Nico Mastorakis (Greek: Νίκος Μαστοράκης; born 28 April 1941 in Athens, Greece) is a Greek filmmaker, director and radio producer.

Early career[link]

At the age of 18 Mastorakis as a young reporter with the Greek newspaper Ethnikos Kirikas scored his first international scoop, an exclusive interview with the exiled Princess Soraya. Later, as an investigative reporter for the daily Messimvrini, adding to multiple award-winning reports, he created the first "automobile page" in Greek press.

In his last job as a reporter for the daily Apogevmatini he posed as a musician for the group of popular singer Yanni Poulopoulos and gained access to Onassis’ yacht, the Christina where Onassis was hosting Jackie and Ted Kennedy.

He used a Minox camera hidden behind the strings of his guitar to take photos but was inevitably discovered by Ted's security men and although managing to fly out of Scorpios with his negatives intact he was later arrested by the junta's secret police and detained for the night while his negatives were discovered and confiscated.

Although his article about that night beiing heavily censored he broke the news of Ari and Jackie getting married months before the official announcement.

Mastorakis’ adventure on board the Onassis yacht was later described in detail in both Ari and Nemesis, by Onassis’ biographer Peter Evans, who writes: "… Onassis used his pull with the colonels and Mastorakis was picked up in Athens… later Ari showed me a copy of Mastorakis’ original story which had been cut to ribbons by the military censors…"

He was already a radio personality since the late 1950s, considered by many to be the DJ who brought international pop to Greek radio. In all, he hosted and produced more than 22 different radio shows.

In the late sixties Mastorakis was introduced to the Beatles and became friends with John Lennon. On April 17, 1967 he produced the first ever international pop concert in Athens, booking the Rolling Stones for a memorable albeit troubled concert, dominated by police and amidst the riots which plagued Athens at the time. The military coup came four days later.

As a lyricist and record producer he launched the careers of almost all of the Greek pop groups of the sixties, working mainly with the Forminx and their keyboard player / composer Vangelis Papathanassiou, later known internationally as Vangelis for his film scores to Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner and more.

Their superhit "Jeronimo Yanka" was a sensation for many years and still represents one of the popular party dances in Greece.

Mastorakis was instrumental in the creation of Greek television in the late 1960s. From early 1966 (before the junta years) and until 1973 while Greece was under the Regime of the Colonels, he produced and hosted numerous entertainment shows in the army-owned YENED TV station. While the station's primary goal was to propagandize for the army his shows were mostly apolitical fare, such as game shows and celebrity interviews, including a Greek version of This Is Your Life, and he was among the most popular TV personalities of the time. He produced local versions of many international formats (Candid Camera, To Tell The Truth) and worked for both YENED and ERT, the country's national TV network. In addition to his shows he produced and directed Alati kai Piperi (Salt and Pepper), hosted by noted Greek columnist Freddy Germanos. One of the highlights of that show was when Mastorakis brought John Lennon and Yoko Ono into the military TV's two-camera studio. He wrote, produced and directed dramatic series and variety shows as well as the short-lived breakthrough sci-fi episodic Invasion From Another Planet, the first on Greek TV to be shot on film.

However his TV career took some dramatic turns as he was ousted twice by the junta, the unofficial reason being cited "for speaking freely". The first time that his shows were abruptly banned was for his comment to a 6 year old girl (in a kiddies show) "how can you ever buy a Christmas tree with the cost of life as they are today", a comment which was considered by the military regime as "anti-government propaganda". At the time he was serving in the navy and eventually returned to TV, only to be ousted (by order of dictator Papadopoulos) because he interviewed a 12 year old girl who had married and had a baby. Papadopoulos considered the interview as "corruption of ethics for the Greek family". For almost a year, Mastorakis was producing "underground" with the silent consent of YENED's management until his final return. His career as a journalist also had clashes with the junta. After writing a long piece about Mikis Theodorakis’ concert in London, for the weekly magazine "Epikera", he was arrested and detained at the ESA (Military Police) headquarters for a day. Later on, publisher Georgis Athanassiades, hired Mastorakis for the daily "Vradini" (which had been shut down by the junta and was about to be published again) only to find out from Dimitrios Ioannidis (head of the Military Police and later the dictator who replaced instigating a bloodier junta) that the newspaper's permit had been withdrawn because "Athanassiades had hired anarchist-communists like Mastorakis".

