!) A cartoon illustration of a little known artist.2) Klaus Nomi moved to America from Berlin in the 70's and became an avant garde performer during a mysterious florid time in New York City.
3) He sang like Maria Calas, and when people saw him perform, they had to be reminded that he was not lip syncing...his voice was so unusual. He was a singer and PERFORMANCE ARTIST
4) He taught himself to sing and to bake. His music was sci-fi high-voiced opera done to a slight pop beat.
5) He was an excellent pastry chef(he worked at the WTC, and then free-lanced)
6) At Max's Kansas City, Kenny Scharf was one of his go-go dancers.
7) He was friends with Scharf (neighbours actually), Keith Haring, Ann Magnuson and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
8) A documentary was made a couple years ago called The Nomi Song. We saw it last week and it is very good.
9) Ann Magnuson says she and Nomi used to watch All MY Children together.
10) Klaus Nomi's name is an anagram of the science magazie OMNI.
11) He performed on Saturday Night Live in 1979 with David Bowie.
12) Nomi was the first celebrity to die of AIDS, in 1983. People were so afraid of the horrifying unexplained "gay cancer" that many of his friends did not see him at his deathbed.
13) Malcolm McLaren's dance opera version of Madame Butterfly was a huge hit one year after Nomi's death. B-52's, raves, techno, Nine Inch Nails, Bowie, Culture Club, Madonna, Marilyn Manson all owe props to him...in fact, if Klaus Nomi had survived even a year longer to appear in videos on MTV...I probably wouldn't be writing this Thursday Thirteen about him, he would have been a household name.
(oops...since my template has been updated..."mister linky" is on the fritz...I'll add you here if you leave a comment until I figure out how to get "mister linky" to work)
:) Thanks for stopping by!
1) Tempest Knight, 2) Karen, 3) Single Parents Unite, 4) Joystory, 5) Christine D'Abo, 6) Amy Ruttan, 7) Ed, 8) Jordan Stratford 9) Carmen, 10 Thomma Lynn,/li>, 11 Art by Diana Obe, 12 Matthew.
13 comments:
Great info! Happy T13!
On an unrelated note, the word "nomi" (spelling is likely not the same) is the Thai word for breast/breast milk. When my niece and nephew were younger they used to poke me in the chest (I'm ... um ... blessed...) and squeal "NOMI" while giggling hysterically.
Very cool....you must be a big fan;) Happy TT and thanks for stopping by. Its always nice to see you:)
i'd never heard of Nomi so once again, thanx for the education.
and thanx for the visit
Oh, I've never heard of him either. It's sad about his death and how misunderstood AIDS was back then. What a shame.
Ya, I'm glad people are aware of AIDS now, btw love your new look!!!
Great template and thank you for introducing me to Klaus Nomi. I shall definitely be looking for more of him.
Ed
http://edsthread.co.nr
Nomi left an impact on my teen years, I thought he was amazing. He was like the bastard love child of Nina Hagen and Pee Wee Herman.
You might also want to look up Lene Lovich for another icon of the era.
Tempest Knight, thanks for your comment and your visit. I figure Klaus Nomi would kind of be up your alley just in response to your beautiful blog design!
Karen, the Thai word for breast milk? Well, that would probably please Mr. Nomi...and how amazing your neice and nephew know that word...I think there is something I missed about your family.
Lori, well he was an impressive figure when I was younger a very strange adventurous artist.
Joy, I kind of think that besides a documentary on the man...a movie version of his life and his character would be a really good idea for a movie. It could take in the whole NYC scene at the time, a little like a Warhol story. ..even though movies about that time haven't done very well like "FActory Girl" or "I Shot Andy Warhol". It may not be a blockbuster but an art house style movie?
Christine, yes, it is a story of a man's life worthy of operetic tragedy.
Amy, thanks! One of the TT participants did a lot of work for me on the blog...GOOFY GIRL.
Ed, he would make a good soundtrack for an interesting dinner or something wouldn't he? He would suit the taste of dance music too...and I suspect there are some remixes of his stuff online somewhere.
Jordan, hi, I should have known that a fellow gnostic like yourself would have some music in common with me. He was like a fallen star for his brief time on earth. I wonder of the Moby song "we are all made of stars" was inspired by Klaus Nomi in fact?
Now I'm smarter, having learned something new. :)
I like your new layout, btw.
Thanks for introducing me to Nomi -- he sounds absolutely fascinating! And your new blog layout rocks. :)
Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by my T13!
Also TY for introduction to Nomi - I will do more research -
Hmm... hard to say... Nomi was unique, but he was not "user friendly" by any stretch. He was an acquired taste... the wealthy-person's Nina Hagen in some ways... although that is a VERY poor comparison. I don't think he would have truly entered the mainstream unless he truly toned down... much like Bowie did.
Post a Comment