TV Party

“I guess it was punk TV. We were anti-technique, anti-format, anti-establishment, and anti-anti-establishment. We liked to break all the rules of good broadcasting. Sometimes we would sit around and say, “Well, what should we do now?” Sometimes we sat there and did nothing. They say “dead air” is the kiss of death in broadcasting, but we liked it. Sometimes we would sit perfectly still like a tape on pause, but it was live.”

-Glenn O’Brien

TV Party was a late 70′s/early 80′s public access television experiment of sorts. Glenn O’Brien created the show that drew a broad range of characters, from homeless guys on the street to David Bowie, Blondie, Klaus Nomi, and Jean Michel Basquiat. The production was terrible and there was basically no direction, but it was a hit none-the-less because it was essentially the epitome of downtown New York City cool.

Not Your Mama’s Opera

David Bowie might have started the whole spaceman rockstar oddity, but Klaus Nomi actually believed and sounded like he was from another universe.

Nomi was a classically trained opera singer, who managed to artfully partner new wave music with his wide vocal range to create synth-driven interpretations of classical music and covers of 60s pop standards.  It was a completely unique sound, like no other before it, or after …

The German immigrant’s strange stage persona coupled with his trademark costumes and hairstyle made for utterly magical live performances.

In the late 1970s while performing at Club 57, The Mudd Club, The Pyramid Club, and other venues, Nomi assembled a group of up-and-coming models, singers, artists, and musicians to perform live with him, which at times included Joey Arias, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, John Sex and Kenny Scharf, and became a fixture in the downtown arts scene.  From there his bizarre star continued to rise, with live performances on TV stations around the world, record deals, and even singing back up for David Bowie on SNL.

Nomi passed away in August 6, 1983.  He was one of the first celebrities to die of complications from AIDS.  His life was all too short, but its impact is still felt today.  In 2004 Andrew Horn made a feature documentary about Nomi’s life, The Nomi Song.  See it!

Rammellzee

Rammellzee was a NYC character like no other.  Sure there are people all over this city with a look, or a talent, or schtick – something to get them noticed – but I have never seen anyone who could grab your attention like Rammellzee.

He was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop musician, and sculptor.  But few knew there was an actual theory to his apparent creative madness.  It’s called Gothic Futurism, and it deals with the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet.  If that sounds confusing you should read his treatise, Iconic Panzerisms, which details an anarchic plan by which to revise the role and deployment of language in society.

Rammellzee is best known for the incredible costumes, masks, sculptures and music that evolved from the expression of the theory of Gothic Futurism.  There is nothing like it.  His most famous song, Beat Bop, can be heard throughout the pivotal NYC street culture/graffiti film Style Wars (see it if you haven’t!), and has a cover designed by Jean-Michel Basquiat.  His graffiti style is just as celebrated, tagging under the names Dondi, OU3, and Ink 76, and doctor Revolt throughout NYC in the 80s.  In the 90s and the 2000s his sculptures, costumes, and photographs were featured in galleries and art shows throughout the world.  He was an innovator to the extreme!

Like no other.