Soft Cell are an
English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist
Marc Almond and instrumentalist
David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "
Tainted Love" and influential multi-platinum debut
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. In the UK, they had ten Top 40 hits, including "Bedsitter" (#4), "
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (#3), "
Torch" (#2), and "What!" (#3), and also had four Top 20 albums between 1981 and 1984. The duo split in 1984, but reformed in the early 2000s to tour and released a new album in 2002. Their songs have been covered by various artists including
Nine Inch Nails,
David Gray,
Nouvelle Vague and
A-ha. Soft Cell's track "Memorabilia" recognized band as pioneers of techno style. Duo sold 10 millions records worldwide.
History
Mutant Moments and Memorabilia
Soft Cell was initiated during 1978 after Almond and Ball met at
Leeds Polytechnic. Their initial efforts at recording resulted in an EP called
Mutant Moments that year, funded by a loan of £2000 from Dave Ball's mother, made with a simple 2-track recorder. This was released independently with only 2000 vinyl copies pressed and has since become a highly valued collectors item. Their early shows and EP caught the interest of certain record labels, such as
Mute Records and
Some Bizzare Records, both of which pioneered the new wave of synthesizer bands like
Depeche Mode. Soft Cell's next recording, "The Girl with the Patent Leather Face", appeared as a contribution to the
Some Bizzare Album, which featured then-unknown bands such as
Depeche Mode,
The The, and
Blancmange. The duo ultimately signed to the Some Bizarre label, backed by
Phonogram Records. Their first singles, "A Man Can Get Lost" 7" and "Memorabilia" 12" were produced by
Daniel Miller, the founder of
Mute Records. While "Memorabilia" was a success in nightclubs, Soft Cell remained essentially unknown.
Tainted Love
After the chart failure of "Memorabilia", Phonogram Records allowed Soft Cell to record a second and final single in an attempt to score a chart success. The band opted to record a radically reworked cover version of "Tainted Love", an obscure 1964
northern soul track sung originally by
Gloria Jones (the girlfriend of
Marc Bolan) and written by
Ed Cobb of
The Four Preps.
Released in 1981, Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" was a No. 1 hit in 17 countries, including the United Kingdom, as well as a No. 8 single in the United States during 1982, and went on to set a then-Guinness World Record for the longest consecutive stay on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart (43 weeks). The song's popularity developed slowly, needing 19 weeks to enter the U.S. Top 40. The A-side of the 12 inch single of "Tainted Love" actually featured a two-song medley, with "Tainted Love" blending into the Motown classic "Where Did Our Love Go" (originally recorded by The Supremes).
According to Marc Almond's book Tainted Life, Soft Cell had exited the "Tainted Love" recording sessions with only modest expectations that the track might break into the UK Top 50. Furthermore, Almond wrote that his only significant contribution to the song's instrumentation (besides the vocals) was the suggestion that the song begin with a characteristic "bink bink" sound which would repeat periodically throughout. Almond also wrote that he dedicated this song to his sometime partner Christian Andrews.
Usually, an artist releasing a cover version as a single would opt to write the song that appears on the B-side as this would still entitle the artist to some songwriting royalties stemming from sales of that single. However, as Soft Cell wrote neither "Tainted Love" nor "Where Did Our Love Go" (the 7" B-side track), they lost the opportunity to make a greater sum of money from songwriting royalties stemming from one of the most popular songs of the 1980s. Almond expressed regret for this in his book, and attributed the error to naïveté.
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
The duo's first
album,
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, hit UK #5 and further explored the now-trademark Soft Cell themes of squalour and sleaze. "Seedy Films" talks of long nights in
porno cinemas, while "Frustration" and "Secret Life" deal with the boredom and hypocrisy associated with suburban life. A companion video titled
was released alongside the album and featured videos directed by
Tim Pope. The video generated some controversy in Britain, mainly due to the scandal involved with the "Sex Dwarf" clip. The original version of the music video featured Almond and Ball in a bloody butcher shop surrounded by chainsaws, nude actors, and dwarves. However, the film was confiscated by police and censored before it was even released.
As a tongue-in-cheek substitute, a re-filmed "Sex Dwarf" appeared in
Non-Stop Exotic Video Show featuring Almond dressed in a tuxedo, directing a symphony orchestra of transvestites. A copy of the original "Sex Dwarf" can be found on
Tim Pope's website.
