

Michael Small:
Do you know what he did for a career?

Maddy Miller:
He did all kinds of different things. I don't remember exactly what it was that he did. I think they had stores, you know, they were in retail and her mom had an arts and crafts store in the Monmouth County Mall and it was called Paintin' Place because, you know, the TV show Peyton Place was really popular. Her store was Paintin' Place.

Michael Small:
She also wrote so many songs about heartbreak. She was married for many years and she was still writing about heartbreak. How do you explain that?

Maddy Miller:
Because she felt it. She'd wake up and she'd feel something and she would write it. I mean, she was writing songs just all the time, every day.

Michael Small:
Do you get the sense that she ever tried to write songs from someone else's perspective? Like I am writing this song from the perspective of Maddy Miller or someone else.

Maddy Miller:
No, but she did steal a couple of my lines.

Michael Small:
Oh, can we know?

Maddy Miller:
The thing is, I mean, that's what happens with a writer, right? You tell her a story and you say something and it's a thing. And then the next thing you know, there's that line in the song.

Michael Small:
Tell us what it is.

Maddy Miller:
It was that song, Bitter Bad. "You've been doing my stuff with another girl."

Michael Small:
Yeah.

Maddy Miller:
My boyfriend was cheating on me and I told her and I said, he's doing my stuff with another girl. It was sort of like, yeah, the hook of the song. And I love that.

Michael Small:
Just to prove it, here are Maddy's words in the song, Bitter Bad.

[Song excerpt]

Michael Small:
Like that is so exciting to know the origin of that. Cause I listened to that so many times when I was growing up. Which brings us to the fact that six years after high school, I was working at People Magazine or five years. Somehow I told Maddy that I loved Melanie or I proposed her as a story probably because I was always proposing that. And Maddy told me she was friends. Now, do you remember Maddy, did you give me warning that Melanie was going to be in the office?

Maddy Miller:
I don't remember. I mean, I do remember her coming hanging out in my office, and my boss came over to me and she said, do you think it's all right that Melanie is singing in your office? I said, I don't have any problem with it.

Michael Small:
What I remember is that I come around the corner to where I can see where Maddy's office was, and there is Melanie sitting in Maddy's office. And this is a big deal for me. I was so excited about it that I couldn't speak. So it was like, yeah, ah, ah.

Maddy Miller:
Did she have her guitar? 

Michael Small:
Probably. Yeah, I didn't hear her sing though.

Maddy Miller:
She sang anywhere. I had a birthday party. It was a great birthday party in my friend's backyard and Melanie came and oh God she cooked the food. She sang for hours. It was the best party in the whole world. It really was.

Michael Small:
What did she like to cook? Do you remember?

Maddy Miller:
She's a great cook. For this past Hanukkah she wrote to me and she said, guess what? I made matzo balls from scratch.

Sally Libby:
Oh.

Maddy Miller:
She didn't use matzo meal, she grated the matzo.

Michael Small:
Oh my God.

Maddy Miller:
And she said, I got schmaltz. She talked the guy into giving her the chicken fat and she wrote me this and she sent me a picture of her matzo balls. I said, I'm so proud of you. I raised you so well. It's just one of my nicest last memories of her.

Michael Small:
For people who don't know, Melanie was not Jewish. So this was particularly exciting.

Maddy Miller:
She was a great Italian cook. She made eggplant parmesan like nobody. And she made a lasagna with a bechamel sauce. And for the, you know, Ukrainian Christmas, she made pot of borscht.

Sally Libby:
Yum. Her last name, or Peter's last name, was what?

Maddy Miller:
It was kind of unusual. Schekeryk, which is Russian, Ukrainian.

Sally Libby:
Schekeryk?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
And her father was Ukrainian too.

Maddy Miller:
Her father was Ukrainian, but not like born there like Peter was.

Michael Small:
Oh, Peter was born there. What was he like? Did you know him?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, he was great. He was like...a madman, you know, he was devoted 100 % to Melanie and her career. He just loved her like so much. It's sad, but when he died, he was talking about her.

Michael Small:
What do you mean?

Maddy Miller:
He was in a Best Buy picking up a new phone for his son and he died. He had a heart attack there, but the salesperson said that he was just talking nonstop about Melanie.

Sally Libby:
What a story.

Maddy Miller:
That was it because she was doing a show. She was doing a concert and he was telling everybody.

Michael Small:
Do you know her kids at all?

Maddy Miller:
Oh yeah. She has three great kids. She has three great grandkids and she has two little great grandchildren. And aren't her kids all musicians? Yeah, they're all musicians. And Kingston, her grandson, he's going to be a major league baseball star. All that craziness, all that moving around, you know, all that rock and roll stuff. I mean, this is just a very tight, loving, sweet family, and they're all so nice to each other. She's left like an amazing, amazing legacy, really.

Michael Small:
Did it turn out that they had to struggle financially? Were they worried about money all the time?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.  Something happened where she didn't get the benefit of her music as much as expected. The rights were sold. Just one of those...deals. You know, she's not the only person that's happened to in the music business. She doesn't get the residuals. So if Miley Cyrus, you know, or Hewlett Packard uses Brand New Key on a commercial, she doesn't get the benefit of it.

Michael Small:
It sounds like one of those decisions that seemed to make sense at the time.

Maddy Miller:
She had to keep working. You know, even all during lockdown and everything she was doing online concerts. At first it was, she said it was really kind of weird. Like nobody's there, you know, and then they kind of got used to it.

Michael Small:
And she was working on this album of cover songs called Second Hand Smoke at the end. It will surprise people, people who know that Nine Inch Nails was one of the most aggressive, loudest bands ever. Like your ears would pop listening to them and Trent Reznor was the leader of that group and she recorded a Trent Reznor song called Hurt, which is available and we're going to link to it on our website. The lyrics are really intense, like it's "the needle tears a hole."

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, but when she sings it, I don't hear those words. It sounds so tender when she sings it. It doesn't sound like that song. I don't know. I think maybe you can reinterpret something, because I don't think she would go there, you know?

Michael Small:
She did record all different kinds of music, like she did Gershwin, Somebody Loves Me, that was very early. And she was fearless. Every iconic song that really belonged to someone else, she'd record it. Dust in the Wind, Lay Lady Lay, It's Almost Like Being in Love, all of them. And you always knew it was Melanie. She always made it her own. Anyway, Maddy, we're finally ready. We want to see the treasures from Melanie that you saved. And by the way, for anyone who wants to see these things, we'll have photos of all of them on our site. So Maddy, what's first?

Maddy Miller:
This is this is one of my hippie vests.

Sally Libby:
Hippie vest. I love it.

Maddy Miller:
It's brown suede leather and it's embroidered with flowers. She sent this to me, I'd say 1973 or so, and she did a UNICEF tour around the world.

Sally Libby:
Oh, wasn't she UNICEF ambassador?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah. And she's, and this came from some Eastern European country of which I don't remember. It came in the mail. So I saved this.

Michael Small:
Do you ever wear it?

Maddy Miller:
No, it doesn't fit anymore.

Michael Small:
Now that brings us to the topic of this podcast, which is, okay, you have a vest that you love from someone you loved. Someone who actually is important for music history in this country. And it's beautiful. But like, where do you keep it?

Maddy Miller:
In my closet.

Michael Small:
Do you ever see it?

Maddy Miller:
Well, I do when I'm looking for something else and then I see it and then it reminds me of how long I've had it.

Michael Small:
What do you have planned for the future of that thing?

Maddy Miller:
You know, and if I give it away, I would give it to one of her granddaughters. They love her clothing.

Michael Small:
It does have a future. That's exactly what we're here for. We now know that you're going to keep that as long as you can and enjoy it. If her grandkids hear this, it's going to one of you. So that was beautiful and wonderful. And also we had that and we had the photo you showed us. This is a photo of her wearing that red dress with her hair kind of blowing in the wind. And it's signed by Melanie and Maddy. Is that going to go to a family member?

Maddy Miller:
No, that's mine. I had a few copies of this and a few people bought them and I kept one for myself.

Michael Small:
But Maddy, who will you leave that to?

Maddy Miller:
Well, you know, I have an archive, so somebody's going to have to deal with it.

Michael Small:
Okay. Do we have an idea who the somebody is?

Maddy Miller:
No. Her kids can take what they want.

Michael Small:
It's obvious that we're friends for same attitude towards the things we love. What else have you got for us?

Maddy Miller:
This is a picture of me taking a picture of Melanie very early. Yeah, she's sitting in a field of grass on a blanket.

Sally Libby:
Right.

Maddy Miller:
And it symbolizes something, the beginning of our friendship, the beginning of our photo relationship. And I made a bunch of little copies of this picture. And for every birthday and Christmas, we send it back and forth. We include it. I sent it to her once in a frame. I stick it, I made a Christmas ornament. She sends it back to me. I send it to her. She sends it back to me. This is the thing that we just kind of, we keep it going. So this is a box that she made. She does this wonderful decoupage. This is just antique paper.

Michael Small:
What's the image on the top?

Maddy Miller:
Oh, it says, Happy Birthday, Maddy from Melanie. The birthday card that I sent to her. Oh, and she put it on top of the box. When you open it up, there's the picture of me and her.

Sally Libby:
That is fabulous.

Maddy Miller:
And she wrote, bestie forever. And then under it, she wrote, we're still here. 2019.

Michael Small:
Oh, that is such a treasure.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Sally Libby:
She really was multifaceted. So interesting. And then this is one of her rocks. It's hand painted in decoupage. So this is still paper. And then on the back, it says Woodstock 50 Love Melanie.

Michael Small:
Has the Woodstock dove on it. And it's one of these rocks that she decorated.

Maddy Miller:
I have a whole collection of her rocks.

Sally Libby:
I just lost my best friend in December and she also painted rocks such a beautiful way. And I miss her so much.

Michael Small:
That's so interesting that you both have the same way to remember the friends that you loved.

Maddy Miller:
I was also one of her rock collectors. I would go out to Long Island and I was near a rock beach. So she would say, I need, they had to be very smooth. She said, I need oval ones. I need round ones. I need heart shaped ones. And I would like spend the day on the beach. It was great fun. And then I'd mail, go to the post office and get those, you know, those flat rate boxes. And they say, what's in here? And I go, "Rocks.'

Sally Libby:
Love it. My siblings and I did that with a cheese ball at Christmas.

Maddy Miller:
Oh, Melanie made cheese balls every Christmas.

Sally Libby:
Did she?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah. They come in the mail, you know, and I knew I got the cheese ball because I could like smell it from like there's so much garlic in it. And she'd wrap them up in all this like foil and put them in a box and wrap it in paper. And yeah, the cheese ball came every Christmas.

Michael Small:
Maddy, do you have anything else that you could show us?

Maddy Miller:
Melanie knew that I collected cameras, old cameras. Tshatshka cameras, all kinds of things. And she found this.

Michael Small:
So it's a little jewel covered camera, about one inch by one inch. It's tiny.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, you can wear it. It had a chain actually on it and it's got a pin on the back. And then it was years later that I realized that it actually opened years later. And I opened it and there was Melanie. She put this picture of herself inside of it. Not the best picture, but so dear. So there it is.

Michael Small:
What a nice gift to give a friend.

Sally Libby:
Yeah.

Maddy Miller:
But I love this and it fits nicely in that box.

Michael Small:
Well, I don't have to ask that goes to her great grandchildren or whatever.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
This is so great. We want more treasures. What have you got?

Maddy Miller:
I think you're going to like this very much. It's a gold record for Brand New Key. Oh, it's got a rip. See, I lost that piece of them in the over the years, but it was presented to Maddy Miller. Thank you. Love, Peter and Melanie.

Sally Libby:
That is so cool.

Michael Small:
That is the best. That goes in a museum. I love the way I'm planning for what happens when you're gone and you're not.

Maddy Miller:
Taking it all with me.

Michael Small:
You know, that's how I feel. Like take it with you. That shows such love from them to you. You must have been a most wonderful friend to them.

Maddy Miller:
I did work on it though. I did do some advanced promotion. I sort of got enlisted to, and I went and traveled around the country to record stores and brought posters and things. And I don't know if it did anything, but maybe I guess it did.

Michael Small:
Maddy, thank you for sharing all of this with us.

Maddy Miller:
Where's your stuff though, Michael?

Michael Small:
You know, I don't have a good record with throwing things out, like you. So Maddy, we're cut from the same cloth. For one thing, I have the tape of my interview with Melanie. I don't really want to part with this tape. Because I have Melanie's voice on a tape talking to me and laughing with me.

Maddy Miller:
And a great laugh she has.

Michael Small:
We already know. I'm not throwing that tape out.

Sally Libby:
No.

Michael Small:
And then I have here the Stoneground Words album. This was when we had records and a record player. It came with all these photos, big photos like these are a foot by a foot of Melanie on the beach, Melanie smiling, Melanie with her guitar being serious. And I had these pasted on my wall in 1973 in high school. So you still have the yellowing scotch tape on them. And I will say some treasures got away from me. I hope my nephew is preserving. He got my record collection. One of the most precious treasures I had was an album called Madrugada. Was that right?

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
My father despised the music I listened to. He liked classical music. He liked jazz. And he despised Melanie. And in fact, when, when she had her big hit, he was aware of it. And he used to sing, I got a brand new pair of overshoes, which like overshoes were... no one would know what that is. We used to wear, they called them rubbers. You rubbers over your shoes to preserve them when we went out in the rain. He could not get roller skates, right? So he would sing overshoes. Anyway, he was not a fan of Melanie. And this is going to be another one of those choke-up moments when I... I don't know if I can do it. When I got into my first college, I went out to party to celebrate, I think with Sally, actually. I came home and there was a wrap... There was a wrapped package on the kitchen counter. They had gone to bed because I was out so late and he'd gone out and he hated the music I listened to. And he bought me the Melanie album, Madrugada.

Sally Libby:
Oh, that was amazing.

Michael Small:
It was the only one I didn't have. He had checked. Wow. And it just said, I'm so proud of you. I love you. And that's what he did for me.

Sally Libby:
That's really amazing. Beautiful.

Michael Small:
So thank you, Melanie.

Sally Libby:
And thank you, Dad.

Michael Small:
I guess my dad did love me after all. He bought me a Melanie record. So that treasure I don't have, but I do have Stoneground Words, which reminds me of it. And I'm not throwing that out either. And then there was another lost treasure. There was something called The Four Sides of Melanie, which was a two -disc album because it had four sides. It came in an album cover and it opened up into a box and on each side of the box was a sort of psychedelic drawing of Melanie, each a different color. And I opened up that box and that was featured in my room at all times.

Maddy Miller:
That Four Sides of Melanie was an album that Buddha put out when she left the label to start her own Neighborhood Records. And Buddha just kind of pulled together all this stuff. And if you look at it, there's a drawing of Melanie's husband on it, small, and he's got devil ears.

Michael Small:
Oh no.

Maddy Miller:
Melanie wouldn't care if you threw that one out, I don't think.

Michael Small:
Okay. I know that that was a gift from one of my siblings. And I will also say that I got a lot of family support for my Melanie obsession. My oldest sister took me to my first concert, which was a Melanie concert at Boston's Music Hall.

Sally Libby:
What year was that?

Michael Small:
It must have been around 72, 73, and we all lit candles. And it was amazing that my sister took me to that. It was such a great moment in my life. That kind of high, you forget when you're older what that high is. Every, every... cell in my body was alive at that concert. When she was singing, it was like a beyond body experience for me because I was so happy to be there. I couldn't believe I was seeing this person I heard on this record. And for whatever reason, her music so connected with me because of the humor, because of the sincerity, the idealism. I wanted to be idealistic too. And there it was on the stage, my idealism was on stage reaching out to me.

Sally Libby:
And you still got it, Mike.

Maddy Miller:
Yes, you do.

Michael Small:
Well, I hope we all do to some extent. One thing I do still have is this last treasure I want to share. This is a CD. Even the title shows Melanie's great sense of humor about herself. It's called Ever Since You Never Heard of Me.

Sally Libby:
Love it.

Michael Small:
Cindy and I got this when we went to hear Melanie play at a little club about 12 years ago and she signed it for us with a big heart. No discussion about throwing this out. Case closed. I'm keeping it.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
There's my stuff I'm not throwing out. Sally, what do you have to say to me about that?

Sally Libby:
Michael. I mean, I think he's thrown out like one, two things. And we've been doing this now for almost two years. Oh, Mike.

Michael Small:
We're living up to the title. I couldn't throw it out.

Maddy Miller:
You haven't thrown out anything.

Michael Small:
I think I'd better change the subject quickly. Maddy, I'm wondering, is there anything else about Melanie that we haven't touched on that you felt like this is something I would like to have people know or have people hear or that I just want to say?

Maddy Miller:
She just was the best friend to me over 50 years. There were rough spots in her life. There were rough spots in my life. Sometimes I didn't see her for years, but there would always be the phone birthday phone call. It'd always be the Christmas phone call. It'd always be the postcard from somewhere. When we saw each other or spoke, it was like no time had gone by at all ever. Seamless. I think there was a real connection. Just a real connection. I mean, I still feel her.

Sally Libby:
Do you? Good.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah.

Michael Small:
Before we go, I want to end with two things that bring it back to Melanie and her family. Melanie's kids wrote something very beautiful when she died. And I want to quote that a little, backing up what you said about such a loving family. They wrote, our world is much dimmer. The colors of dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you from the stars.

