Showing posts with label Nina Hagen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nina Hagen. Show all posts

Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Wunderbar!


Only a week late [and somewhat shame-facedly, after all that build-up of "more to come" that I gave her a few weeks ago!]...

...I feel we really need to celebrate the fact that Our Patron Saint of Crazy, Fraulein Nina Hagen blew out 70 candles on her cake last week! (Gulp!)

Our Nina is a remarkable woman of many talents, and since she first emerged into the limelight - across of the ruins of the Berlin Wall that had once divided her birthplace in the East from the rest of the world - she has certainly embraced a whole range of genres. All in her inimitible and unique style, of course!

Here she is in her full-on Goth-Punk heyday in 1982:

...here, covering a Glam Rock classic originally by Sweet:

...from Glam to glamorous, here's her tribute to wartime star Zarah Leander:

...and she also had a rather brilliant foray into House music:

...but whoever thought she would turn a Doris Day number into a dance track? She did, obviously!

...and she even fronted her very own Big Band:

To finish - and to top it all - here is one of my favourite clips of the lady, surprisingly duetting with none other than that beloved purveyor of multilingual smoothness Miss Nana Mouskouri! When worlds collide, indeed...

There is no-one quite like Catharina "Nina" Hagen (born 11th March 1955).

All hail!

Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Blumenfest!

Just a sample of the delights on show at the Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, that Madam Arcati, John-John and I trolled off to see on Sunday.

It was, as planned, the perfect way to end my holiday (the Madam was already back at work after our trip to Spain), even if the arrangements were a bit discomfiting in comparison to previous visits - we had to queue in the cold for our ticketed timeslot, much of the Princess of Wales Conservatory (where the event is hosted) was roped-off so we couldn't meander past some of our fave specimens as usual, and in general it all felt a bit like being ushered along a conveyor-belt.

Albeit a very beautiful, colourful and floral one!

Here's something - ahem - appropriate to accompany this floral display, from one of our favourite German eccentrics Fraulein Nina Hagen [who has a milestone birthday coming up next month, so I doubt this will be the last we hear of her]!

I love the looks of shock on the audience's faces...

Saturday, 3 October 2020

Einheit

Today (scarily) marks thirty years since the reunification of Germany, following the total collapse of the Soviet Eastern Bloc. Understandably, celebrations have been somewhat hampered by what maybe we should call today "the Trump virus", but nevertheless a significant milestone.

Never one to miss an opportunity, I thought I would focus, by way of celebration, on some of the - ahem - choicer musical gems I have featured over the years that originated in the Land of the Franks...

First up, perhaps our favourite Kraut-rocker, the utterly bizarre (and wonderful) Punk-turned-Big-Band-chanteuse Nina Hagen!

Here's a true classic from the late, sadly-missed Falco:

Another fave, the splendid Max Raabe (who we managed to get to see live in March this year, just weeks before lockdown), with his "tribute" to Britney...

The amazing, the unique, the irreplaceable, late, great Klaus Nomi:

And finally - possibly the weirdest clip in German cinematic history from the legendary Marika Rökk...

Gern geschehen.

Happy German Unity Day!

Wednesday, 15 March 2017

I know, once a miracle will happen



One hundred and five years ago today, a controversial legend was born...

From WFMU's faboo Beware of the Blog:
When Joseph Goebbels set out to create a Nazi movie studio to rival Hollywood's dream machine, he tried to recruit Germany's and Europe's most glamorous stars, most notably Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Since both Garbo and Dietrich had already fled war-torn Europe for Hollywood, Goebbels' attention drifted to the singer and actress Zarah Leander. In 1936, Goebbels signed Leander to the recently nationalised film studio UFA, and the Swedish Leander became the highest paid Nazi film star (much to Goebbels' consternation), and one of the most popular actresses and singers in Germany and Europe. She starred in ten propaganda films for the Reich and was a particular favourite of Hitler, who reportedly found the icy, husky-voiced Leander irresistible...

