SHA NA NA
A ’50s-flavored novelty act, Sha Na
Na was as surprised as anyone to be
“staring dumbfounded out the open
door of a troop-transport helicopter
as it flew over miles of hippies,
abandoned cars, smashed fences,
campfires and wandering day-glo-
colored armies looking for water and
food and dope,” wrote member
Robert Leonard in 1989. “When we
burst onto stage... a quarter of a
million freaks probably thought
they’d taken the wrong acid.”MELANIE
Just 22, the sweet singer, best known
for “Brand New Key,” thought
Woodstock “would be families with
picnic blankets and a pastoral scene
on a hillside. There’d be things for
sale, and I could go shopping for arts
and crafts,” she admitted in an
interview with Jeff Tamarkin of Best
Classic Bands. “As I was leaving, I
was in this euphoric high of, ‘Oh my
god, I just resonated with 500,000
people, and that in itself is a mind-
and life-changing experience.’ ”