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 - Pubblicato da Verve il 1 gen 1966
La discografia ideale di Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 1 gen 1966
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Desertshore
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da Domino Recording Co il 1 dic 1970
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Marble Index
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da Domino Recording Co il 1 nov 1968
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 15 ott 1967
La discografia ideale di Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary / Super Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 12 mar 1967
La discografia ideale di Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
June 1, 1974 (Live At The Rainbow Theatre / 1974)
Brian Eno, John Cale, Nico, Kevin Ayers
Rock - Pubblicato da Island Records il 1 gen 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The End...
Rock - Pubblicato da Universal-Island Records Ltd. il 1 gen 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da Domino Recording Co il 30 ott 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BBC Peel Session 1971 (BBC Peel Session 1971)
Folk - Pubblicato da Gearbox Records il 5 ago 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Camera Obscura
Musica alternativa e indie - Pubblicato da Beggars Banquet il 1 giu 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico - 45th Anniversary Remaster (45th Anniversary)
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 1 gen 1966
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The End... (Expanded Edition)
Rock - Pubblicato da UMC (Universal Music Catalogue) il 1 gen 1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chelsea Girl
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 15 ott 1967
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Drama of Exile
Punk/New wave - Pubblicato da Modern Harmonic il 11 feb 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Velvet Underground & Nico (45th Anniversary - Deluxe Edition) (Deluxe Edition)
Rock - Pubblicato da Polydor il 1 gen 1966
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Chelsea Girl
Rock - Pubblicato da Universal Records il 15 ott 1967
La discografia ideale di Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Nico In Tokyo
Rock - Pubblicato da Cherry Red Records il 1 gen 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Femme Fatale
Punk/New wave - Pubblicato da Jungle Records il 1 gen 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Nico Live Collection
Rock - Pubblicato da Cherry Red Records il 9 giu 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo