In these times of information overload I have to admit that it takes a lot to impress me musically. I was working while listening to Last.fm tuned to Space Age Pop and some bizarre synth pop tune came up. It was Klaus Nomi a mix of Nina Hagen, David Bowie and Boy George. I had to blog it. You can listen some of his songs in Last.fm.
And here’s the bio from Last.fm
Klaus Nomi (born Klaus Sperber) (January 24, 1944–August 6, 1983) was a German countertenor performer, noted for his remarkable vocal performances and unusual stage persona. He became one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS, in 1983.
Nomi moved from Germany to New York City in the mid-1970s. He began his involvement with the art scene based in the East Village. After a chance meeting in a nightclub, David Bowie hired him and Joey Arias as back-up singers for a performance on Saturday Night Live on December 14, 1979. Nomi also collaborated with famed producer Man Parrish.
Nomi is remembered for his bizarrely theatrical live performances, sporting heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and highly-stylized hairdos. His songs were just as unusual, ranging from synthesizer-laden interpretations of classic opera to covers of songs like Chubby Checker’s The Twist.
In the 1990s, Nomi was frequently mentioned in Dennis Miller’s monologues as one of his favorite obscure references.
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh will often play Nomi’s cover of Lesley Gore’s You Don’t Own Me on his program (as introductory music for news items regarding homosexuality).
Source Klaus Nomi – Last.fm
theres a movie about him: http://imdb.com/title/tt0402406/
hmmmm, Klaus came onto the scene just at the right time; post-punk, post new wave, no wave, anything goes wave and there were quite a few things that impressed me and my pals when we went to see him and the show at Hurrah and Danceteria and some joint in Long Island City; the first was how theatrical the settings for his songs were, then although there was a live band, probably session musicians, there was also a lot of recorded stuff, something reasonably novel at the time. I just remember seeing him, not knowing what to think except that I witnessed a true star, a real performer, a consummate entertainer and an artist. Some of the stuff was just hilarious, like his version of Lou Christy’s “Lightning Strikes” or a Kraftwerky version of Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”. I was really lucky to have had the chance to see him perform, it made a profound impact on me, having grown up with theatrical type bands like the Tubes, Sparks and Alice Cooper. Rush Limbaugh would be delighted to leave a legacy half as impacting as the one Klaus has and you can be sure he won’t.