''Simple Man'' is the second album by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Klaus Nomi Klaus Sperber (January 24, 1944 – August 6, 1983), known professionally as Klaus Nomi, was a German countertenor noted for his wide vocal range and an unusual, otherworldly stage persona. In the 1970s Nomi immersed himself in the East Village ...

, released on 23 November 1982 by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. It was also the last album of original material to be released during Nomi's lifetime. The album consists of a mix of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and pop music, songs by

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

composer

John Dowland John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...

and excerpts from Baroque composer Henry Purcell's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

'' juxtaposed with "

Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" is a song in the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. It is the centrepiece of several individual songs in an extended set-piece performed by the Munchkins, Glinda (Billie Burke) and Dorothy Gale. Highlighted by the Lol ...

" from '' The Wizard of Oz'' and

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

's " Falling in Love Again".

Songs and musical style

''Simple Man'' takes inspiration from a variety of musical genres. Art rock, new wave and disco are combined with Klaus Nomi's love for classical

, and glazed up with early 1980s synth-oriented pop music. The

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

tracks "After the Fall" and "Simple Man" are written by

Kristian Hoffman Kristian Hoffman is an American musician. Biography and career Kristian Hoffman came into public consciousness as the best friend of Lance Loud in the PBS series ''An American Family.'' His sister is the writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman. During the ...

, who also contributed songs to Nomi's eponymous debut album. Hoffman had been musical director and keyboard player in Nomi's live band prior to the recording of Nomi's first album. However, disagreements with Nomi's management over song publishing issues had let to the band being discarded in favour of session musicians. "They had to come back and rehire me for the second album," Hoffman said in 2019, "because they did a second album without me and the label rejected it. I'd already had those songs written for him. So it turned out to be really great because those were my favorite recordings of his." The rhythmically tight "ICUROK" ("I see you are OK") is synth-pop disco with shades of Kraftwerk, written by guitarist and Nomi-collaborator George Elliott. He also wrote the music for "Three Wishes", which is much closer to a new wave sound, with its slashing guitar lines and fast tempo. It has lyrics by artist Jamie Dalglish, including a poem from his young niece Sierra. The

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

-influenced disco track "Rubberband Lazer" features pedal steel guitar,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

lyrics, and is written by former Nomi-collaborators

Joey Arias Joey Arias is an American artist based in New York City, best known for work as a performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist, but also as a published author, comedian, stage persona and film actor. He also goes by the names Joseph Ar ...

and Anthony Frere. The album also contains disco and synth-pop takes on

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She ...

's 1963 R&B song " Just One Look" and "

" from the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' (here shortened to "Ding Dong"); and a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

-influenced, guitar-oriented version of

's Falling in Love Again, originally recorded in 1930. Moving into classical territory, "Wayward Sisters" and "Death" (a.k.a. "

Dido's Lament Dido's Lament is the aria "When I am laid in earth" from the opera ''Dido and Aeneas'' by Henry Purcell ( libretto by Nahum Tate). It is included in many classical music textbooks on account of its exemplary use of the passus duriusculus i ...

"), both from the opera ''

'' by Baroque composer Henry Purcell, showcase Nomi's countertenor voice to a synthesizer arrangement by keyboard player

Jack Waldman Jack Waldman (September 6, 1952 – May 17, 1986) was a jazz and rock musician, composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Waldman was best known for his studio work and performances with singer Rob ...

. Bookending the album are the tracks "From Beyond" and "Return", both based on the choral piece "If My Complaints Could Passions Move" by

composer

. The wordless melodies are delivered by Nomi to an atmospheric synthesizer backing.

Reception

In a retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Sean Carruthers wrote that "while the album starts out promisingly with an atmospheric fade-in followed by a hard dance number with the occasional

Birthday Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

-style guitar thrown in, the rest of the album did its damnedest to move the album's overall tone to one of self-parody." As examples, he pointed out the "hyper-sugary" cover of "Just One Look", the "faux-country disco" of "Rubberband Lazer", and the version of "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead". Dismissing most of the album as "

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation wi ...

", Carruthers felt that Nomi's "true capabilities are shown off by his versions of classical works."

Track listing

Personnel

;Musicians *Klaus Nomi – vocals, backing vocals (2-4, 8, 10), arrangement (5) *

– keyboards (2, 8, 10), synthesizer (8), percussion (8), arrangements (2, 4, 8, 10) *

– synthesizer (1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12), percussion (1), sound effects (6, 9), arrangements (1, 7, 11, 12) *

Tommy Mandel Tommy Mandel (born June 2, 1949) is a keyboardist most notable for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album ''You Want It You Got It''. Life and career Prior to joining Bryan Adams' band, Mandel released a self-titled ...

– keyboards (3, 5), synthesizer (6, 9) * Jon Cobert – keyboards (4) *

Man Parrish Manuel "Man" Parrish (born May 6, 1958) is an American songwriter, vocalist and producer. He, along with artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk, Art of Noise, Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, John Robie, Jellybean Benitez, Lotti Gold ...

– synthesizer programming (2, 5, 6, 8, 10) *Scott Woody – guitar (4), pedal steel guitar (6) *George Elliott – guitar (5, 9), percussion (9), arrangements (5, 9) *Robert Mache – guitar (2, 8, 10), bass (2) *Jimmy Zhivago – guitar (3, 9) *John Kay – bass (3, 5, 6, 9) *Rick Pascual – bass (4) *Kevin Tooley – drums (2, 6, 8, 10) *Robert Medici – drums (3, 5, 9), backing vocals (9) *Daniel Elfassy – drums (4), percussion (2, 8-10) * Paul Rutner – additional drums (8) *Steve Elson – saxophone (3) * Michael Levine – violin (6, 9) *Julie Burger – backing vocals (4) ;Technical *Ron Johnsen – producer, mixing *Klaus Nomi – producer *Carl Casella – engineer, mixing *Paul Silvestro – assistant engineer *Page Wood – art direction *Randy L. Dunbar – art direction *Maxine St. Clair – cover photograph

References

{{Authority control 1982 albums Klaus Nomi albums RCA Records albums