This past weekend, I attended some films presented by the Philadelphia Film Festival and one was a documentary titled "The Nomi Song" on the German singer Klaus Nomi, who was an early casualty of AIDS in the very early 80's (before they even called it AIDS).   It was a good documentary on a very unusual but tender and gifted artist who, sadly, never really rose above cult status and died after only 2 albums.   

For anyone unfamiliar with him, he was a classically trained singer with a falsetto voice (he sounds like Maria Callas!), who believed he was a space alien, wore bizarre stylized outfits and kabuki-style makeup, but who also loved pop music and loved to sing both arias from operas and techno-pop songs.  Not surprisingly, the documentary contains a lot of material of live performances, including a absolutely hysterical version of the Lou Christie hit "Lightning Strikes" and his appearance as David Bowie's backup singer on Saturday Night Live.  The documentary also provides lots of insight into his sad, lonely personal life and bad record deals via interviews with friends, supporters and band members.  

A very good, if melancholy, documentary.  

For anyone interested in a life just a bit left of center, check it out.

http://www.thenomisong.com/

Mark E.