People, They Want to Touch Me!

I’ve been hanging out with some younger folks these days and it’s starting to make me feel old. Some people have never heard of the Montreal Massacre, or Oka!! But it’s the little things that surprise me. Recently I was yammering on about Nina Hagen to completely blank faces. OMG, no cultural reference at all. Nina Hagen! You know Nina Hagen.

My best friend and neighbor Lynn Hill, used to say “People! They want to touch me” when I would mention Nina in her company. It was a quote from a Nina Hagen interview.

I have already made my wishes clear that my funeral music should include Nina Hagen’s cover of My Way.

I always wanted to see her someday, and then on my Livejournal I found out a friend’s mother was hanging around with Nina that summer. Why Nina Hagen was spending the summer in Vancouver, I don’t know. Maybe Vancouver’s jaded enough to celebrities that people won’t want to touch her so much. My Livejournal friend (who I had yet to meet in person) was trying to meet the legendary German diva and of course I got all excited. We never did get to meet Nina, but we did do a bunch of drugs and then I necked with her, her boyfriend, and his girlfriend. Which seems like a fitting end to my Nina story.

And for those who STILL don’t know who Nina Hagen is, I present her cover of Ziggy Stardust, which I think is superior to Bowie’s. Enjoy.