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Klaus Nomi
CD SINGLE

1. ZA BAK DAZ (NOMI,Elliott,Wood) (1979) (5:24) RealAudio/MP3

Music,guits,bass: G.Elliott
Vocals: NOMI
Words, Drums: P.Wood
Prod.: R.Johnsen

Sketch for a work-in-progress for Klaus' ill fated '3rd'... Woulda-coulda been quite a showpiece (B.Herrmann meets Y.Sumac or is that Kundry? amidst '80's chorus guitars creating a vivid underwatery, otherworldly ambience...)

The result of just a couple rehearsal/recording sessions, when twenty would have been nice, and taken from an old cassette (the only locable source), the song will nonetheless fill any NOMI fan w/ nostalgic glee, guaranteed!

Digitally mastered November '98

From the 2004 documentary THE NOMI SONG

-Opening number for many NOMI shows

2. Silent Night (Trad.) (1:43) (a 1979 limited edition cassette gift for a few of our friends) RealAudio/MP3

Vocals: bilingual treatment from NOMI
Arrangement, Guitar,Farfisa,Mandolin: G.Elliott
Drums,Prod.: P.Wood
Recorded in his 'historic' 17th St. studio in Manhattan.

An upbeat nearly rockabilly/manic instrumental track is complemented well by an understated vocal from our hero! Merry Christmas to his fans 20 years later!

GE'S FRIENDSHIP & LAST MEETING WITH NOMI RECALLED

Nomi [background]
GE [foreground, dangling from ceiling in climbers harness]
in performance with STRANGE PARTY

Klaus’s and my relationship developed along 3 lines: as neighbors; collaborators; and mutual admirers of Classical music (not just pop). This plus my ‘straightness’ are qualities I had apart from Klaus’s other typical collaborators.

He generously lent me his albums whether Classical or rock, and I reciprocated. He had all Wagner’s operas, tons of Callas, many Classical composers, focussed on Opera.

Reading Crowley’s BOOK OF THOTH influenced me to buy PARSIFAL as my first Wagner boxset. Nomi recommended some choices and I trekked down to J&R and picked one. (He waited not very long before begging me to lend it to him!) I had Dorati’s versions of selected Wagner pieces and Klaus, after hearing his RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES, asked to tape it to play at NOMI show openings.

My creative output at this time (late 70s-early 80s) was quite high, music-directing and filling the repertoire of not 1 nor 2 but 3 arty-experimental new wave era bands. Page Wood’s 17th Street Studio was where we rehearsed, taped, schemed, and launched several from, including Come On, Container, Strange Party and Nomi. Klaus had met us through the New Wave Vaudeville Show, which his act was the climax of,Come On (performing BUSINESSMEN IN SPACE) being perhaps the next-most popular/memorable act!

I began churning out Classical-pop dancey material with the amazing Nomi in mind as the singer: ICUROK and ZA BAK DAZ are the main results, as well as ‘3 WISHES’, performed by my group CONTAINER, whose early shows Nomi graced where he heard the song and ‘wanted it.’ The rest is ‘histoire’; and the tragic turn of his health plummet…

The phone rang. “George? It’s Nomi!” –never a more recognizable voice! –albeit scarily weak from sickness. “I’m in the hospital…Could you do me a big favor? I’m DY-ing to hear some MU-sic!…Would you take some money from the hiding place in my apartment (amongst the albums) and go to J&R and buy me the cassettes of THE FLYING DUTCHMAN?” –a certain cherished Richard Wagner recording—
….“thank you…”

I of course agreed; he trusted close neighbor me to check his mail and plants when away, so I had his key. Taking the cassettes to him in the uptown hospital was the last time we saw each other.
…..

Klaus will be glad to see his movie, I hear premiering near his birthday in February…and I’m sure he’s proud of a site such as Isabelle’s!

--George Elliott

Also read:

NY Story 2: Klaus Nomi & Keith Haring lectured on morality by George Elliott
NY Story 6: A Night To Remember (Come On At CBGB)
NY Story 11: Famous Artistes I have Known (1)

"On this two-song CD single, "Za Bak Daz," from 1979, was a sketch of a song intended for Nomi's 3rd album. Lasting five-and-a-half minutes, this peculiar track is centered around Nomi's ghostly castrato vocals and ominous reverbed guitars. "Silent Night," lasting only one minute and forty-three seconds, is a cover of the traditional standard, taken from a 1979 limited edition cassette gift for friends, and given an odd, up-tempo arrangement with guitar, Farfisa organ, and mandolin. Those operatic high-pitched vocals are still upfront, though."
- Richie Unterberger, AMG EXPERT REVIEW