Soft Cell -- classic or dud?

I used to love to play their version of the Heartbreakers "Born to Lose" to annoy all the dyed-in-the-wool Noo Yawk punker types who frequented the bar I DJed at. God, Soft Cell were great.

Other faves: "Numbers", a very human take on the whole John Rechy rack-em-up gay conquest thing and "Sex Dwarf"-so silly, so seedy, I never tire of it.

And the autobiography's swell, too.

("Tainted Love" is one of the great oh-but-i-prefer-the-original-OF- COURSE singles. Other examples being Shipbuilding and Money's Too Tight To Mention. But ace though Gloria Jones single is...it's not *that* ace. Mind you I could also defend Simply Red vs the Valentine Brothers so.)

So classic for that, and for some of the singles - particularly the extended mixes - classic too. (A truly great underlooked gem is the full-length "Facility Girls" with its shivery perspective twists. The full-length "Torch" is brilliant too.) But for most of Marc A's career he's played up the Deviant Glam bits rather than the dirty- raincoat bits, and that's always seemed somehow too easy a route, to me.

Non stop erotic cabaret and art of falling apart are essential. They sound amazingly dramatic, passionate and lush nearly 20 years on. how people could find this music cold and distant is beyond me.

Non stop ecstatic dancing and last night in sodom both ok.

But in all cases they have one of the few CD reissues where the bonus tracks are actually worth having. Esp last night in sodom where the bonus tracks (you only live twice/007 theme/soul inside) are better than the actual album.

They're one of the few reunions when it looks as though something worthwhile may be produced other than topping up their pension scheme.

"Non-Stop Erotic Caberet" still sounds good tho...

Also loved The Torch, Martin etc. Hut does anyone know that amazing Marc Almond 6 track EP (I think, I only had a copy) with Matt Johnson (The The) Starts with a proto-drum'n'bass rhythm and beautiful chord sequence, then a psychadelic indianish track, Jacques Brel's "If you go away", what I think is a Scott Walker song, plus another Dave Ball classic ... I think it was called "The Unnamable" or something ...

as for the story.... well, often male prewar country singers would sing ballads from the POV of a woman, which often serves to heighten my investment in the story even though from today's perspective this habit seems odd indeed. here we have a gay man singing in the persona of a straight guy singing to a girl, and the effect seems somewhat the same--not coy, not ironic, not camp as i understand that. just a story whose emotional undercurrents are made universal via the conviction with which almond puts across the details.

(those details included an entirely convincing back-and-forth between denial and disgust, transcendence and pettiness. i guess that's even hinted at in the title. and left unresolved by song's end.)

(i suppose a possible alternate reading, which i'm happy to hold in my head at the same time as the previous one, is of a [closeted?] gay man falling extravagantly in love with love for a woman, as a means of denying/transcending other feelings. the resulting melodrama is less the source of emotional trauma than the projection of a trauma that cannot be admitted.)

but yeah this song feels like a kind of apocalypse, but with just enough bitter humor to keep it from feeling sticky or overwrought.

though actually i think the lyric is written and delivered in such a way that it can support all of these interpretations. v. clever of almond to register the emotional overlap between radically different forms of self-denial and -disgust. (or are they so radically different?)

ouch! I always found these lyrics so dirty and cruel and true - like a slap in the face. but i'm definitely a soft cell/ marc almond fanatic...

A very fine reading of an apocalyptically great song. I was reminded recently again of Soft Cell's brilliance thanks to the weird and wonderful Non-Stop Erotic Video Show getting a DVD release, as I wibble on about here...

I'd forgotten about the genius of Seedy Films. It's his Walk on the Wild Side, I guess. Whatever, it works so beautifully. Blimey, and to think I was 14 when I first heard it

1 .. Potential
2 L.O.V.E. Feeling
3 Metro Mr X
4 Bleak Is My Favourite Cliche
5 Occupational Hazard
6 Mix
7 Factory Fun
8 Science Fiction Stories
9 Purely Functional
10 A Cut Above The Rest
11 Paranoid
12 Excretory Eat Anorexia Nervosa
13 Cleansing Fanatic
14 Walking Make Up Counter
15 Pyrex My Cuisine
16 Tupperware Counter

it has a little skeletal rap in the middle eight, addressed to a girl. the way the bassline comes back in during this final couplet:

make your single bed
and push the tea leaves down the drain
take a long deep breath
and start the nightlife over again

brings tears to my eyes; just the sheer perfection of it.

there's also a heartbreaking additional refrain towards the end: "i'm waiting for something/i'm only passing time". this wasn't in the original, was it?

is everyone familiar with this version or not - ie is it just me that's managed to miss its existence for all these years?

― grimly fiendish, watching the mirror and counting the lines (grimlord), Saturday, 6 August 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

shit.

normal service now resumed.

it has a little skeletal rap in the middle eight

Yeah, I love that -- first time I heard that I was all 'amazing! and so good! how to improve on something theoretically unimprovable.'

