Klaus Nomi mixed synth-driven new wave, 1920s German cabaret music, disco and opera. It wasn't as though one or two of these influences would crop up occasionally in his songs, but rather he somehow managed to fuse all of these components into virtually every song he recorded. Featuring soaring operatic vocals, pumping synthesizers, thumping dance beats and the strangest arrangements you're likely to ever hear, songs such as "Simple Man" are impossible-to-categorize towering monuments of weirdness that lay waste to all other genre-mixers who came before and after him. You haven't lived until you've heard Nomi speak/sing his way (with his thick German accent) through a cover of The Wizard of Oz's "Ding Dong (The Witch is Dead)," complete with high, piercing female vocals and electronically treated background chants celebrating the death of that aforementioned witch.

—Kembrew McLeod

The image and legend of Klaus Nomi in many ways dominates over his music nearly 20 years after his death -- it's his appearance with David Bowie on TV or the way he wore his hair that most often seems to stand out in memory. Eclipsed: The Best of Klaus Nomi does an effective job of putting his music back first and foremost, though in many ways he's surprisingly conservative at a distance, or rather, his music is. There's a definite sense of creativity throughout, of course, and his swooping, multi-octave voice can't be resisted -- an Yma Sumac for a post-disco/new wave era, but just as capable of delivering merrily harsh German cabaret vocals as well. His more conversational English-language lyrics (check the verses to "Lightning Strikes"), in contrast, too often come across as Euro-trash sleaze, while his backing musicians don't summon up the sense of future shock that Marianne Faithfull did with such contemporary efforts as Broken English. Where Nomi's genius can be most fully seen is in his cover versions, resulting in often jaw-dropping reinterpretations of songs ranging from modern [sic] opera ("The Cold Song," a stately, affecting take on the Henry Purcell composition) to pop landmarks like "You Don't Own Me" and a merrily gooned-up prance through "Ding Dong (The Witch Is Dead)." "Can't Help Falling in Love" becomes a lovely, piano-synth-led composition for him to deliver a strong -- and notably non-falsetto -- and warm take on the Elvis Presley standard, while the mighty "I Feel Love" gets transformed into an orchestral synth pop aria like none other than Suicide or early Ultravox playing Carnegie Hall.

—Ned Raggett (www.allmusic.com)

While Nomi is credited as composer on only one track for his often reissued collection of recordings, he can be considered the artistic creator of the whole. The grand persona he created and the wildly original and wide-ranging musical statements can be compared to the re-visioning, re-contextualizing work of Duchamp in art, though for the disco club age.

—Joseph Dalton

WORKS:
see Discography

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Unknown

WRITINGS:
Unknown

DISCOGRAPHY:
Klaus Nomi — French RCA LP PL 37556 (1981); UK RCA LP 6026
    Keys Of Life (Nomi)
    Lightning Strikes (Christie/Herbert)
    The Twist (Checkers)
    Nomi Song (Hoffman)
    You Don't Own Me (Madara/White)
    The Cold Song (Purcell)
    Wasting My Time (Nomi/Woody)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman)
    Nomi Chant (Parrish)
    Samson and Delilah (aria) (Saint-Saens)
with Julie Burger, vocals - Jon Cobert, keyboards, vocals - Scott Woody, guitar, vocals

Simple Man — French RCA LP PL 37702 (1982)
    From Beyond (Dowland)
    After The Fall (Hoffman)
    Just One Look (Carrol/Payne)
    Falling In Love Again (Hollander/Lerner)
    Icurok (Elliot)
    Rubberband Lazer (Arias/Frere)
    Wayward Sisters (Purcell)
    Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Arlen/Harburg)
    Three Wishes (Dalglish/Elliot/Sierra)
    Simple Man (Hoffman)
    Death (Purcell)
    Return (Dowland)

Klaus Nomi Encore! — West German RCA LP PL 70180 (1983)
    Fanfare
    Cold Song (Purcell)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman)
    Can't Help Falling In Love
    Simple Man (Hoffman)
    Wasting My Time (Nomi/Woody)
    Wayward Sisters (Purcell)
    Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Arlen/Harburg)
    You Don't Own Me (Madara/White)
    Der Nussbaum (Schumann)
    Lightning Strikes (Christie/Herbert)
    The Twist (Checkers)
    Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saens)

In Concert — West German RCA PL 71145 (1986)
    Keys of Life (Nomi)
    Falling in Love Again (Hollander/Lerner)
    Lightning Strikes (Christie/Herbert)
    The Nomi Song (Parrish)
    The Twist (Checkers)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman
    I Feel Love (Bellotte/Moroder/Summer)
    Samson and Delilah (Saint-Saens)

