I’m always thrilled to welcome new readers to Madame Says. When Hormazd Narielwalla wrote that he’d arrived here by way of a visit to M.Goldstein and had been shocked to the core by hearing Klaus Nomi for the first time on my music player and was compelled “to immediately capture” his feelings in some incredible collages, I was excited to share them with you.  You can see the whole set here, and they’re made in part from Saville Row bespoke paper patterns from men who are now dead, and Narielwalla’s love of nostalgia, puppets and also his sense of style combine to produce something quite magical I think.

I’m always delighted to turn people on to Klaus Nomi, the German opera singer who emerged from the underground scene in New York in the late 70s, a complete one-off who sang like Maria Callas and fused this with New Wave music and a stage persona and costumes that would in turn influence David Bowie.

One of my favourite quotes is by photographer Anthony Scibelli “Klaus had rendered himself black and white”. He had such a strong visual image that in person he looked like his own logo. Klaus Nomi was a revolutionary in as much as he pushed the androgyny envelope not just visually but also in that he sounded exactly like a accomplished female singer and would switch between his male and female voices at will.

I always try to sneak at least one Nomi song into my set at the George and Dragon, where there’s the time to run the gamut. He was such an inspiring truly individual character. His untimely death and cult status just add to the mystique of the artist.

Please click on the picture above to see the full joy and check out Narielwalla’s flickr – terrific!

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