The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of 'Tainted Love' and influential multi-platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. Since singer Marc Almond’s near-fatal motorcycle accident in 2004, he’s performed solo, but not with Soft Cell the band haven’t officially been dissolved again, though, so further shows remain a possibility. Soft Cell is an electronic music duo that came to prominence in the early 80s.They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The shows were far from the kind of gaudy affairs you might have expected from the band in their prime, though, with a shadowy, minimal light show putting the focus squarely on the music - an extended, ten minute rendition of ‘Tainted Love’ included. After reforming in the early noughties - they fizzled out, originally, in 1984 - they toured Europe in 2002 and played a short run of dates in the U.S.
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That same year they recorded the Mutant Moments ep and then later. Their close association with the evolving drug culture in nightclubs during their heyday made them a popular target for the press, but it was something that the band were happy to play up to, with their debut record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret - which reached number five in the UK charts - dealing with squalid lyrical themes. Soft Cell were first formed in 1978 by singer Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. Originally funded by family members, Mutant Moments was eventually released by the Big Frock label in 1980. They quickly recorded an EP on a two-track recorder. Almond recalled, 'Dave introduced me to the record and I loved it so much and we wanted an interesting song for a encore number in our show.
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I think it was our sheer determination to be successful, against all odds, Dave reflects. Soft Cell was founded in 1977 by Almond and Ball, who met as art students at Leeds Polytechnic. Marc Almond of Soft Cell called this song 'a mixture of cold electronics with an over-passionate, over-exuberant, slightly out of key vocal' according to the book '1000 UK 1 Hits' by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh.
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In the immortal words of Alan Partridge, “ruddy hell, it’s Soft Cell!” The synthpop duo are probably open to accusations of being one hit wonders - I’m sure there’s plenty of people who’d struggle to name more than one of their songs, after ‘Tainted Love’ - but back in the early eighties, they were a real force, brewing up pop hits and constant controversy in pretty much equal measure. The Soft Cell 3 layers external fabric practically allowed SPIDI technicians to build a protective kit around a stretch, innovative armor able to provide. Soft Cell flew in the face of the guitar-orientated punk bands of the late 70s, so recording their debut album in New York showed these Northern lads Marc from Southport and Dave from Blackpool to be made of tough stuff.