During 1982, the duo spent most of their time recording and relaxing in New York City, where they met a woman named Cindy Ecstasy whom Almond would later confirm was his drug supplier (it was Cindy Ecstasy who introduced them to the new nightclub drug of the same name). The duo release a second album, a 6-track mini album entitled Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing which contained remixes of older material along with their new hit single "What!". Almond would later admit that the album was recorded and mixed under the influence of ecstasy. "What!" placed at number 101 in US Charts.
Decline and dissolution
By 1983, fame and nearly constant drug use were having a bad effect on the duo. Marc Almond also formed the group
Marc and the Mambas, featuring collaborations with
The The's
Matt Johnson and future Almond collaborator Annie Hogan, as an
offshoot in order to experiment out of the glare of the Soft Cell spotlight. Soft Cell's third album release, appropriately titled
The Art of Falling Apart, was a Top 5 hit in the UK but the singles were only modest successes. The duo once again generated some controversy when their second single from the album, "Numbers", was banned by the
BBC due to references in the song to the drug
speed. The album very highly estimated by leader of
Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor.
By 1984, the duo had amicably decided to end Soft Cell and released one final album called This Last Night in Sodom (UK #12). Headed by the duo's final single "Down In The Subway" (UK #24), the album departed from its predecessors by featuring more live drums and guitars than previous albums. However, the controversial subject matter still remained true to the Soft Cell ethos, with songs such as "L'Esqualita" that glamourized transvestite culture in Manhattan.
Solo years
During Almond's solo years, he and Ball continued to communicate with each other. Dave Ball's ex-wife played cello in Marc Almond's solo band, though Almond and Ball did not work again together until 1990 when Ball remixed one of Almond's singles ("Waifs And Strays") and co-wrote and arranged some music for Almond's
Tenement Symphony album in 1991. David Ball formed
The Grid during 1990 with
Richard Norris. The Grid ended in 1996, but reformed during 2005 and released an album during 2008 with the
Some Bizzare company, named
Doppelgänger.
Reunion
Almond and Ball reunited as Soft Cell in 2001, with a series of live dates. They performed at the opening of the Ocean nightclub in London during March 2001, and a mini tour followed later in the year. The track "God Shaped Hole" featured on the
Some Bizzare compilation titled
I'd Rather Shout at a Returning Echo than Kid Someone's Listening, released during 2001. A new Soft Cell album,
Cruelty Without Beauty, was released during late 2002, followed by a European tour and a small U.S. tour during early 2003. The new album featured their first new songs together in almost twenty years, including their 2003 single "The Night" (UK #39). Interestingly, Soft Cell had considered recording "The Night" in place of "Tainted Love" during 1981 as their frantic attempt to score a chart success. In a 2003 interview with BBC's
Top of the Pops, keyboardist David Ball asserted, "I think history has kind of shown that we did make the right choice [in 1981]."
During August 2007, the band announced plans to release a remix album entitled Heat. The remix album was released in November 2008 and includes classic Soft Cell tracks remixed by such acts as Paul Dakeyne, The Grid, Manhattan Clique, Cicada, Richard X, Ladytron, MHC, Atomizer, Mark Moore, Kinky Roland, Spektrum, George Demure, Yer Man, The Dark Poets and many more.
Covers and sampling
Due to its enduring popularity, Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" along with other songs from
Non-stop Erotic Cabaret have been covered and
sampled a number of times, including:
A version from
Argentine DJ and show host Clotta Lanzetta (who was later murdered ), now translated as, "Falso Amor."
1984 Coil covered "Tainted Love" as one half of the double A-Side Panic/Tainted Love. This record was the first ever AIDS benefit record and Marc Almond appeared in the video as "Death." Marc would also provide vocals on the group's next release Horse Rotorvator.
1991 Carter USM covered "Bedsitter" on the CD single of Bloodsport For All.
1992 Inspiral Carpets covered "Tainted Love" for the NME's Ruby Trax 3CD Box.
1994 Psyche covered "Sex Dwarf" on the Private Desires EP
1995 The Alternative rock group Shades Apart from New Jersey covered "Tainted Love" in the CD single of 1995 (Revelation 40 PR1)
1997 The German Heavy Metal Rock Group Atrocity covered "Tainted Love" on their full length cover album titled "Werk 80" and also featured it on the limited deluxe edition of "Werk 80 II" released in 2008.
