Nico

For other uses, see Nico (disambiguation).

Nico

Nico (born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988) was a German singer, composer, fashion model, actress, and Warhol Superstar. She is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and her work as a solo artist from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. She also had roles in several films, including a cameo in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966), as herself. She was related to Hermann Päffgen, who founded the Päffgen brewery in 1883 in Cologne.

She died in July 1988, as a result of injuries sustained in a bicycling accident.

Career

Early life

Standing 5' 10", with chiseled features and porcelain skin, Nico rose to prominence as a fashion model as a teenager. After leaving school at the age of thirteen she began selling lingerie and was soon spotted by fashion insiders. A year later, her mother found her work as a model in Berlin. She soon became one of the top fashion models of the period.

Her adopted name, 'Nico', which she used for most of her life, was given to her by photographer Herbert Tobias, who was photographing her on a modeling job. He named her this after his ex-boyfriend, filmmaker Nikos Papatakis. She soon moved to Paris and began working for Vogue, Tempo, Vie Nuove, Mascotte Spettacolo, Camera, Elle, and other fashion magazines. She was briefly hired by Coco Chanel. In addition to her native German, she spoke four languages: English, Italian, Spanish, and French.

Before breakthrough

After appearing in several television advertisements, Nico got a small role in Alberto Lattuada's film La Tempesta (1958). She also appeared in Rudolph Maté's For the First Time, with Mario Lanza, later that year.

In 1959 she was invited to the set of Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, where she attracted the attention of the acclaimed director, who gave her a minor role in the film as herself. By this time, she had moved to New York to take acting classes with Lee Strasberg.

File:Nico ladolce.png

Nico in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita.

She appears as the cover model on jazz pianist Bill Evans' 1962 album, Moon Beams. After splitting her time between New York and Paris, she got the lead role in Jacques Poitrenaud's Strip-Tease (1963). She recorded the title track, which was written by Serge Gainsbourg but not released until 2001, when it was included in the compilation Le Cinéma de Serge Gainsbourg.

In 1962 Nico gave birth to her son, Christian Aaron "Ari" Päffgen, commonly held to have been fathered by French actor Alain Delon. Delon always denied his paternity. The child was raised mostly by Delon's mother and her husband and eventually was adopted by them, taking their surname, Boulogne.

Beginning of musical career

In 1965 Nico met Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and recorded her first single, "I'm Not Sayin'"/"The Last Mile", produced by Jimmy Page for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label. Actor Ben Carruthers introduced her to Bob Dylan in Paris that summer. Dylan wrote the song "I'll Keep It with Mine" for her shortly thereafter, which she recorded for her first album, Chelsea Girl, in 1967.

After being introduced by Brian Jones, she began working in New York with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey on their experimental films, including Chelsea Girls, The Closet, Sunset and Imitation of Christ.

The Velvet Underground and Nico

When Warhol began managing The Velvet Underground he proposed that the group take on Nico as a "chanteuse." They consented reluctantly, for both personal and musical reasons. The group became the centerpiece of Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a multimedia performance featuring music, light, film and dance. Nico sang lead vocals on three songs ("Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties", "I'll Be Your Mirror") and backing vocal on "Sunday Morning", on the band's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967).

Solo career

1960s

Immediately following her musical work with the Velvet Underground, Nico began work as a solo artist. For her debut album, 1967's Chelsea Girl, she recorded songs by Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin and Jackson Browne, among others. Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison contributed to the album, with Nico, Reed and Cale co-writing one song, "It Was a Pleasure Then." Chelsea Girl is a traditional chamber-folk album, which influenced artists such as Leonard Cohen, with strings and flute arrangements by producer Tom Wilson. Nico was not satisfied with the album and had little say in production matters.

For The Marble Index, released in 1969, Nico wrote the lyrics and music. Accompaniment mainly centered around Nico's harmonium, while John Cale added an array of folk and classical instruments, and arranged the album. The harmonium became her signature instrument for the rest of her career. The album has a classical-cum-European folk sound.

Nico playing harmonium, Hyde Park concert 1974

1970s

Nico released two more solo albums in the 1970s, Desertshore and The End.... Nico wrote the music, sang, and played the harmonium. Cale produced and played most of the other instruments on both albums. The End... featured Brian Eno on synthesizer. She appeared at the Rainbow Theatre, in London, with Cale, Eno, and Kevin Ayers. The album June 1, 1974 was the result of this concert. Nico performed a version of the Doors' "The End", which was the catalyst for The End... later that year.

On 13 December 1974, Nico opened for Tangerine Dream's infamous concert at Reims Cathedral in Reims, France. The promoter had so greatly oversold tickets for the show that members of the audience couldn't move or reach the outside, eventually resulting in some fans urinating inside the cathedral hall. The Roman Catholic Church denounced these actions, ordered the rededication of the cathedral and banned future performances on church property.

Nico and Island Records allegedly had many disputes during this time, and in 1975 the label dropped her from their roster.

