The Nomi Song - The Klaus Nomi Odyssey (2003)

Born Klaus Sperber in Essen, Germany, Nomi dressed like an alien, sang like an angel, and electrified new wave-era New York. The classically trained tenor moved to the US in the 1970s. Influenced by Maria Callas, Marlene Dietrich, and 1950s sci-fi films, the "opera-singing pastry chef," as writer Glenn O'Brien described him, developed a unique look and sound that stood apart from every other act to emerge from the East Village. At the height of his fame, he caught the eye of David Bowie, with whom he performed on Saturday Night Live in 1979. Unfortunately, his AIDS-related death in 1983 curtailed any chance to reach a wider audience. Andrew Horn's evocative portrait rises above the ordinary by documenting a scene as much as its most original participant. Aside from a wealth of archival material, The Nomi Song includes interviews with Kenny Scharf and Ann Magnuson (but alas, no Bowie). --Kathleen C. Fennessy Amazon.com

Excellent Movie

The Nomi Song is a fantastic documentary full of great footage and anecdotes. Anyone interested in Klaus Nomi must check it out! February 24, 2008

interesting

I was shown this one day by a friend and found it interesting for a bit and then it got straight up unwatchable/depressing. Nomi sang opera to slightly strange 50s sci-fi sounding music and dressed like Pee Wee Herman, he hung out with gay dudes all night in a cramped apartment filming each other doing the vogue, his friends and supporters think they are going to get a free ride to the top of stardom with Nomi, when it doesn't happen they all turn their back on him, Nomi dies of AIDs unknown and broke. The End.

This movie shows briefly a completely different side of the new wave/punk scene in 1970s New York, before the idea was generalized into a single set of generic by the book rules it really is true that punk was whatever you wanted it to be. In this movie we see a club full of people playing big rubber guitars, embarrassingly bad Johnny Rotten impersonations and odd behavior of all sorts. Just total nonsense, you could call these people clueless and none of them are doing worth while, but then Nomi comes out and completely floors the crowd. He was a real artist, though I think he should have gotten some better managers/friends. These days, or hell, in any other country, place and time EXCEPT NYC (or America in general) in the 70s & 80s Nomi would have stood a better chance. America at the time changing its diet by discovering WWF, butt rock, Rambo and TWISTED SISTER had no tolerance for this type of music/imagery. Nomi got a bit of hope by getting a guest spot on SNL with David Bowie but it seems after getting shot down once everyone gave up on him. Maybe Nomi himself gave up afterwards, he wasn't really hardcore about his art as this movie implies. He settled for his late night vogue parties, probably drugs, and eventually AIDs.

This was an interesting watch, but what you might see something different than what the film is trying to make you see. And Nomi's music really reminded me 60s Japanese movies like Gamera.

February 23, 2008

To know him is to Love Him

He truly was ahead of his time and gone too soon. A mix of pop,new wave, opera and classical stylings that we have not seen since. He needs to be seen as well as heard and I recommend this DVD if you already love him or want to know more about him.

January 9, 2008

Only in New York

Only in New York could a cross-dressing, female opera impersonator rise to the top of the club scene in the late '70s, riding on a wave of the era's fascination with everything twisted and fetish. Nomi's sad, short life and the despicable way he treated his band are profiled, and seeing the live footage of him after all this time one is left to wonder: what were we thinking??? As one of the earliest casualties of AIDS he became emblematic, in a way that, perhaps, was not entirely to his disliking. January 5, 2008

THE way to know him

Up until now, I'd heard maybe two songs by Klaus Nomi. Then I found this DVD in my local public library, of all places. Here's my chance to get up to speed on him, I thought.

Needless to say, this was more than I bargained for, and quite a revelation. Now I have an idea of how much I've missed through the years. Now I feel great sadness at never having seen him live. But at least I have this definitive biography and tribute to him.

Sure it's a biography, but also so much more. It's also a chronicle of late '70 and early '80s NYC. Heady, creative times. Maybe the only time and place where Nomi could have successfully been what he was. Chronicled lovingly and faithfully by Horn. We get the biographical facts and all the expected interviews with the people who knew him well and worked with him. They all added much insight.

Despite Nomi's non-mainstream, otherworldy persona, the overall narrative still takes the form of a standard rock star biography. A long, slow rise up from obscurity. A brief time at the top. A quick fall. And yet, Horn puts it all together so expertly that it rises above that genre. Nomi is best put in perspective by Horn's use of footage from the sci-fi classic "It Came From Outer Space." Nomi was a special man indeed. Alien, yet impacting many people's lives.

This DVD version comes with many added extras to give us even more insight. I highly recommend you partake of this to experience Klaus Nomi in the best possible way left to us.

October 16, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...