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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All Tomorrows Parties: Nico Live
Rock - Released by Anagram on Jan 1, 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Europe Do or Die Diary 1982
Pop/Rock - Released by ROIR on Jan 1, 1982
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Nico (Live)
Rock - Released by Cherry Red Records on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janitor Of Lunacy (Live At The Library Theatre Manchester)
Rock - Released by Cherry Red Records on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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These Days (Slowed + Reverb)
Rock - Released by Polydor on Feb 4, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LIVE AT THE LIBRARY THEATRE '83 (Live)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Culture Factory (France). on Nov 25, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best Of Nico: LIVE (Live)
Rock - Released by Anagram on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Driving Rain
Techno - Released by Midnight Shift on May 14, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico: Live at Bataclan, 1972 (Live)
Rock - Released by Maison Blanche on May 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Oscar de dor
Pop - Released by Universal Music Romania Distributed Labels on Feb 1, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Best of Nico (Live)
Rock - Released by Cherry Red Records on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Songs from the Velvet Underground (Live)
Rock - Released by Snapshot on Nov 4, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LIVE AT THE HACIENDA '83 (Live)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Culture Factory (France). on Apr 23, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Trenul vieții
Pop - Released by Universal Music Romania Distributed Labels on Nov 11, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Funny Valentine / My Heart Is Empty
Alternative & Indie - Released by Beggars Banquet on Jun 28, 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rebel Without a Draw (2014 Remaster)
Chill-out - Released by No U Turn Records on Dec 8, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo