Timeline: 1988
Duetting with Nico - sharing the bill in Japan
Nico joins Cale on stage for Child's Christmas in Wales at a show at Le Palais des Beaux-Arts/Paleis voor de Schone Kunsten, Brussels, Belgium, March 24. Before that they shared the bill on a Japanese tour, Cale using Nico's band for a Velvets medley. James Young, who played keyboards in her band, in his book Nico - Songs They Never Play On The Radio:
"Nico and Cale did not get along well. He objected to her smoking in his presence. Then there were problems about the shows; Nico wanted to go on last; "This John Cale - who does he thinks he is? I'm a star too." But Cale was top of the bill. Though he had been booked with a group he'd turned up on his own at the end of a long solo tour. The Japanese were politely astonished at such a blatant breach of contract."
Art Bergmann
Produces, plays keyboards and does some backing vocals on Canadian punk musician's debut album Crawl With Me.
Nico dies
Former Velvets's chanteuse Nico dies on the Spanish island Ibiza, July 18th. She fell off her bicycle and died of cerebral haemorrhage. Her son Ari in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, volume 2, by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain:
"In the late morning of July 18, 1988, my mother told me she needed to go downtown to buy marijuana. She sat down in front of the mirror and wrapped a black scarf around her head. My mother stared at the mirror and took great care to wrap the scarf appropriately. Down the hill on her bike: "I'll be back soon." She left in the early afternoon on the hottest day of the year."