As ridiculous single-serving Twitter accounts go, “Santa Klaus Nomi” is worth a look. A holiday-themed send-up of the great and utterly singular operatic New Wave singer Klaus Nomi, it’s not the most original joke—I dimly recall a Chicago record store running a Santa Klaus Nomi ad in Lumpen 20 years ago, and there must be examples from the ‘80s as well. It’s just too obvious.
Though it was established in 2009, the oldest tweet seems to be from 2012 (posting ramps up around the holidays, surprise surprise), and it was joined in 2013 by a Facebook account, but the latter seems to exist solely for the sake of retweets. The account reactivated yesterday after a months-long spell of infrequent posting, with the following:
Orion, dear Wintersternbild, you have seen so many Götter, have been so many. For now hunt wildly, waiting quiet eons for einen neuen Namen.
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) December 2, 2015
That’s pretty much the gist: pseudo-philisophical Christmasy ruminations so densely, elliptically faux-Teutonic as to put Mike Myers’ “Sprockets” sketches to shame. And its parody of that acutely angular and grimly serious post-WWII German expressionist trip is every bit as affectionate and funny as those old SNL bits.
Gute Kinder, naughty list appears delightfully tiny this season. Santanomi ist sehr zufrieden! Tonight I will compose new aria just for you.
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) December 2, 2014
Hoo hoo! Toyfactory rhythm inspires neu Elfen toychant: "Cheerful eyes, crafty hands of tinkerers and artisans, we are so happy to create!"
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) December 7, 2013
Once more: Merry, merry Christmas, my lovely children. Now Santanomi is tired. I sleep, then go to eis moon Europa for skating. Wiedersehen!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) December 25, 2012
Epic Schneeball fight today. Mein tactic is to lob ein fat one into sky, und when Elfen look up to see: Blitzkrieg in das face! Hoo hoo hoo!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) August 1, 2012
The wind is singing in mein ears. The elves they work. The snow melts. I saw a polar bear the other day. It was thin and dirty.
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) July 17, 2012
Back from morning scoot to buy picklechips from narwhal friends. Mein summer sleigh screams like Minotaur getting whiskers cut. Hoo hoo hoo!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) July 26, 2013
Ach! Perfect day to open meine rainy day craft chest. Let us see… Shall I make funny Schneemänner of foam und put googly eyes? Maybe, hoo!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) August 21, 2014
Last Christmas elfen give me Schlittschuhe mit blades of Damascus steel. I cut figure 8 into eis, end up schwimmen mit belugas, hoo hoo hoo!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) November 18, 2014
Sonnenfinsternis, our precious winking eye, what amuses you so? Perhaps we know it already? Can't come to grips with the total eclipse, hoo!
— Santa Klaus Nomi (@SantaKlausNomi) March 20, 2015
There’s even Santanomi fan art!
The only actual Klaus Nomi holiday music I’m aware of is a rendition of “Silent Night” that comes from Za Bakdaz, an attempted long-form operatic work that was unfinished at the time of the singer’s premature death, and released posthumously in 2007.
Many thanks to Vince Whitacre for this find!
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Remembering my friend, Klaus Nomi
Klaus Nomi on ‘Real People,’ 1979
Life-size Klaus Nomi doll (and sarcophagus)