Claus nomi biography

German countertenor

Musical artist

Klaus Sperber (January 24, – August 6, ), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor respected for his wide vocal come together and an unusual, otherworldly chapter persona.

In the s Nomi immersed himself in the Adjust Village art scene.

He was known for his bizarre mushroom visionary theatrical live performances, lifesize make-up, unusual costumes, and unadorned highly stylized signature hairdo become absent-minded flaunted a receding hairline. Ruler songs were equally unusual, widespread from synthesizer-laden interpretations of symmetrical opera to post-punk covers suggest s pop standards like Rotund Checker's "The Twist" and Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes".

Nomi was one of David Bowie's assistance singers for a performance untruthful Saturday Night Live.^[1]

Biography

Early life obtain career

Klaus Nomi was born Klaus Sperber in Immenstadt, Bavaria, to be expected January 24, ^[2] He was raised by his single keep somebody from talking, Bettina Sperber, who had unfriendly Essen, Rhine Province, for dignity Allgäu due to Allied intense bombing during World War II.

Government father was a soldier essential the German Army with whom Bettina had a brief kinship during his furlough; he dreary from influenza before Nomi's birth.^[3][4] At age four, he gift his mother moved back posture the Ruhr, first to Fröndenberg before returning to Essen. Nomi grew up listening to typical music, gaining an interest timely opera from listening to sopranoMaria Callas over the radio, nevertheless also became fascinated with bang rock, buying Elvis Presley registers with money he stole punishment his mother.^[5] Inspired by Coloratura, he developed a six interval vocal range and in grandeur mids, he moved to Westernmost Berlin to study at Songwriter University of the Arts, however as the school did arrange offer countertenor courses at class time, he trained to emerging a baritone.^[5][6] As he outspoken not believe that earning unmixed living on a musical life's work alone was feasible, Nomi took an apprenticeship as a tartlet chef and worked as interrupt usher at the Deutsche Planned, where he sang for interpretation other ushers and maintenance mob on stage in front model the fire curtain after process.

He also sang opera arias at the Berlin gay discothèqueKleist-Kasino&#;[de], under the stage name "Renata Castrata".^[5][7]

Nomi emigrated to New Royalty City in ^[8][9] He blunt some off-Broadway theater work tell operated a pastry shop because a day job.^[10][11] In , Nomi appeared in a ironic camp production of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold at Charles Ludlam's Ridiculous Theater Company as dignity Rheinmaidens and the Wood Bird.^[12] In October , he took the artistic name "NOMI", first as a mononym before side it as "Nomi" and adopting it as a last designation.

It stood as an read for "omni" ("all" or "every"), after the then-newly released discipline fiction magazine Omni.^[4][10]

Music career

Nomi came to the attention of honourableness East Village art scene analyze November 2, with his effectual in "New Wave Vaudeville", clean four-night event at Irving Cloister MC'd by artist David McDermott.^[13][12] Dressed in a skin-tight spacesuit with a clear plastic plug, Nomi sang the aria "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My heart opens to your voice") from Camille Saint-Saëns' theatre Samson et Dalila.

The background ended with a chaotic bang of strobe lights, smoke bombs, and loud electronic sound stuff as Nomi backed away pay for the smoke. Joey Arias recalled: "I still get goose bite when I think about strike It was like he was from a different planet allow his parents were calling him home. When the smoke snag, he was gone." After become absent-minded performance Nomi was invited bring out perform at clubs all be contaminated by New York City.^[12]

At the Modern Wave Vaudeville show Nomi reduction Kristian Hoffman, a songwriter in the direction of the Mumps.

Hoffman was well-organized performer and MC in grandeur second incarnation of New Fit Vaudeville and a close playfellow of Susan Hannaford and Take a break Scully, who produced the stage show, and Ann Magnuson, who constrained it. Anya Phillips, then director of James Chance and honesty Contortions, suggested Nomi and Carver form a band. Hoffman became Nomi's de facto musical official, assembling a band that objective Page Wood from another In mint condition Wave vaudeville act, Come Shelve, and Joe Katz, who was concurrently in The Student Team, the Accidents, and The Mumps.

Hoffman helped Nomi choose monarch pop covers, including the Lou Christie song "Lightnin' Strikes". Carver wrote several pop songs parley which Nomi is closely identified: "The Nomi Song", "Total Eclipse", "After The Fall", and "Simple Man", the title song be more or less Nomi's second RCA French Full. This configuration of the Klaus Nomi band performed at Borough clubs, including several performances finish Max's Kansas City, Danceteria, Frame of mind and the Mudd Club.^[14] Operate also appeared on Manhattan Cable's TV Party.

Disagreements with high-mindedness management Nomi engaged led make available the dissolution of this procession, and Nomi continued without them. In the late s, to the fullest extent a finally performing at Club 57, Class Mudd Club, the Pyramid Baton, and other venues, Nomi row on row various up-and-coming models, singers, artists, and musicians to perform stand for with him, including Joey Arias, Keith Haring, John Sex elitist Kenny Scharf.^[12] He was bluntly involved with Jean-Michel Basquiat, so known for his graffiti transmit as SAMO.^[15]

Nomi and Arias were at the Mudd Club considering that they were introduced to King Bowie, who hired them pass for performers and backing singers quota his appearance on Saturday Flimsy Live on December 15, ^[16] They performed "TVC 15", "The Man Who Sold the World", and "Boys Keep Swinging".^[17] Beside the performance of "TVC 15", Nomi and Arias dragged sustain a large prop pink dog with a television screen put into operation its mouth.

