Deep Dive - Klaus Nomi
Biography Born in the German state of Bavaria in 1944, Klaus Nomi emigrated to New York City at the age of 28, doing bits of off-Broadway theater work and moonlighting as a pastry chef. By 1978, he immersed himself in the East Village performance art scene and got the first big feather in his cap when he performed an aria in a space suit at Irving Plaza's New Wave Vaudeville series. His face was covered with white powder and black eyeliner, his hair a combination of bedhead-meets-Ed Grimley-meets-Flock of Seagulls. Klaus Nomi self-identified as an alien, and to all intents and purposes he looked like one. Nomi further refined his onstage persona the following year, when he performed backup for David Bowie on Saturday Night Live. That aired December 15, 1979, and Bowie—flanked by Klaus and fellow NYC performance artist Joey Arias—performed three songs that ultimately marked a turning point in Bowie's career. New wave was the genre du jour, so Bowie was keeping up with the times. It was time to get weird(er), and Klaus' eccentric aesthetic was perhaps the greatest entrée (and cosign) for Bowie into that world.
It was a mutually beneficial relationship that lasted just one evening. Klaus was enamored with the giant plastic tux Bowie wore during the performance, and later made it his own. The exposure also garnered him a record deal with Bowie's label RCA. As for Bowie, he had a new muse, but the adoration would come from afar. Convinced that Bowie would deliver upon a loose promise to work together after their first and last time on stage, Klaus waited for his call. His phone never rang. Still, Klaus Nomi went on to become his own brand. He was deeply rooted in opera, having previously worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper opera company in Germany, along with occasionally belting arias at Berlin's landmark gay club Kleist-Casino. New York's burgeoning art scene mixed perfectly with Nomi's existing sound. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Jean-Michel Basquiat or Keith Haring to hop on stage while Klaus performed his selection of hits, most notably his anthem "The Nomi Song". His formula was consistent, but not formulaic. Every song included dramatic multiples shift in octave, where Klaus would rise to extreme highs and lows, handling both effortlessly. He would jerk his hands into karate chops with each changing note, widening his eyes every time he skirted into higher octaves. The production on his songs was always heavily synthesized and theatrical. That plastic suit became his signature attire, and he went on to release two albums—his 1981 eponymous debut and Simple Man the following year. He died on August 6, 1983 from complications due to AIDS, making him one of the first celebrities to succumb to the disease. His ashes were dusted across New York City. It's 36 years since Klaus Nomi shared a stage with David Bowie, but the title-track from Bowie's forthcoming album Blackstar has a Nomi-like uncanniness. Here's a five-video crash course on the legendary outsider.
The infamous SNL performance of "The Man Who Sold The World". Check Bowie's plastic suit that Nomi would later adopt, as he and Joey Arias sang backup, convinced that night would lead somewhere. (Here's a bonus of Klaus dragging a plastic pink poodle on stage). A 1982 performance of "The Nomi Song" in the notorious plastic suit. In 2004, Andrew Horn directed a documentary about the life of Klaus Nomi, titled The Nomi Song. The film highlights how Klaus manage to reinvent himself in New York City. This song served as his battle cry, and his fans-turned-friends (affectionately called "the Nomis") would also use it as their manifesto.
Here's the video for Nomi's 1981 cover of Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes". It became something of a tradition for Nomi to take favored pop hits and turn them into avant-garde productions. He also reworked Chubby Checker's "The Twist" from an upbeat celebration of a dance craze to a down-tempo, almost sinisterly seductive song about body contortion. While his cover of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" from The Wizard Of Oz is equally odd, it still retains some of the qualities of the original.
Klaus' video for his single "Simple Man". In the video, he's sporting a suit, along with a trench coat, walking around town claiming he's just an everyday guy. At one point during the video he ditches the suit and returns to his plastic tux at a party where everyone is admiring him, but he still seems out of place, hence Klaus' claim that he came from outer space. When he attempted to conform, it didn't work; when he expressed his true self, it still felt otherworldly.
Perhaps Klaus Nomi's most sobering performance, this was his very last time on a stage. Toward the end of his career, Klaus delved deeper into his operatic side, even switching up his attire to appear more theatrical. By the end of 1982, he was deteriorating due to AIDS. His body was covered in lesions, so he would don a baroque-style collar to mask the sores on his neck. This performance of "Cold Genius" (from Henry Purcell's King Arthur) took place six months before he passed, during a European mini-tour. He walked his frail body and tiny legs up the stairs to the microphone, and delivered the performance of his life.