1998 Leæther Strip covered several songs on the EP.
1999 Australian punk/rockabilly band The Living End covered the song as a B-side for their single "All Torn Down".
1999 David Gray covered "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" on his album White Ladder.
2000 German techno band Scooter covered "Sex Dwarf" on their Sheffield. album.Christian Death also covered the track on their 10th studio album with Valor Kand as frontman, "Pornographic Messiah."
2001 Glam/hard rock band Marilyn Manson covered the song on the album Not Another Teen Movie O.S.T. and . It is also as a bonus track on The Golden Age of Grotesque.
2004 German techno producer Thomas Schumacher samples "Tainted Love" on his single Tainted Schall.
Industrial band Nine Inch Nails covered the song "Memorabilia" in 1994 which appeared on the Closer to God single and on their 10th anniversary re-release of The Downward Spiral during 2004. They also covered "Sex Dwarf" live during the 1989 Pretty Hate Machine tour.
2005 Pussycat Dolls covered the Soft Cell version with "Tainted Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go?" combined as one song for their debut album, PCD.
2006 The main riff of Lil Scrappy's song "Money In The Bank" took samples from part of the beat of "Tainted Love."
2006 Rihanna extensively samples "Tainted Love" on the single "SOS" from her album A Girl Like Me. It became a #1 successful single all over the world.
2006 Psytrance producer Bulletproof samples "Tainted Love" on the vinyl EP Tainted Love.
2007 DJ Richard Grey samples "Tainted Love" on "Warped Bass." A speed garage single, the vocal version still features Marc Almond's vocals.
2007 Chicago electronic duo Microfilm do not cover Soft Cell, but name-check their album NonStop Erotic Cabaret (as well as NonStop Ecstatic Dancing) in the lyrics of their track "Non-Stop Dreaming;" Soft Cell were an influence on the original sound of Microfilm's early tracks.
2009 Mexican Singer Fey used a sample of the song "Tainted Love" on her track "La Viuda Negra" included on her album Dulce Tentación
2009 The song "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" was covered by the French band Nouvelle Vague on their 2009 covers album 3.
2010 English pop band The Hoosiers covered "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" as a bonus track on the iTunes version of their album The Illusion of Safety.
Discography
;Studio albums
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (1981)
Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing (1982)
The Art of Falling Apart (1983)
This Last Night in Sodom (1984)
Cruelty Without Beauty (2002)
References
External links
Dave Ball's Management Webpage
Soft Cell singles list
BBC Top of the Pops Interview
Marc Almond's official site
Category:Synthpop
Category:British New Wave musical groups
Category:English dance music groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1980
Category:1980s music groups
Category:2000s music groups
Category:Sire Records artists
Category:Alumni of Leeds Metropolitan University
Category:LGBT musical groups
![Artic Monkeys performing on Orange stage at Roskilde Festival in 2007. During the 1970s David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,[158] hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential of all time.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831133840im_/http://cdn4.wn.com/pd/d3/52/e079d428d64682f70431c7883725_grande.jpg "Artic Monkeys performing on Orange stage at Roskilde Festival in 2007. During the 1970s David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,[158] hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential of all time.")
Gaddafi's family flees to Algeria
The Times of India
Dr. King and When Monuments Distort the Messenger and Message
WorldNews.com
La nuova vita di Diego Forlan riparte da Milano: "Era giunto il momento di cambiare, ...
Goal
Hurricane Irene: Barack Obama warns effects will be 'felt for some time'
The Daily Telegraph
Pentagon wasted '$30 billion' on contracts
Al Jazeera
![Artic Monkeys performing on Orange stage at Roskilde Festival in 2007. During the 1970s David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,[158] hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential of all time.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831133840im_/http://cdn3.wn.com/pd/d3/52/e079d428d64682f70431c7883725_thumb.jpg "Artic Monkeys performing on Orange stage at Roskilde Festival in 2007. During the 1970s David Bowie, himself of a father from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire,[158] hired three musicians from Hull in the form of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey; together they recorded Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, an album that went on to become widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential of all time.")
