Nomi

March 31, 2006 12:00 AM

NomiI just discoed Nomi. Here, here and here( that site is broke in way that I think is some sort of artistic statement. Or it could be just bad html.) I was a teenager then and had never heard of him, but I'm strangely impressed. He's a bald Gary Numan, he's like the Cirque du Soleil playing bluegrass.
posted by nyxxxx (34 comments total)

Earlier FPP on Klaus Nomi.
posted by Pseudonumb at 12:24 AM on March 31, 2006

there's an excellent documentary about him called "The Nomi Song." David Bowie adored him. He's one of the people whose death brought aids to the attention of a lot of people for the first time. He died of it before practically the entire country had even heard of it.
posted by shmegegge at 12:55 AM on March 31, 2006

.

Nomi was a man before his time.
posted by ioerror at 12:58 AM on March 31, 2006

Unfortunately, Bowie brought Nomi to America just to make himself look weirder and dropped Klaus when he realized he was being out-sung-and-androgyned (this is all hearsay but I'll buy it just cause the same thing happened to Wayne/Jayne County)

you used to be able to find the performance of David Bowie on SNL with Klaus Nomi on the ol' Youtube, but it looks like it got pulled

btw, that second link is from Roctober zine's Hall of Dynamic Greatness which is worth checking out if you like rock journalism without the indie pretentiousness of the Pitchforks of the world
posted by elr at 1:11 AM on March 31, 2006

In the mid-80's I ran into Klaus Nomi during a late night quest for pizza in Greenwich Village. Definately my coolest NYC "celebrity" sighting.
posted by bephillips at 1:58 AM on March 31, 2006

Freaky genius. I was listening to his version of Silent Night earlier this morning.
posted by jack_mo at 2:48 AM on March 31, 2006

Wow- I just watched "The Nomi Song" last night. It's a great movie, as shmegegge says, and there are so many wonderful moments: Klaus's soprano filling the courtyard of his apartment with arias to the delight of his punk neighbors, Klaus cheerily making pastry on a cable access show, the goofy dada inspired stage shows, his bandmates' heartbreaking reaction to his "gay cancer". There's also a version of 'Falling in Love Again' that's as tender (well, in it's way) as the video in the first link is outrageous.
Thanks for the links, nyxxxx!
posted by maryh at 3:28 AM on March 31, 2006

I just discoed Nomi.

did you do the hustle?
posted by quonsar at 4:14 AM on March 31, 2006

I prefer the songs where Nomi demonstrates his operatic talents. "Lightning Strikes" is by far his best tune. The way he belts out:

"When I see lips begging to be kissed -- I CAN'T STOP! (stop) I CAN'T STOP MYSELF!"

And then goes off into operatic glee with the (almost painful) chorus:

"Lighting's striking again!"

God bless this weird, merry man.
posted by neek at 4:27 AM on March 31, 2006

Last year's documentary was good, although I can't seem to remember much of it now so perhaps it was not so compelling ...
posted by intermod at 4:31 AM on March 31, 2006

Damn the man was sooo advanced..and the description of Cirque du Soleil meet bluegrass kind of describe that well.

I just discoed Nomi.

did you do the hustle?

Oh dear god no so american ! I did the Gioca Jouer
posted by elpapacito at 5:08 AM on March 31, 2006

I just discoed Nomi.

I don't come to you with my problems.
posted by sourwookie at 5:45 AM on March 31, 2006

I saw him on SNL way back in the day with David Bowie, he was singing backup and I looked at Bowie and thought 'cool', then I saw and heard Nomi and went 'Coooooooooollllllll ! ! !'

.
posted by mk1gti at 6:34 AM on March 31, 2006

Here are some Nomi pics
posted by mk1gti at 6:47 AM on March 31, 2006

Total Eclipse mp3
posted by mk1gti at 7:01 AM on March 31, 2006

No wienerschnitzel?
posted by itchylick at 7:01 AM on March 31, 2006

but 0 results from from google video
posted by matthewchen at 7:04 AM on March 31, 2006

Klaus over the years
posted by mk1gti at 7:04 AM on March 31, 2006

I first learned of Klaus Nomi (doing Total Eclipse) in Urgh! A Music War. That video (and Klaus) played a huge role in shaping my musical taste.
posted by drobot at 7:09 AM on March 31, 2006

Did anyone notice the French female olympic figureskater who used one of Nomi's operatic pieces in her performance? Magnificent!

I went as Klaus Nomi for Halloween last year, clear plastic vinyl cape and all.

