The Nomi Song (2005)

Directed by Andrew Horn

Looks like an alien, sings like a diva!

An incredible documentary about Klause Nomi, a cult figure in the New Wave Underground scene during the 80`s.

Nomi was a German emigrant who in the 1970s and 1980s took downtown New York by storm with his unique look and incredible operatic voice. Dressing like David Byrne while spiking his hair and applying layers of eyeliner and white powder to his face, Nomi would sing pop standards like opera arias. He first came to the attention of New York's art scene in 1978 with his performance of Vaudeville in a "new wave" format at a four night event MC'd by artist David McDermott. The reaction was so overwhelming that he was invited to perform at all the top clubs in New York City, assembling a group of unknown artists at the time including Joey Arias, Jean Michel Basquait, Keith Haring and Johnny Sex.

Andrew Horn's portrait of the new wave star Klaus Nomi is quite simply a master piece. A vivid portrait of not only the man, but an era in which the underground ruled New York and a time in which the city itself was more welcoming to new and upcoming artists. The movie gathers interviews from many of the people who congregated around Klaus before his death in 1983 along with rare live performances from the man himself. The memories are vivid and touching, truthful and unforgiving. Sharing his darkest secrets to praising him as a genius, these testimonies are the making of a legend. The film takes us from the point in which he immigrated to the States, through his underground struggle; His pursuit of greater stardom in abandoning the East Village for a record deal and finally to his taking ill to what was then called the "gay cancer"

The party was over" says painter Kenny Schraf looking back on those pre-AIDS days. Klaus Nomi was the first semi-well known figure on the New York scene to die of the disease. He is best known to the mainstream for his back up vocals to David Bowie's Saturday Night Performance. However he will forever be loved and honored in the scene that matters (The Underground) with films like this exposing him to future generations.

Jimmy D.