Documentary and Videos
The Nomi Song - 2004 - Directed by Andrew Horn
https://youtu.be/W0PszBID3Lk
Vintage Annals Archive Klaus Nomi Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4zYKaPKme6i-6pTBA52VP_42GCgsYYl
Articles
https://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/after-the-fall-remembering-klaus-nomi-30-years-later
https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/klaus-nomi-alien-behind-david-bowie/
https://www.openculture.com/2016/08/the-enchanting-opera-performances-of-new-wave-icon-klaus-nomi.html
https://glreview.org/article/klaus-nomi-countertenor-of-glam-rock/
https://www.cerclemagazine.com/en/magazine/articles-magazine/klaus-nomi-rock-s-opera-singer/
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/970-the-curious-career-of-klaus-nomi/
https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/who-was-klaus-nomi/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/06/17/musical-spaceman-klaus-nomi-returns-to-earth/?sh=4256910852b2
It was a mutually beneficial relationship that lasted just one evening. Klaus was enamored with the giant plastic tux Bowie wore during the performance, and later made it his own. The exposure also garnered him a record deal with Bowie's label RCA. As for Bowie, he had a new muse, but the adoration would come from afar. Convinced that Bowie would deliver upon a loose promise to work together after their first and last time on stage, Klaus waited for his call. His phone never rang. Still, Klaus Nomi went on to become his own brand. He was deeply rooted in opera, having previously worked as an usher at the Deutsche Oper opera company in Germany, along with occasionally belting arias at Berlin's landmark gay club Kleist-Casino. New York's burgeoning art scene mixed perfectly with Nomi's existing sound. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Jean-Michel Basquiat or Keith Haring to hop on stage while Klaus performed his selection of hits, most notably his anthem "The Nomi Song". His formula was consistent, but not formulaic. Every song included dramatic multiples shift in octave, where Klaus would rise to extreme highs and lows, handling both effortlessly. He would jerk his hands into karate chops with each changing note, widening his eyes every time he skirted into higher octaves. The production on his songs was always heavily synthesized and theatrical. That plastic suit became his signature attire, and he went on to release two albums—his 1981 eponymous debut and Simple Man the following year. He died on August 6, 1983 from complications due to AIDS, making him one of the first celebrities to succumb to the disease. His ashes were dusted across New York City. It's 36 years since Klaus Nomi shared a stage with David Bowie, but the title-track from Bowie's forthcoming album Blackstar has a Nomi-like uncanniness. Here's a five-video crash course on the legendary outsider.
The infamous SNL performance of "The Man Who Sold The World". Check Bowie's plastic suit that Nomi would later adopt, as he and Joey Arias sang backup, convinced that night would lead somewhere. (Here's a bonus of Klaus dragging a plastic pink poodle on stage). A 1982 performance of "The Nomi Song" in the notorious plastic suit. In 2004, Andrew Horn directed a documentary about the life of Klaus Nomi, titled The Nomi Song. The film highlights how Klaus manage to reinvent himself in New York City. This song served as his battle cry, and his fans-turned-friends (affectionately called "the Nomis") would also use it as their manifesto.
Here's the video for Nomi's 1981 cover of Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes". It became something of a tradition for Nomi to take favored pop hits and turn them into avant-garde productions. He also reworked Chubby Checker's "The Twist" from an upbeat celebration of a dance craze to a down-tempo, almost sinisterly seductive song about body contortion. While his cover of "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" from The Wizard Of Oz is equally odd, it still retains some of the qualities of the original.
Klaus' video for his single "Simple Man". In the video, he's sporting a suit, along with a trench coat, walking around town claiming he's just an everyday guy. At one point during the video he ditches the suit and returns to his plastic tux at a party where everyone is admiring him, but he still seems out of place, hence Klaus' claim that he came from outer space. When he attempted to conform, it didn't work; when he expressed his true self, it still felt otherworldly.
Perhaps Klaus Nomi's most sobering performance, this was his very last time on a stage. Toward the end of his career, Klaus delved deeper into his operatic side, even switching up his attire to appear more theatrical. By the end of 1982, he was deteriorating due to AIDS. His body was covered in lesions, so he would don a baroque-style collar to mask the sores on his neck. This performance of "Cold Genius" (from Henry Purcell's King Arthur) took place six months before he passed, during a European mini-tour. He walked his frail body and tiny legs up the stairs to the microphone, and delivered the performance of his life.
Documentary and Videos
The Nomi Song - 2004 - Directed by Andrew Horn
https://youtu.be/W0PszBID3Lk
Vintage Annals Archive Klaus Nomi Playlist
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4zYKaPKme6i-6pTBA52VP_42GCgsYYl
Articles
https://brightestyoungthings.com/articles/after-the-fall-remembering-klaus-nomi-30-years-later
https://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/klaus-nomi-alien-behind-david-bowie/
https://www.openculture.com/2016/08/the-enchanting-opera-performances-of-new-wave-icon-klaus-nomi.html
https://glreview.org/article/klaus-nomi-countertenor-of-glam-rock/
https://www.cerclemagazine.com/en/magazine/articles-magazine/klaus-nomi-rock-s-opera-singer/
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/970-the-curious-career-of-klaus-nomi/
https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/who-was-klaus-nomi/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidchiu/2019/06/17/musical-spaceman-klaus-nomi-returns-to-earth/?sh=4256910852b2