1972

M E L A N I E - U N I C E F

Germany - Austria - Rumania - Yugoslavia - Belgium - Netherlands - Denmark - England


Last year, Melanie was given an honour of which she is very proud: she was named official spokeswoman for UNICEF. It came about after she played at the United Nations at the opening of the General Assembly in 1971.

Melanie will be starting a tour of Europe for UNICEF on September 23rd. Starting from Essen in Germany, then on to Tivoli in Copenhagen, On October 14th.

"They liked me and they asked me to do a tour for them."

Melanie was delighted -

"I always knew that there would be something that I would be involved with, and UNICEF is it. I really can't believe that they wanted me - I remember collecting pennies on Halloween with a milk carton with a picture of Danny Kaye on it. I was waiting for some opportunity to do it. I think it is one of the only organisations definitely helping children. I'd really like to do a Christmas concert for UNICEF somewhere.

I'll probably cry my way around the world on this tour - I can't wait."

U.N.I.C.E.F. used to stand for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, but now it's shorter name is United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It was formed after the 2nd world war to help children who had suffered from the war. The UNICEF Halloween programme was the brainchild of a small Sunday school class in the US. It was inspired to give the ancient ritual of 'Trick or Treat' new meaning, the year was 1950, and the collection 17 dollars. Today, the efforts of millions of young people in the US and Canada bring UNICEF a Halloween gift of over 5 million dollars.


Record Mirror 1972

Melanie, Neighborhood Records singing-writing star who has been named UNICEF's representative to the contemporary audience, has embarked on a month-long tour of 10 nations, where she is appearing in concert, on television, and at news conferences.

At all appearances, she will speak to the younger crowd about the work of UNICEF in developing countries.

Her tour began with a gala concert at the Olympic Stadium in Essen, Germany, which was seen live on German TV and ends October 22 in Phoenix. She will give live concerts in Essen, Frankfurt, Manchester, Dublin and Phoenix. Melanie will also appear in national TV programs in Amsterdam, Toronto, Paris and London, for "'Trick or Treat, and greeting card campaigns. Before leaving the US she filmed general UNICEF and Halloween "Trick or Treat" appeals in the United Nations television series. A major greeting card company is using some of her lyrics on a series of cards.


These photographs were taken with a 200 mm telephoto lens freehand at 1/30th sec. on Kodak 3x by Roland Tischler on the 27th September 1972, when he was 37 jears old at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna (Austria).
Copyright is retained - reproduced here with his very kind permission.


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