Junta controversy[link]

In the aftermath of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, the regime tried to use Mastorakis' popularity^[1] to repair its public image. An interview was set up and broadcast, during which he interviewed, in prison, a number of students who had been arrested during the events.^[2] Mastorakis claimed that he had guarantees from Minister of Press Spyridon Zournatzis that the interview would not be censored and that the students would not be prosecuted for speaking freely.

After the fall of the regime in 1974, the students were released from prison and stated that they had been beaten and threatened with legal and extra-legal punishment unless they cooperated in the interview. Nico Mastorakis himself claimed that he had been coerced into making the show, but his popularity had evaporated, and the new management of the Greek TV stations wanted nothing to do with him.

Later career[link]

Unable to work in public television after the junta, Mastorakis turned to commercials and features and eventually left the country in 1975 to pursue his career as a film maker overseas. He had already made two low budget movies, one of which later became a cult classic (Island of Death) and while living in London he wrote the screenplay of "The Greek Tycoon", a roman-a-clef based on his Onassis’ encounters. The movie, financed by Allan Klein, was shot in 1976 with Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset starring and was distributed by Universal. Mastorakis landed a two year contract with Paramount but in 1980 he turned independent with "Blood Tide" which he wrote and produced. He has since written, produced and directed 17 features, mainly low budget but with awards attached (Blind Date, Nightmare At Noon, Grandmother's House) and distribution by major studios and mainstream TV networks. He wrote two published novels (Fire Below Zero and Keepers of the Secret) with Barnaby Conrad and was instrumental in the careers of Hans Zimmer (his first music score for Terminal Exposure), Kirstie Alley, Valeria Gollino and award-winning composer Vangelis, with whom Mastorakis wrote a bundle of Greek pop top hits in the sixties.

He returned to Greece in late 1989 to launch Antenna TV which he managed for three years. He left in 1993 to create a new independent TV network, Star Channel. Since then, he hosted the relatively successful "Arga" (Late), a late night talk show, and revamped the beauty pageant telecasts.

He also wrote and directed sitcoms Goodnight, Mom and Divorced With Children, the politically incorrect satirical show Not the ANT1 News, and more. In 1995, he launched his own classic rock radio station (Radio Gold) which he recently sold to Pegassus Publishing Group.

Filmography[link]

• Island of Death (1975)
• Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)
• The Greek Tycoon (1978)
• Blood Tide (1982)
• Blind Date (1984)
• The Next One (1984)
• Sky High (1986)
• The Zero Boys (1986)
• Terminal Exposure (1987)
• The Wind (1987)
• Glitch (1988)
• Nightmare at Noon (1988)
• Ninja Academy (1988)
• Bloodstone (1988)
• Darkroom (1988)
• Grandmother's House (1989)
• Hired to Kill (1990)
• In the Cold of the Night (1990)
• The Naked Truth (1992)
• .com for Murder (2002)

In popular culture[link]

In the 2005 TV comedy series Loufa kai parallagi, which satirizes life in YENED during the Regime, a character named "Mastronikos" is portrayed as a loud wide-eyed Greek American always trying to imitate American television, with unintentionally comedic results.

Citations and notes[link]

External links[link]

• Nico Mastorakis at the Internet Movie Database
• Antenna TV (Greek)
• Interview with HorrorYearbook

Nico
Nico in Hyde Park, London, 1974.
Background information
Birth name	Christa Päffgen
Born	(1938-10-16)16 October 1938 Cologne, Germany
Died	18 July 1988(1988-07-18) (aged 49) Ibiza, Spain
Genres	Art rock, folk rock, protopunk, experimental, avant-garde music
Occupations	Composer, singer, fashion model, actress
Instruments	Vocals, harmonium, harpsichord, piano, tambourine
Years active	1958–1988
Associated acts	The Velvet Underground, John Cale, Lou Reed, Brian Jones, Kevin Ayers, John Cooper Clarke, The Invisible Girls, Blue Orchids, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno

Nico (born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988)^[1] was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s. She is known for both her vocal collaboration on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967), 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. Nico died in July 1988, as a result of injuries sustained in a cycling accident while vacationing in Ibiza with her son.^[1]

Early life[link]

Nico was born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, five years after the Nazis came to power in Germany. When she was two years old, she moved with her mother and grandfather to the Spreewald forest outside of Berlin. Her father was enlisted as a soldier during the war, and sustained head injuries that caused severe brain damage; he died in a concentration camp.^[2][3] In 1946, Nico and her mother relocated to downtown Berlin, where Nico worked as a seamstress. She attended school until the age 13, and then began selling lingerie in the exclusive department store KaDeWe, eventually getting modeling jobs in Berlin.^[3] Standing at five feet, ten inches tall and with chiseled features and porcelain skin, Nico rose to prominence as a fashion model as a teenager.