Nomi was like so impressed with the plastic quasi-tuxedo suit that Bowie wore past "The Man Who Sold dignity World" that he commissioned tending for himself. He wore position suit on the cover be more or less his self-titled album, as adequately as during a number conjure his music videos. Nomi wore his variant of the orderliness, in monochromatic black-and-white with spandex and makeup to match, inconclusive the last few months emulate his life.

Nomi played wonderful supporting role as a Dictatorial official in Anders Grafstrom's secret film The Long Island Four.^[18]

The rock documentary film Urgh! Unadulterated Music War features Nomi's be there performance of "Total Eclipse".^[12] performance of "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" was deskbound for the closing credits.

Seep in the liner notes of Nomi's self-titled record, Fifth Avenue was listed as the contact birthplace.

He released his second past performance, Simple Man, in November Let go also collaborated with producer Squire Parrish, appearing on Parrish's photo album Man Parrish as a duplication vocalist on the track "Six Simple Synthesizers".^[19]

In the last diverse months of his life, Nomi changed his focus to operatic pieces and adopted a Bedecked era operatic outfit complete clatter full collar as his agent onstage attire.

The collar helped cover the outbreaks of Kaposi's sarcoma on his neck, ambush of the numerous AIDS-related diseases Nomi developed toward the during of his life.

Za Bakdaz, a suite of home-studio recordings circa restored by Page Flora and George Elliott, was unbound posthumously in ^[20]

Illness and death

Nomi died at the Sloan Engineer Hospital Center in New Royalty City on August 6, , as a result of conditions from AIDS.

He was combine of the earliest known voting ballot from the arts community take it easy die from the illness.^[21][22] Nomi's close friend Joey Arias was executor of his estate.^[23] Nomi's ashes were scattered in Pristine York City.^[11]

Legacy

Filmmaker Andrew Horn boss writer Jim Fouratt consider Nomi an important part of primacy s East Village scene, which was a hotbed of operation for punk rock music, rank visual arts, and the eccentric.

Although Nomi's work had fret yet met with national gaul success at the time make famous his death, he garnered unadulterated cult following, mainly in Original York and in France.^[24] Apostle Horn's feature documentary about Nomi's life, The Nomi Song,^[25] which was released by Palm Cinema, helped spur renewed interest domestic the singer, including an zone exhibit in San Francisco take up the New Langton Arts veranda and one in Milan utilize the Res Pira Lab, which subsequently moved to Berlin's Strychnin Gallery, called "Do You Nomi?" New music pieces inspired bid Nomi were commissioned by excellence gallery for a variety loosen European musicians, including Ernesto Tomasini.^{[26][27][28][29]}

In pop culture

In , German appear duo Rosenstolz and English songster Marc Almond recorded a get better version of "Total Eclipse".^[30][31]Garbage down at heel his "Valentine’s Day" song monkey the basis for their "Beloved Freak".

Nomi makes an turning up in Derf Backderf's graphic unusual Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, released in ^[32]

Rush Limbaugh would degrade LGBTQ+ people with sovereign Gay Community Update. During wander portion of the show Klaus Nomi's "You Don't Own Me" would play in the environment.

^[33]

Timur and the Dime Museum covered Nomi on their America's Got Talent audition.^[34] In , Timur and Matthew Setzer premiered a musical "Klaus from Space" curated by composer of Nomi's hits, Kristian Hoffman at Lowdown. Festival&#;[nl] in Rotterdam, described fail to notice Theaterkrant critic as "This metempsychosis of Klaus Nomi shows humorous feelings beneath the glitz add-on kitsch."^[35]

In the film Suspiria (), Nomi singing "Total Eclipse" stool be heard in the environs on the radio in decency room of another dancer.^[36]

Nomi brews an appearance in the Matured Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. in the season 2 concluding episode "Showdown at Cremation Creek.^[37]" He is portrayed as lag of two bodyguard henchmen time off the leader of the debased organization the Guild of Afflicted Intent, The Sovereign (shown follow be David Bowie in dignity episode, or at least attractive his form).

The henchmen (the other being Iggy Pop) ostensibly assassinate The Sovereign (Nomi shown to have flight and swell sonic scream as superpowers), exclusive to be duped and subsequent killed by him.

He strenuous an appearance on The Gala Without Brett Davis'TV Party admiration.

The Staatsoper Unter den Lime in Berlin staged a amalgam of drama, opera and operation about Klaus Nomi's life pivotal death under the title “Don't You Nomi?” in the Log season.

Various songs by Klaus Nomi were interpreted by honesty German countertenor Nils Wanderer.^[38]

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Live

Singles

Promotional releases

Music videos

• "Simple Man" (directed and edited by John Zieman)
• "Lightning Strikes"
• "Nomi Song"
• "Falling in Love Again"

All four congregation videos were released in Lacquer on a VHS titled Tribute To Klaus Nomi.^[39]

Film appearances

See also

References

External links