By 1943, Leander saw the handwriting on the wall and stiffed Goebbels, fleeing Germany for her Nazi-film-financed palace in Sweden. Goebbels was enraged, and branded her an enemy of Germany, but the Swedish people were also outraged by what they saw as her wartime Nazi collaboration and profiteering. Leander always insisted that she never bought into the Nazi philosophy and didn't socialize with Third Reich bigwigs. According to a 2004 book by Anthony Beevor (The Mystery of Olga Chekhova), Leander was in fact working for Soviet intelligence the entire time she was under contract to Goebbels, passing Nazi secrets on to the Russians whenever she visited her home in Stockholm. The Swedes never completely forgave her, but she did enjoy a comeback of sorts in the 1960's, appearing in musicals and concerts throughout Germany and Austria.
Now this is what I call a comeback! Here's the fragrant Miss Leander, replete with safety gays and lots of glitter - in a nightclub that I wouldn't mind visiting...


And here, for your delectation, is a rather unexpected tribute to the great lady - by none other than our beloved Nina Hagen! Here she sings a German classic made famous by Zarah, Ich weiss, es wird einmal ein Wunder geschehen:


Zarah Leander (15th March 1907 – 23rd June 1981)

Thursday, 15 October 2015

The Loudest Silent Movie on Earth?











What do Nina Hagen, Lemmy from Motorhead, Grace Jones, Iggy Pop and Slash from Guns'n'Roses have in common? They - together with a host of "cult" rock musicians (Tom Araya, Henry Rollins, Jesse Hughes, Joshua Homme... nope, me neither) - are the stars of a new (odd-sounding) film-and-live-concert-experience called Gutterdammerung, which threatens to arrive at a venue near you some time in the next twelve months...

Described as "The Loudest Silent Movie on Earth," it is the brainchild of Belgian-Swedish visual artist Bjorn Tagemose. With the combination of his backgrounds, I am not surprised this is all a bit odd. Apparently the film plays on a big screen while the narration and the music (played by a band that contains none of the members of the cast) is on stage. It's all very Spinal Tap.

As for any semblance of "plot", the last time I read a description like this is was for "Queen Musical" We Will Rock You:
The film is set in a world where God has saved the world from sin by taking from mankind the Devil’s ‘Grail of Sin’…..the Evil Guitar. The Earth has now turned into a puritan world where there is no room for sex, drugs or rock ‘n’ roll.

From up on high in heaven a “punk-angel”, Vicious (portrayed by Iggy Pop), looks upon the world with weary bored eyes. Behind God’s back, Vicious sends the Devil’s guitar back to earth and sin in all its forms returns to mankind.

An evil puritan priest (Henry Rollins) manipulates a naive girl to retrieve the guitar and destroy it. On her quest to find the Devil’s Grail Of Sin, the girl is forced to face the world’s most evil rock and roll bastards. Throughout her journey, she has a rival in the form of a rock chick determined to stop her from destroying the instrument.
On 12th November at the O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, exclusive scenes of the film will be first shown with Henry Rollins and Jesse Hughes live on stage. There will be a Q&A with the film’s creator Tagemose alongside Rollins and Hughes.

I doubt I'll be queuing for a ticket.

Read more on the Gutterdammerung website.

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

'Neath that far off lantern light









It was the annual Whitby "Gothic Weekend" get-together last weekend, and assorted punky black-clothed dressing-up addicts congregated on the North East harbour town - the mythical landing-place of Dracula in Bram Stoker's story. It looks like fun...

Meanwhile, this gives me the perfect excuse to feature one of our fave "founding mothers" of that particular genre - whose 60th birthday (gulp!) I shamefully missed last month - Fraulein Nina Hagen!

Here she is in her full-on Goth heyday in 1982, with Smack Jack:


And here is one of my favourite clips of the lady, surprisingly duetting with none other than that beloved purveyor of multilingual smoothness Miss Nana Mouskouri on Lili Marlene. When worlds collide, indeed...


Catharina "Nina" Hagen (born 11th March 1955)

Thursday, 8 September 2011

You say "potato" and I say "Kartoffel"



Yesterday I wished a happy (60th) birthday to one of the grande dames of late 70s/early 80s "New Wave", Miss Chrissie Hynde - who, alongside Miss Debbie Harry was an estimable contribution from America to that great musical melting-pot that shaped my generation.

In Europe, too, the punk "revolution" unleashed some magnificent talents upon the music scene. One of these has always had a special place in my heart - Miss Nina Hagen!

Of late, this marvellous lady (recently described by one critic as "she makes Lady GaGa look Amish") has taken to fronting a full big band orchestra, to great effect. Here at Dolores Delargo Towers, we have recently started to assemble her back catalogue, and this is one of our favourites...