At 15 years of age, according to various conflicting accounts, Nico was said to have been raped by a GI of the U.S. Air Force who was sentenced to death^[4] Her song "Secret Side" from the album The End, made oblique references to this. A review of the album The End examines the poetry of "Secret Side" and questions the validity of the rape legend.^[5]

Discovered at 16 by photographer Herbert Tobias while both were working at a KaDeWe fashion show, Tobias christened 'Nico' with her adopted name, which she used for most of her life.^[6] Tobias 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. At age 17, she was contracted by Coco Chanel to promote their products, but she fled to New York City and abandoned the job.^[2] Through her travels, she learned to speak English, Spanish, and French.

Career[link]

Acting and modeling[link]

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 was living in New York and taking acting classes with Lee Strasberg.^[3]

She appears as the cover model on jazz pianist Bill Evans' 1962 album, Moon Beams.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

Music career[link]

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.^[1]

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 & Nico[link]

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.^[10][11] 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).^[12] The album went on to become one of the most legendary rock albums of all time, and ranked in at #13 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,^[13] though it was poorly received at the time of its release.

Solo career[link]

[edit] Chelsea Girl and The Marble Index

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."^[14] 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. In retrospect, she said in 1981:

"I still cannot listen to it, because everything I wanted for that record, they took it away. I asked for drums, they said no. I asked for more guitars, they said no. And I asked for simplicity, and they covered it in flutes! [...] They added strings, and— I didn't like them, but I could live with them. But the flute! The first time I heard the album, I cried and it was all because of the flute."^[15]

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.

[edit] Desertshore and The End

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.^[16] 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.

She made a vocal contribution to Neuronium's second album, Vuelo Químico as she was at the studio, by chance, while it was being recorded in Barcelona in 1978. She read excerpts from Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe. She said that was deeply moved by the music, so she couldn't help to make a contribution.

[edit] Drama of Exile and final album

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.^[1] 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[link]

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 feature 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.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

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 while with the Velvets/Factory scene but only began using during her 1970s relationship with Philippe Garrel. Shortly before her death, Nico stopped taking heroin and began methadone replacement therapy while 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.^[17] She was also a vegetarian, as well as a self-proclaimed nihilist.^[18]

Death[link]

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.^[3]

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

Legacy[link]

Nico has influenced many musicians, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Stevie Nicks, Elliott Smith, 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.^{[citation needed]} Kevin Ayers painted a withering and beautiful portrait of Nico in "Decadence" (the centerpiece of his Bananamour album in 1973) 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. Soap & Skin portrayed Nico in the theatre play Nico - Sphinx aus Eis in 2008, written by Werner Fritsch. In the play, Nico was portrayed by several actors. Soap & Skin also recorded her song "Janitor of Lunacy". 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.^[19]

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 named "Nico" 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.^[20][21]

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[link]

Studio albums[link]

^[1]

Live albums[link]

^[1]

Compilation albums[link]

^[1]

Singles[link]

^[1]

Bibliography[link]

• 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: Nico, the Last Bohemian by James Young, Bloomsbury, London 1992 ISBN 0-7475-1194-2
  • Nico - The End, USA edition, The Overlook Press, USA, 1993 ISBN 0-87951-504-X
  • Nico - Songs They Never Play on the Radio, second UK edition, Arrow 1993, ISBN 0-09-927571-6
  • Nico - Songs They Never Play on the Radio, third UK edition, Bloomsbury 1999, ISBN 0-7475-4411-5
  • Nico - Songs They Never Play on the Radio, fourth UK edition, Fortune Teller Press 2007, ISBN 0-9547737-4-8
• 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).
• 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[link]

• 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)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nico (Christa Päffgen)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nico

• 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 the Internet Movie Database
• Nico at Find a Grave
• Femme Fatale: Story of Nico BBC Radio 4 14 September 2009
• Nico Fan Group A public social networking group for Nico fans