SINGLES

"Total Eclipse" (live)/"Total Eclipse" (live) A&M Promo-only 12" SP-17178 (1981) from: Urgh! A Music War! Soundtrack, A&M LP SP-6019 (1981)
"You Don't Own Me"/"Falling In Love Again," French RCA 45 110, PB 8783 (1981)
"Lightnin' Strikes"/"Falling In Love Again," French RCA 45 173, PB 8836 (1982)
"Nomi Song"/"The Cold Song," French RCA 45 110, PB 8864 (1982)
"Ding Dong"/"Death," French RCA 45 289, PB 61005 (1982)
"Simple Man"/"Death," French RCA 45 xxx, PB 9947 (1982)
"Ding Dong" / "Icurok" French RCA 45 xxx PB 61033
"Icurok," Canadian 12" RCA KD-10005
"The Cold Song"/"Keys Of Life," Japan JVC 45 VIPX-1798 (1984)
"Ding Dong" (5:25 extended version)/"Samson and Delilah" (live), French RCA 12" PC 61535 (1985)
Klaus Nomi, guest vocalist: "Six Simple Synthesizers" (5:37) on Man Parrish, Importe/12 LP MP-320 (1982)

POSTHUMOUS COLLECTIONS

Klaus Nomi: The Collection — BMG (1994)
    Cold Song (Purcell)
    Can't Help Falling in Love (Creatore/Peretti/Weiss)
    Der Nussbaum (Schumann)
    Just One Look (Carrol/Payne)
    The Twist (Checkers)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman)
    Three Wishes (Dalglish/Elliot/Sierra)
    Icurok (Elliot)
    Wasting My Time (Nomi/Woods)
    Rubberband Lazer (Arias/Frere)
    Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Arlen/Harburg)
    Nomi Chant (Parrish)
    Death (Purcell)
    Wayward Sisters (Purcell)
    From Beyond (Dowland)
    Falling in Love Again (Hollander/Lerner)

Eclipsed: The Best of Klaus Nomi — Razor & Tie (1999)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman)
    Lightning Strikes (Christie/Herbert)
    The Cold Song (Purcell)
    Wasting My Time (Nomi/Woody)
    You Don't Own Me (Madara/White)
    Keys Of Life (Nomi)
    Rubberband Lazer (Arias/Frere)
    Icurok (Elliott)
    After The Fall (Hoffman)
    Just One Look (Carrol/Payne)
    Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Arlen/Harburg)
    Simple Man (Hoffman)
    Three Wishes (Dalglish/Elliott/Sierra)
    I Feel Love (Bellotte/Moroder/Summer)
    Can't Help Falling In Love (Creatore/Peretti/Weiss)
John Kay, bass - Man Parrish, programming, synthesizer programming - Klaus Nomi, vocals - Julie Burger, background vocals - Jon Cobert, keyboards, background vocals - George Elliott, guitar, percussion - Steven Elson, saxophone - Michael Levine, violin - Robert Mache, bass, guitar - Tom Mandel, synthesizer, keyboards - Robert Medici, drums, background vocals - Jack Waldman, synthesizer, sound effects - Scott Woody, guitar, background vocals - Jimi Zhivago, guitar - Kristian Hoffman, synthesizer, percussion, keyboards - Paul Rutner, drums

Klaus Nomi Essential — BMG (2002)
    Cold Song (Purcell)
    Can't Help Falling In Love (Creatore/Peretti/Weiss)
    Keys Of Life (Nomi)
    Lightning Strikes (Christie/Herbert)
    The Twist (Checkers)
    Nomi Song (Hoffman)
    You Don't Own Me (Madara/White)
    Wasting My Time (Nomi/Woody)
    Total Eclipse (Hoffman)
    Samson and Delilah (aria) [live] (Saint-Saens)
    From Beyond (Dowland)
    After The Fall (Hoffman)
    Just One Look (Carrol/Payne)
    Falling In Love Again (Hollander/Lerner)
    Icurok (Elliot)
    Rubberband Lazer (Arias/Frere)
    Wayward Sisters (Purcell)
    Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Arlen/Harburg)
    Simple Man (Hoffman)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Unknown

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
Unknown

RESOURCES:
nomi4ever.tripod.com/Nomisong/
www.chrisis.org/chr_oddballs/nomi.html

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
Unknown

OTHER CONTACTS:
Unknown