Nina Hagen on MySpace

Saturday, 30 October 2010

Feliz Compleaños, Señora John!



As it is John-John's birthday, we thought we'd put together a little tribute blog to his all-time favourite band - nay, obsession - Abba!

Teamwork between Madame Acarti and I came up with some most unusual stuff...

Let us first feature a long-time favourite of ours here at Dolores Delargo Towers. It is a cover version of Dancing Queen, and there have been many - but when it is sung in Hindi by the fantabulosa Salma and Sabina Agha, how could we resist (ya)?


Sticking rigidly with the queeny favourite, let's have Kylie's triumphant version from the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony in 2000!


Enough of the "dancing queens" - let's try something a little more subtle. How about French icon Mireille Mathieu's tribute to Abba?


And to close, we have found something absolutely brilliant... There is always time for a bit of Nina Hagen at Dolores Delargo Towers! Yet who knew she covered Abba as well..?


Happy birthday, dearest!

Saturday, 27 March 2010

We do our best endeavours to keep our doobries clean



Ten years ago today, the world of music lost a unique talent. Mr Ian Robins Dury was an unexpected arrival on the music scene at the height of the punk era, arriving as he did as a pub singer fresh from art school, with songs with lyrics that actually made sense! Disabled by polio as a child, he struck a distinctively unusual figure, all wobbly and wielding his walking stick as a prop - part Bill Sykes, part decadent dandy.

It was with his lyrical talents however, adeptly served by the uber-talented Chaz Jankel's music, that he rose above the crowd and became the "national treasure" we all remember so fondly. New Boots And Panties is even today (quite rightly) regarded as a masterpiece, and regularly features at the upper end of "all-time best album" ratings. Mr Dury's hits are all instantly familiar - Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll, What A Waste, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick, Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 3 among them. Whenever they come on the jukebox, generations later even people who weren't around at the height of his success will immediately sing along. How to choose between them, however?

I am particularly fond of this one, with all its subtlety:


However, this is undoubtedly my all time favourite.


You're not Bridget Bardot, I'm not Jack Palance.
I'm not Shirley Temple by any circumstance,
Or Fred Astaire

You're not Sidney Tafler, I'm not Dirk Bogarde.
I'm not very stylish, and you're not avant garde,
Or Lionel Blair

We're as common as muck.
Bon chance, viel glück, good luck
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn
Luvva duck, we're as common as muck.

You're not Victor Hugo, I'm not Patience Strong,
I'm not Rodney Rygate or Yvonne Goolagong.
Shirley Abicair, Oh!

I'm not Nellie Melba, you're not Nellie Dean
We do our best endeavours to keep our doobries clean
Because we care!

We're as common as muck.
Buona fortuna, vayas con Dios, Good luck!
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck, We're as common as muck.

We're as common as muck.
Bon chance, viel glück, Good luck!
Where bold is beautiful, we don't give a damn.
Luvva duck! We're as common as muck.


And just by way of a perfect tribute, here is the wonderfully weird Nina Hagen with her version of Mr Dury's most successful number:


Jools Holland's biography of Ian Dury

Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Respectable spectacles



Heavens! The bespectacled diva Nana Mouskouri is 75 years old today...

One of the world's biggest-selling artists ever, Miss Mouskouri has sold more than 200 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, out-selling Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross combined - quite remarkable, really, given her "lighter-than-light" vocal style and unchallenging selection of ballads and folk music. I often think she makes Doris Day sound like Janis Joplin in comparison...

An unlikely rebel in her youth (she was famously thrown out of the Athens Conservatoire where she was studyng for illicitly moonlighting in a jazz band), she was soon tipped for success when she was "discovered" by one of Greece's top songwriters Manos Hadjidakis, with whom she formed a long collaboration.

It is for her classical, powerful voice and clear diction that she is most lauded; and she sings in many languages - French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese as well as English and Greek. Over the years the world's top musicians, including Quincy Jones and Michel Legrand have queued up to work with her.

And here's a selection of the great lady's music, starting with my favourite song of hers:


Then there's this oddity - a duet with Nina Hagen, of all people!


Here she is paying homage to Jacques Brel:


And in this bizarre clip she is entertaining a freaky puppet:


And finally, the great lady's theme tune:


Nana Mouskouri biography on ArtistDirect