Nico
One of the most fascinating figures of rock's fringes, Nico hobnobbed, worked, and was romantically linked with an incredible assortment of the most legendary entertainers of the '60s. The paradox of her career was that she herself never attained the fame of her peers, pursuing a distinctly individualistic and uncompromising musical career that was uncommercial, but wholly admirable and influential. Nico first rose to fame as a European supermodel, also landing a bit part in Fellini's La Dolce Vita film and giving birth to a son by Alain Delon. In 1965, she attracted the attention of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who gave her a chance to record for his Immediate label, though the resulting single, which also featured Brian Jones and Jimmy Page on guitars, flopped. Shortly afterward, she moved to New York, where Andy Warhol installed her as a vestigial presence and occasional lead singer for the Velvet Underground. The band never really accepted her as a bona fide member and she departed in 1967, but not before contributing unforgettable deadpan vocals to three of the songs on their classic 1967 debut album.
Nico embarked on a solo career, recording folk-rock-flavored songs for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 follow-up, The Marble Index, was a dramatic departure that unveiled her doom-laden, gothic persona, produced by Cale and prominently featuring her deep vocals, impenetrable lyrics, and ghostly harmonium. Her subsequent '70s albums explored much the same territory, with assistance from Cale and influential art rockers like Eno and Phil Manzanera. Her career fell into disarray during the rest of the '70s and the '80s as she struggled with a massive drug habit and tangled personal life. She released several live albums on various labels, but the ill-planned Drama of Exile and the more successful Camera Obscura were her only coherent studio efforts until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988.
The original goth rocker, Nico's albums are demanding and bleak, but map a unique and starkly powerful vision that has become more influential with age. An intimate of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, the Velvet Underground, the Stones, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and others, her fascinating story is recounted in the biography Nico: The Life & Lies of an Icon by Richard Witts, published in Great Britain by Virgin books; The End by James Young is a seedy look at her drug-addled final years by a member of her touring band.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary
Rock - Released by Verve on 1 Jan 1966
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 1 Jan 1966
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Desertshore
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on 1 Dec 1970
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Marble Index
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on 1 Nov 1968
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Polydor on 15 Oct 1967
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary / Super Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 12 Mar 1967
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
June 1, 1974 (Live At The Rainbow Theatre / 1974)
Brian Eno, John Cale, Nico, Kevin Ayers
Rock - Released by Island Records on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The End...
Rock - Released by Universal-Island Records Ltd. on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970
Alternative & Indie - Released by Domino Recording Co on 30 Oct 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Camera Obscura
Alternative & Indie - Released by Beggars Banquet on 1 Jun 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary Remaster (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 1 Jan 1966
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
BBC Peel Session 1971 (BBC Peel Session 1971)
Folk - Released by Gearbox Records on 5 Aug 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The End... (Expanded Edition)
Rock - Released by UMC (Universal Music Catalogue) on 1 Jan 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Polydor on 15 Oct 1967
The Qobuz Essential Discography24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Drama of Exile
Punk / New Wave - Released by Modern Harmonic on 11 Feb 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary - Deluxe Edition) (Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Released by Polydor on 1 Jan 1966
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Released by Universal Records on 15 Oct 1967
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nico In Tokyo
Rock - Released by Cherry Red Records on 1 Jan 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Nico Live Collection
Rock - Released by Cherry Red Records on 9 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Femme Fatale
Punk / New Wave - Released by Jungle Records on 1 Jan 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo