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)
Posted by Jon at 06:12
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8 comments:

  1. bitter69uk28 April 2015 at 07:55

    Nina's Nunsexmonkrock is *the* unsung post-punk masterpiece sorely in need of reappraisal. Discuss!

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    1. Jon28 April 2015 at 12:22

      Unfortunately for Nina, Lene Lovich got to the top of the charts ahead of her - so much of her output was sadly overlooked... Jx

      Delete
  2. ayeM8y29 April 2015 at 05:40

    I aged out of my Goth appropriate period a few months ago.

    But, I'm never to old for Nina Hagen...And I'm talking to myself...talking to myself...talking to MYSELF. On my own radio....

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    1. Jon29 April 2015 at 06:55

      I'm still strangely drawn to Gothic now and again, and its offshoot Steampunk on occasions. Then again, I never grew out of dressing-up! Jx

      Delete
  3. bitter69uk29 April 2015 at 07:55

    Despite her love of eyeliner and hair extensions Nina was never really goth, though - she was more of a punk. Nunsexmonkrock still sounds scary and futuristic! I also loved her 1985 album Nina Hagen in Ekstasy which I used to have on vinyl. If you want it on CD it's going for about £50 on Amazon now!

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    1. Jon29 April 2015 at 18:18

      "Punk" and "Goth" crossed-over repeatedly, with little definition between them until some clever-clever journalist decided that the likes of Siouxsie, The Cure, Bauhaus (all of whom rose during the Punk era) and their ilk were part of a separate genre. None of them self-defined that way, and it was only really the rise of the second wave of bands like Sisters of Mercy in the 80s that kick-started it as a fashion trend... Jx

      Delete
  4. Barbarella's Galaxy31 May 2015 at 14:16

    I love Miss Hagen. I remember seeing some of her albums covers when I was a kid and before I heard a single song I knew she was quite different from the rest. And she really was...

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