Sally Libby:
Really, really lovely.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah. They're great. And her presence is with everybody. It's almost like you leave your body, but her presence is still here, you know? I still sort of send her texts late at night in my head. Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard.

Michael Small:
It's wonderful to have a great friend like that.

Maddy Miller:
There's definite signs that you're being watched over. "No, no, no, no, no."

Michael Small:
That sounded like her. And that brings me to the final little bit of audio that I want to share. It's an excerpt from the press conference at that 1998 Woodstock event where I asked her a question and she gave me an answer that I think is so relevant for our times. And I think it's a gift to hear what she answered. Just about a minute long, sort of giving Melanie the final word.

[Recorded interview starts]

Michael Small:
In the song, Candles in the Rain, you were very idealistic after being at Woodstock.

Melanie:
Yes.

Michael Small:
And you felt like we can stay bright against the night and we can stay dry against the rain and men can live as brothers.

Melanie:
Yes.

Michael Small:
Have you changed your thoughts at all about that based on the world we live in now?

Melanie:
No. I must say that at that time, it seemed like we were just about there. And I felt like we were just about to have a renaissance on Earth. And something did change. And now we're living in a more difficult and complex society. But I think people can rise to the cause. I really do believe that humanity will rise to the cause when they absolutely have to. I hope it isn't too late. But I do believe that people will rise to the cause.

[Recorded interview ends]

So that says it all. Melanie left us with a beautiful wish.

Maddy Miller:
Yep.

Michael Small:
And I sure hope it comes true.

Sally Libby:
Ah, me too.

Michael Small:
Thank you so much, Maddy. It was such a pleasure to speak with you today.

Sally Libby:
Loved having you.

Maddy Miller:
Thank you.

Michael Small:
I hope you picked up that we really loved your friend, Melanie.

Sally Libby:
We all did.

Maddy Miller:
Yeah, I did.

Michael Small:
And we send out our best wishes to you and to Melanie's family and to all the fans and friends who are missing her right now.

Sally Libby:
I have a last question for you, Maddy. Do you have any plans on putting together a book of your photos?

Maddy Miller:
I am. I'm going to do it. Her fans keep saying, you know, you're going to do a book, you're going to do a book. And, you know, my photographs have been, they show up all over the internet and they show up on albums and they show up and they show up and it's nice to see them, but they don't tell the story. You know, it's just the story in these pictures from where they started and where they went and how we connected. And I'm going to self-publish and I'm going through all my stuff now, finding treasures that haven't been seen.

Michael Small:
And if people want to hear about the book, they should check your website, right?

Sally Libby:
MaddyMillerPhoto.com

Maddy Miller:
Right.

Michael Small:
Sally, before we sign off, do you have any final reminders?

Sally Libby:
Yes, we do. For one thing, if you enjoyed this episode, we hope you'll sign up for our mailing list so you can get a reminder when we put out new episodes. There's a sign up form on the right side of the page on our website, which is at throwitoutpodcast.com

Michael Small:
And if we've made you crave more about Melanie, you'll find a collection of Maddy's wonderful photos on our site along with a playlist of my favorite recommended Melanie songs. Again, that's at throwitoutpodcast.com. And we hope you'll join us when we're back in a few weeks with another episode of...

Sally Libby:
I Couldn't Throw It Out!

Michael Small:
Bye Maddy! Bye Sally!

Sally Libby:
Bye Maddy!

Maddy Miller:
Bye Sally.

[Theme song begins]

I Couldn't Throw It Out theme song
Performed by Don Rauf, Boots Kamp and Jen Ayers
Written by Don Rauf and Michael Small
Produced and arranged by Boots Kamp

Look up that stairway
To my big attic
Am I a hoarder
Or am I a fanatic?

Decades of stories
Memories stacked
There is a redolence
Of some irrelevant facts

Well, I couldn't throw it out
I had to scream and shout
It all seems so unjust
But still I know I must
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out
Before I turn to dust
I've got to throw it out

Well I couldn't throw it out
Oh, I couldn't throw it out

I'll sort through my possessions
In these painful sessions
I guess this is what it's about
The poems, cards and papers
The moldy musty vapors
I just gotta sort it out

Well I couldn't throw it out
Well I couldn't throw it out
Oh, I couldn't throw it out
I couldn't throw it out

[Theme song ends]

END TRANSCRIPT