Klaus Nomi

One of the first celebrities to die of complications from AIDS, Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), better known as Klaus Nomi, was a German (born in Immenstadt, Bavaria) countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona.

In the 1960s, he worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper in West Berlin where he sang for the other ushers and maintenance crew on stage in front of the fire curtain after performances. Around that time he also sang opera arias at the Berlin gay discothèque Kleist Casino.

Nomi moved to New York City in 1972. He began his involvement with the art scene based in the East Village. According to a documentary film made by Andrew Horn, Nomi took singing lessons and supported himself working as a pastry chef. Also in 1972, Nomi appeared in a satirical camp production of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold at Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theater Company as the Rheinmaidens and the Wood Bird.

Nomi came to the attention of New York City's art scene in 1978 with his performance in "New Wave Vaudeville", a four-night event MC'd by artist David McDermott. Dressed in a skin-tight spacesuit with clear plastic cape, Nomi sang the aria Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix (My heart opens to your voice) from Camille Saint-Saëns' 1877 opera Samson et Dalila. The performance ended with a chaotic crash of strobe lights, smoke bombs, and loud electronic sound effects as Nomi backed away into the smoke. Joey Arias recalled: "I still get goose pimples when I think about it... It was like he was from a different planet and his parents were calling him home. When the smoke cleared, he was gone." The reaction was so overwhelmingly positive that he was invited to perform at clubs all over New York City.

At the New Wave Vaudeville show Klaus Nomi met Kristian Hoffman (who will be presented here at a later date), songwriter for the Mumps. Hoffman became Nomi's de facto musical director, assembling a band that included Page Wood from another New Wave vaudeville act, Come On, and Joe Katz, who was concurrently in The Student Teachers, the Accidents, and The Mumps.

He also helped Nomi choose his pop covers, including the Lou Christie song Lightnin' Strikes. Hoffman wrote several pop songs with which Nomi is closely identified: The Nomi Song, Total Eclipse, After The Fall, and Simple Man.

Disagreements with the management Nomi engaged led to a dissolution of this band, and Nomi continued without them. In the late 1970s Nomi assembled a group of up-and-coming models, singers, artists, and musicians to perform live with him, which at times included Joey Arias, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, John Sex and Kenny Scharf. He also appeared on Manhattan Cable's TV Party. David Bowie heard about Nomi's performances in New York and soon met him and Joey Arias at the Mudd Club. Bowie hired them as performers and backup singers for his appearance on Saturday Night Live which aired on December 15, 1979.

Nomi was so impressed with the plastic quasi-tuxedo suit that Bowie wore during The Man Who Sold the World that he commissioned one to be made for himself. Nomi can be seen wearing the suit on the cover of his self-titled album, as well as during a number of his music videos. Nomi wore his variant of the outfit, in monochromatic black-and-white with spandex and makeup to match, until the last few months of his life.

In the dawn of the 80s he was signed by RCA. His first, self-titled album was recorded in New York and came out in 1981. The first single off the album was the Lesley Gore hit You Don't Own Me.

On the B-side was a song that received equal attention. It wasn't included in his first album, but it did appear in followup album Simple Man (1982). Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) is the English language adaptation of the song that Marlene Dietrich (another future presentation of ours) sang in Blue Angel.

In 1981, Klaus Nomi may have been a niche act in most of the world, but he was a star in Greece. The reason: this Campari ad.

The add, which used the chorus of Total Eclipse, became so popular that his first album, which included the song, managed some serious sales. Here's the whole song, live from the 1981 rock documentary film, Urgh! A Music War.

Nomi's second single also contained great songs on both sides. On one side was the Kristian Hoffman penned Nomi Song.

The other side contained The Cold Song (from Henry Purcell's 1691 opera King Arthur):

From Pop to Chanson to Opera and then back to Pop. His next single was a remake of Lou Christie's Lightnin' Strikes:

The following single was the second album's title track, Simple Man, penned once again by Kristian Hoffman.

The B-side was chillingly titled Death. His own would come a few months later. The song was from Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas.

I love the ability of this man to skip from genre to genre as if it's the most natural thing in music business. His next single was Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead. You know the one: from The Wizard Of Oz.

Two singles of his were released posthumously: in 1998, Za Bak Daz was coupled with Silent Night. Here's the latter:

After The Fall was a track on his second album. It was also released as a single in the 00s.

Now, a small parenthesis. I promised you the songs corresponding to our quiz from a couple of days ago. Congrats to AFHI, he got all but one. (Slow clap).

First quiz, following the presentation of The Beatles' video of A Day In The Life: During the last 3 weeks, I presented a song which momentarily pays tribute to A Day In The Life. Which was it?

A Day In The Life is referenced in Young Americans by David Bowie (the line "I heard the news today, oh boy). The song was presented here as a bonus a few weeks ago. Here's Bowie performing on Dick Cavett Show.

As a bonus here's Bowie with Cher in the Young Americans Medley:

Next quiz: The opening line of one of the biggest hits of the second half of the 50s is featured at the end of one of the most famous songs by the best Punk Rock group ever (which is not the Sex Pistols). Which is the 50s song and which is the 70s song?

The answer that I had in mind is the following: pay attention to the opening line of this 1956 megahit by Guy Mitchell (there have also been other successful versions):

Now pay attention to the closing line of this classic Clash song:

Then AFHI, bless his soul, brought another potential answer to my attention. Listen to this Mickey & Sylvia R&B classic and pay attention to the spoken word repartee in the middle section:

Now, listen closely around the 1:43 mark and then again around the 2:19 mark of Trash by the New York Dolls (they too will have their day on our blog).

... But also pay attention to the finale of this Lou Reed song (another future presentee here):

Next quiz: A line from a hit that has been sung by both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, created by the pioneer of Rock'n'Roll, whom receives tribute in one of the best scenes of the film Back To The Future, is featured at the end of one of the most famous songs by the pixie prince of Glam Rock and his band. Which is the 50s song and which is the 70s song?

The first song in question by Chuck Berry, as AFHI so rightly said, is Little Queenie:

Now, here's Marc Bolan and his group T.Rex (we'll be presenting them too, don't you worry), with their UK #1 Get It On, which was also their only Top 10 hit in the US as Bang A Gong (the title change was a question of an earlier US hit of the same name by Chase). In the T.Rex song, just before the final fade out, almost inaudibly, comes the line from Little Queenie "Meanwhile, I was still thinkin'':

Final quiz: A line from Velvet Underground's seminal first album is referenced in a film of the last 20 years directed by Europe's most famous living gay auteur. Which is the song and which is the film?

The Velvet Underground song is I'm Waiting For The Man, which is about a guy trying to score drugs from his dealer. The line is "First thing you learn is that you always gotta wait".

The same line, again in reference to a drug dealer, is heard in the dialogue of Pedro Almodovar's 1997 hit film Live Flesh (Carne Tremula). It is, to quote the trailer's uploader's description, "Almodovar's steamy and lustful film with the young and then unknown Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem." Here's the trailer:

With Klaus Nomi, we re-entered the thematic unity concerning LGBT or LGBT-significant artists that come from non-English speaking countries. We'll do the rounds for the next few weeks. Stick around.