There, in the middle of downtown Tucson, AZ, a man asked me if I was supposed to be Klaus Nomi. Turns out he knew Klaus back in the day when he lived in NYC. Small world.

Oh, and The Nomi Song DVD is awesome.
posted by Neologian at 8:18 AM on March 31, 2006

Nomi Song was good; a little disturbing, but good. "Klaus would come home at five in the morning and tell me he blew all the truck drivers at the rest stop on the interstate..."

Pre-AIDs gaydom seems to have been a little extreme. If you want to know why some people have a problem with homosexuals, it's just all these weird excess stories still hang around.
posted by Perigee at 8:29 AM on March 31, 2006

Neologian - do you have pictures?!!

The Nomi Song was one of my very favorite docs from last year (at least I saw it last year) - I continue to find Klaus and the whole scene at the time very interesting.
posted by pinky at 8:31 AM on March 31, 2006

Saw "The Nomi Song" last year, and everything you've read here is true. Well worth your ~90 minutes.

And if you liked "The Nomi Song" be sure to pick up "The Legend of Leigh Bowery." Same kind of guy, same crazy costumes, same sad, untimely end.
posted by CMichaelCook at 8:51 AM on March 31, 2006

Photos? Yeah, lemme take a look. I do somewhere. The cape was the best part. I don't have that nice compact, bulbous Nomi head.
posted by Neologian at 8:55 AM on March 31, 2006

Yeah, Nomi ... I just never thought he was worth my time.

I mean, if I got the choice between listening to him, or, say Minor Threat or Killing Joke or ...
posted by Relay at 9:17 AM on March 31, 2006

It was 25 years ago, or so. You've probably heard all the Minor Threat and Killing Joke albums many, many times.

You've now got time for Nomi.

Which is how I discovered him (not discoed, typo). I've been going back and trying to find all the stuff I missed from the early 80's.
posted by nyxxxx at 9:49 AM on March 31, 2006

If you like Nomi, try to find a copy of Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (by SNL guru Michael O'Donahue) which contains an extended performance by him.
posted by grytpype at 11:19 AM on March 31, 2006

Neologian - sweet!

for the past year we've been bursting into "TOtal Eclipse - it's a TOtal Eclipse....." at random moments. Viva Klaus.

(and I find Leigh Bowery almost equally interesting..this is exactly the kind of artist/personality I really enjoy knowing about)
posted by pinky at 1:00 PM on March 31, 2006

My wild guess is that Frtiz Lang's Metropolis was one of his more favorite films.
posted by y2karl at 1:13 PM on March 31, 2006

"I first learned of Klaus Nomi (doing Total Eclipse) in Urgh! A Music War. That video (and Klaus) played a huge role in shaping my musical taste."
Yes! Me too! And I highly recommend Urgh - it was a GREAT concert! (Early U2, Gary Numan, really bad Go-Gos, etc.)
posted by WaterSprite at 4:49 PM on March 31, 2006

oh, and...

.
posted by WaterSprite at 4:49 PM on March 31, 2006

Urgh! is where I found out about him, too! (I was watching for the Oingo Boingo performance) When they first introduce Nomi, and there's a slow pan up his tight stockinged legs before you see his face, a friend of mine said: "Man, this chick has some nice legs."
posted by shmegegge at 5:20 AM on April 1, 2006

When will someone release Urgh! on DVD? I've been patiently waiting for this outstanding concert film for years. I last saw it on an old show called Nightflight about 23 years ago.
posted by reidfleming at 8:21 PM on April 1, 2006

perigree: Pre-AIDs gaydom seems to have been a little extreme. If you want to know why some people have a problem with homosexuals, it's just all these weird excess stories still hang around.

ooh, I love to play this game

for this, let's use P-Funk from the same era. 6 to 11 black men (and one atomic dog) from Jersey arrive on stage, by way of a full size Mothership. They are uber-sexual, flanked by booty-shaking alien flygirl-prototypes. Every last one of them is wearing diapers. They are open about the fact that they are high on cocaine, acid, and whatever else they can get their hands on...

Pre-AIDs BLACKdom seems to have been a little extreme. If you want to know why some people have a problem with BLACK PEOPLE, it's just all these weird excess stories still hang around

because, of course, Klaus Nomi was as representative of gay culture as Parliament-Funkadelic was of African-American culture. Extraterrestrial drug sluts, one and all! Don't let them date our daughters!
posted by elr at 7:37 PM on April 2, 2006