Nolan Thomas (born Marko Kalfa, 24 August 1966,
Jersey City, NJ) is a fashion photographer and former actor and
Latin freestyle
Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...
artist, mostly known for his 1984 single "Yo' Little Brother"
Lyons Roars with new Kiddie Corps
/ref> which peaked at #57 on the '' ''Billboard'' Hot 100''. Kalfa was discovered by dance-music producers Mark Liggett and Chris Barbosa
Chris Barbosa is an American record producer from New York.
Early career
In 1981, the Bronx- Puerto Rican born Barbosa was a reporting DJ on New York's WKTU. This process entailed the radio station calling up select club and mobile DJs, who woul ...
of Shannon (" Let the Music Play") fame when he was still in high school. While he did appear in the music video of "Yo' Little Brother" and sang all of the other tracks on the ''Yo' Little Brother'' album, he did not actually perform the vocals on this particular track: Elan Lanier sang them instead. The original 12-inch single of "Yo' Little Brother" was initially released by Emergency Records. The music video was conceived by the Manager-Director-Producer team of Stu Sleppin & Bob Teeman who created the rock star look-a-likes (Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...
, Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...
, Rick Ocasek, Bruce Springsteen) that became known as The Vid Kids. Nolan Thomas & The Vid Kids toured the US in the mid 1980s. A full-length LP was released by Mirage/Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to:
Businesses
* ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies
** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company
* Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...
/ Atlantic Records in 1984, which yielded two more singles to modest success. In the UK during the mid-1980s "Yo' Little Brother" received some cult status after it was aired on Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
's ''The Max Headroom Show
''The Max Headroom Show'' is a television series that debuted in the UK in 1985. It was produced by Carlton Television, Carlton TV and aired on Channel 4, with an initial series of 13 shows. It featured actor Matt Frewer playing the role of ps ...
''. In 1989 he released the single "Once Around The Block", under the name Mark Kalfa.
Kalfa is currently a fashion photographer working in New York.
Selected Discography
*"Yo' Little Brother" 7-inch single (Mirage/Atco/Atlantic Records 99697)#26 US R&B, #57 US POP
*''Yo' Little Brother'' album (Mirage/Atco/Atlantic Records 90283)
*1984—"One Bad Apple" (Mirage/Atco/Atlantic Records 99651) #48 US R&B, #105 US BUBBLING UNDER SINGLES
References
External links
Kalfaco.com
American freestyle musicians
Living people
Mirage Records artists
1966 births
{{US-musician-stub