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The Nomi Song
Posted at 1:24 PM on January 22, 2007
by Steve Seel
(7 Comments)
Don't ask me how or why these things happen -- I just get on weird jags of curiosity sometimes. But this weekend, I decided I needed to know more about Klaus Nomi. You know, this guy. So I bought the DVD "The Nomi Song", a film about his short career which, sadly, contained no real interview footage with Klaus himself to speak of -- indeed, that's how short his career really was, before he died of AIDS. Fortunately, though, the film did find time to cover this stunningly amazing appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1979, where he sang backup for Bowie on three songs.
Come to think of it, it's that SNL appearance that must have jogged my curiosity, since my head is obsessing a bit on long-lost American TV appearances of great musical artists these days. Most of this stuff just isn't available on DVD, forcing all of us to watch clandestine versions on YouTube. Note to giant media corporations: many of us would be willing to pay to own some of this stuff.
Comments (7)
Personally, I always thought the Alice Cooper appearance on The Muppet Show was one of the oddest childhood television moments. In fact, for a long time I thought it was a dream. Thanks to the internets, I can relive it in all it's gory, er, I mean glory.
http://www.devilducky.com/media/40282/
I agree! I remember thinking, "How can this be?" My parents had ASSURED me that Alice Cooper was Satanic evil incarnate; how can he be on The Muppet Show? As I watched, I actually felt something akin to the fear that Supreme Evil had overtaken the world, and that the End Times had suddenly begun.
See my Klaus Nomi story here...
http://www.geocities.com/kahniverous/klausnomi.html
All the best,
Madeline
Haven't seen the "The Nomi Song" but the stills on that site are rich with the taste of the time - that exciting, gritty elegance. Or elegant grit. o 0 (hard to say which comes first...) It makes total sense that his background was German opera and he chose to plunge his hands into rock.
You're right about a missed opportunity to repackage all those guest appearances. Those missed acts (or in my case, a sense of second-guessed memory) would make for a great marathon viewing whether on DVD or in a movie theater. Anyone else on that train?
That SNL footage is vintage Bowie performance art! Thanks, Seel!!
A friend of mine had two Klaus Nomi records when I was growing up and I still have a copy of his version of “Ding Dong The Witch is Dead” on cassette somewhere. I also remember the SNL appearance with Bowie very vividly. It’s kind of like the KISS appearance on the “Paul Lynde Halloween Special” to me. Indelibly etched in my memory. The Nomi Song is a cool DVD, I bought it right after it came out. He was a truly original performer.
Another oddball but fun DVD is the “Tomorrow Show With Tom Snyder” Punk and New Wave collection. It features entire Tomorrow shows and has interviews with Patti Smith, John Lydon and Keith Levene from PiL, Elvis Costello, The Jam, creepy Kim Fowley and a teen-aged Joan Jett, The Plasmatics, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, etc. It’s an interesting historical document especially how mainstream media was trying to understand what was going on in those days. Tom Snyder is there puffing away on his cigs and asking his questions, some very intelligent, some denigrating into buffoonery. Worth checking out just to see John Lydon bumming cigarettes off Tom Snyder and sneering.
Madeline -- thanks for that personal account! That was cool to read.
Seriously folks, I gotta recommend that SNL footage. It's available on YouTube and a few other places, but the link I provided collects them all into one place. Tony's right; at the time, it was edgy (dangerous, even) in a way that few things are nowadays.
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