1980s

Nico returned to New York in late 1979 where her comeback concert at CBGB in early 1980 was glowingly reviewed in The New York Times. She began playing regularly at the Mudd Club and other venues with Jim Tisdall accompanying her on harp and Gittler guitar. They played together on a sold-out tour of twelve cities in the East and Midwest.

Nico recorded her next studio album, Drama of Exile, in 1981. It was a departure from her earlier work with John Cale, featuring a mixture of rock and Middle Eastern arrangements. She recorded her final solo album, Camera Obscura, in 1985, with The Faction (James Young and Graham Dids). Produced by John Cale, it featured Nico's version of the Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart song "My Funny Valentine".

A number of Nico's performances towards the end of her life were recorded and released, including 1982's Heroine, Live In Tokyo, and her final concert, Fata Morgana, recorded on 6 June 1988. The double live album Behind the Iron Curtain was recorded during a tour of Eastern Europe, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and made from recordings of concerts in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and other cities, and was released before her death in 1988.

A duet called "Your Kisses Burn" with singer Marc Almond was her last recorded song (about a month before her death). It was released a few months after her death on Almond's album "The Stars We Are".

Philippe Garrel films

Between 1970 and 1979, Nico made about seven films with French director Philippe Garrel. She met Garrel in 1969 and contributed the song "The Falconer" to his film Le Lit de la Vierge. Soon after, she was living with Garrel and became a central figure in his cinematic and personal circles. Nico's first acting appearance with Garrel occurred in his 1972 film, La Cicatrice Intérieure. Nico also supplied the music for this film and collaborated closely with the director. She also appeared in the Garrel films Anathor (1972); the silent Jean Seberg biopic, Les Hautes Solitudes, released in 1974; Un ange passe (1975); Le Berceau de cristal (1976), starring Pierre Clémenti, Nico and Anita Pallenberg; and Voyage au jardin des morts (1978). His 1991 film J'entends Plus la Guitare is dedicated to Nico.

Personal life

Nico's grave in Berlin

Nico saw herself as part of a tradition of bohemian artists, which she traced back to the Romanticism of the early 19th century. She led a nomadic life, living in different countries. Apart from Germany, where she grew up, and Ibiza, where she died, Nico lived in Italy and France in the 1950s, spent most of the 1960s in the US, and lived in London in the early 1960s and again later in the 1980s, when she lived intermittently between London and Manchester.

Nico was a heroin addict for over 15 years. In the book Songs They Never Play on the Radio, James Young, a member of her band in the 1980s, recalls many examples of her troubling behaviour due to her "overwhelming" addiction - and also that Nico claimed to have never taken the drug whilst with the Velvets/Factory scene but only began using during her 1970's relationship with Philippe Garrel. However, shortly before her death, Nico stopped taking heroin and began methadone replacement therapy whilst also embarking upon a regimen of bicycle exercise and healthy eating.

Despite her musical talents and singing, she was deaf in one ear, which made it difficult for her to understand what others were saying. She was also said to have been a vegetarian, as well as a self-proclaimed nihilist.

Death

On 18 July 1988, while on holiday with her son on the Spanish island of Ibiza, Nico had a minor heart attack while riding a bicycle and hit her head as she fell. A passing taxi driver found her unconscious and had difficulty getting her admitted to local hospitals. She was incorrectly diagnosed as suffering from heat-exposure and died at eight o'clock that evening. X-rays later revealed a severe cerebral hemorrhage as the cause of death.

Nico was buried in her mother's plot in Grunewald Forest Cemetery in Berlin, Germany. A few friends played a tape of "Mütterlein", a song from Desertshore, at her funeral.

Legacy

Nico has influenced many musicians, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Morrissey, Björk, Coil, Jocelyn Pook, Fabienne Shine (who covered "All Tomorrow's Parties"), Dead Can Dance, Marcus Reeves as well as numerous contemporary goth bands.

Late singer-songwriter Elliott Smith cited her as a major inspiration and was said to have listened to The Marble Index for months. Smith performed covers of some of her songs - most notably "Chelsea Girls" and "These Days", both of which he performed live at Satyricon in Portland, Oregon in October 1999.

Two of her songs from Chelsea Girl, "The Fairest of the Seasons" and "These Days", both written by Jackson Browne, are featured in Wes Anderson's film The Royal Tenenbaums.

Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon named his daughter 'Nico Blue' partly after Nico. Blind Melon's album Nico was released after Hoon's death.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a movie written by John Cameron Mitchell, mentions Nico as an influential artist in its song, "Midnight Radio". The song is written by Stephen Trask.

Icelandic singer Björk opened concerts on her 1995–1997 Post tour with "Le Petit Chevalier" from Desertshore.

The Cult recorded the song "Nico", which celebrates the life of the singer, on their 2001 album Beyond Good And Evil.

For her 2002 album, Kissin' Time, Marianne Faithfull recorded "Song for Nico", cowritten with Dave Stewart.

Los Angeles band The Warlocks recorded a different song, also entitled "Song for Nico" on their 2003 album, "Rise and Fall".

Nico was portrayed by Christina Fulton in the 1991 biopic The Doors. She was later portrayed by Meredith Ostrom in the 2006 film, Factory Girl, which chronicles the life of fellow "Warhol Superstar", Edie Sedgwick.

Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes) has quoted Nico as an influence in particular Desertshore (The opening song on her first album, Fur and Gold, uses the name of the album in its lyrics). During 2007 she would start concerts with "Le Petit Chevalier" from that record.

Singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf has been influenced by Nico, and released cover versions of "Afraid" and "Ari's Song" as b-sides on EPs.

Rock band Anberlin named one of their songs after her: "Dance, Dance Christa Päffgen" on their album "Never Take Friendship Personal". The song also makes reference to her death, and her drug use.

Austin based band Shearwater dedicated their album Palo Santo to the memory of Nico. The opening song ("La Dame Et La Licorne") depicts Nico's death at Ibiza, Spain.

Windsor for the Derby, another Austin-based band, released an instrumental track in 2000 on their Young God Release "Difference and Repetition." A live version of the song can be found on a limited edition 7-inch.

Low, an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, has a song titled "Those Girls (Song For Nico)". It is included on the box set A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities, released in 2004.

Two Nico tribute concerts took place in Europe in the autumn of 2008 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Nico's birth and the 20th anniversary of her death. On 11 October 2008, John Cale, James Dean Bradfield (of the Manic Street Preachers), Fyfe Dangerfield of the Guillemots and others appeared on stage at the Royal Festival Hall in London. On 17 October 2008 at the Volksbuehne in Berlin, Nico's ex-boyfriend Lutz Ulbrich presented another tribute concert, which featured Marianne Rosenberg, Soap & Skin, Marianne Enzensberger and James Young, the keyboardist from The Faction, Nico's last band. Nico's son, Ari Boulogne (sometimes called Ari Päffgen), made a brief appearance on stage at the close.

The poetry collection Father Silicon (The Poet's Press, 2006) by American poet Joel Allegretti contains "Poem for Nico," which first appeared in the magazine Art/Life Limited Editions.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title
1967	The Velvet Underground & Nico
1967	Chelsea Girl
1969	The Marble Index
1970	Desertshore
1974	The End...
1981	Drama of Exile (released in two versions)
1985	Camera Obscura

Live albums

Year	Title
1974	June 1, 1974
1983	Do or Die: Nico in Europe
1985	Nico Live in Pécs
1986	Live Heroes
1986	Behind the Iron Curtain
1987	Nico in Tokyo
1988	Fata Morgana (Nico's Last Concert)
1989	Hanging Gardens
1994	Heroine
1997	Chelsea Girl / Live
2003	Femme Fatale: The Aura Anthology (Drama of Exile expanded, plus live disc)
2004	Nico: All Tomorrow's Parties (Tracks 5 to 11 recorded live in Tokyo 11.4.1986)
2007	All Tomorrow's Parties (live double album)

Compilation albums

Year	Title
1998	Nico: The Classic Years
2002	Innocent & Vain — An Introduction to Nico
2003	Femme Fatale — The Aura Anthology (Re-issue of Drama of Exile with bonus tracks plus Live at Chelsea Town Hall 9.8.85)
2007	The Frozen Borderline - 1968–1970 (Re-issue of The Marble Index and Desertshore with bonus tracks)

Singles

Year	Title
1965	"I'm Not Sayin'" / "The Last Mile"
1981	"Vegas" / "Saeta" - Flicknife Records FLS 206

Bibliography

• Nico: The Life and Lies of an Icon by Richard Witts, (Virgin Books: London, 1992).
• Up-tight: the Velvet Underground Story by Victor Bockris and Gerard Malanga (Omnibus Press: London, 1995 reprint).
• Songs They Never Play On the Radio by James Young, (Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd: London, 1992).
• Nico: Photographies by Antoine Giacomoni, (Dragoon: Paris, 2002).
• Nico: Cible mouvante. Chansons, Poèmes, Journal by Nico, Jacques Pauvert and Ari Boulogne, (Pauvert: Paris, 2001).
• L'amour n'oublie jamais by Ari Boulogne, (Pauvert: Paris, 2001).
• Nico: The End by James Young, 1993.
• Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gilliamn Mccain, (Grove Press: New York, 1996).
• LÜÜL: Ein Musikerleben zwischen Agitation Free, Ashra, Nico, der Neuen Deutschen Welle und den 17 Hippies by Lutz Ulbrich (Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf: Berlin, 2007).

Films and plays

• Nico Icon (1995), documentary directed by Susanne Ofteringer
• Nico Icon Play by Stella Grundy premièred at Studio Salford on 5 September 2007
• Nico. Sphinx aus Eis by Werner Fritsch (2005)

External links

• Nico Fan Group A public social networking group for Nico fans
• Habits of Waste, Pt. 1 Evaluation of Nico's early work
• Habits of Waste, Pt. 2 Evaluation of Nico's later work
• Nico, the Voice of Disaffected Youth - Audio story from National Public Radio
• Nico (BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour audio item)
• Nico discography at Discogs
• Nico discography at MusicBrainz
• Nico at IMDb
• Nico at Find a Grave
• Femme Fatale: Story of Nico BBC Radio 4 14 September 2009