-- Onimo (gerry.wat...), April 3rd, 2005 10:57 PM. (GerryNemo)

WTF was I on about?

Curse you drunken internets!

-- Onimo

I just realised it's a Dr Who reference. Tainted Love is played by Cassandra on the "iPod" in The End Of The World

Curse you failing memory!

What I meant to say, is I think "Down In The Subway" is Soft Cell's best cover. Feel free to disagree, as I'm sure you all do.

the 12" of "say hello" (which might, on the day of reckoning, just end up being my favourite song in the world)

i've just finished copying a dusty HD's worth of old MP3s on to my new(ish) mac. out of several thousand, this is the one i went straight to and played.

i don't think i'd change a word of what i wrote there, either.

I just rediscovered Non-stop Erotic Cabaret. God I love this album. Is it a bad thing that it kind-of speaks to me?

What, do you identify with being a sex dwarf?

haha, no. Just the feeling and attitude of grubby urban vice and disappointment.

xpost
Bored suburban housewife?

Nah. My friends were weirdo eccentrics and we'd go out and do the club thing, be weird, do drugs, etc. and my father was some button-down guy who secretly picked up trannies in 1980s Time Square ... and would disappear in prison for weeks (we were told he was working late). My highschool best friend (who's now dying of AIDS sadly) looks exactly like Marc Almond, so maybe that, too.

Anyway, this is a great album. Soft Cell A+

my father was some button-down guy who secretly picked up trannies in 1980s Time Square ... and would disappear in prison for weeks (we were told he was working late)

Exactly what was the explanation for weekends, then.

No idea. We just thought he was working. What a weird upbringing. Anyway, Marc Almond really does irony well just using music ... I didn't appreciate it until now.

yeah, anyone who can cameo as well as he did in the frickin' Coil "Tainted Love" video can operate on a level higher than an "is it irony or not?" type thing.

I just learned what a "bedsit" is and boy did I have that song wrong. I thought a bedsit was like a babysitter for grown-ups? Which I knew made no sense because he was "all alone," but I thought maybe he felt alone spiritually next to the cold panoptic eye of this freaky adult babysitter. That and sometimes it's foolish to try & make sense of lyrics but maybe I should've tried harder with this one by employing a dictionary instead of totally making shit up.

Another hypothesis was a "bedsit" was a person who works at a spanking parlor? I feel kind of embarrassed by all this but you have to admit such a figure would fit in the general Soft Cell world.

I like all these alternate interpretations!

i have recently found that i quite like soft cell. not always as music (they have only a small handful of songs i hold close), but as characters, as performance, as a wonderful thing that existed in the world. like suicide, they transmute rock & pop into this wholly other language, the rinky-dink chintz of the sounds a perfect foil for marc's arch sleaze and coy torment. also enjoying the way their music and attitude - perhaps in turn channeling throbbing gristle's? - leach out into their followers and contemporaries, usually in more "palatable" (less explicitly queer) guise. berlin's "sex (i'm a)", eurythmics' "love is a stranger", even ebn-ozn's "aeiou sometimes y"...

classic burt itt

i guess everything i just said is a cliche, the received wisdom, soft cell 101, but i never really gave them a fair shake at the time and have been entertaining myself recently playing russian roulette with nostalgia. "talk talk" vs. "it's my life", that kind of thing.

I still can't believe a bedsit is just a place a person lives in.

that it is literally his (only) home
I think about this every day.

what kind of question is this, who would ever say dud?

The original video for Sex Dwarf remains disturbingly impressive:

http://vimeo.com/10458506

(NSFW and probably illegal in a few states.)

oh man i wanna watch that but i'm at W
..Cabaret is the best €2 purchase I made this year

NSEC is one of those albums that sold because of the hit single, only to surprise/shock said buyers that the single isn't remotely representative of their style. Sometimes, discovering that can be a good thing. This time, it is.

Here doggy doggy

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/soft_cells_infamous_sex_dwarf_video_nsfw

now that looks like a good time

...is currently banned from YouTube.

Nope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=470l3j-56CY

I don't know how anyone could call the band who made that video a dud.

I never got into Soft Cell as much as I did other bands from that period, but I still enjoy listening to that first album from time to time.

The extended Torch is extraordinary. Their best moment, I think. Loving this tonight.

NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET is one of the best albums of the 80s. It has aged like fine wine. Little known secret: Soft Cell's videos are amongst the best of all-time. They were all directed (AFAIK) by Tim Pope, who worked extensively with The Cure.

Chilling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz_x1Arnuw0

When I finally read the book it worked even more brilliantly, though they are two different beasts in the end.

Go Alfred!

http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/soft-cell-feature

thanks!

Really great in-depth feature on The Art of Falling Apart here at the Quietus today

http://thequietus.com/articles/14100-soft-cell-interview-marc-almond

I can't stop listening to This Last In Sodom at the moment... while not the most accessible Soft Cell album, there's something about it that keeps making me return to it a lot at the moment. 'Slave To This', for one, is just insane and wonderful.

This Last Night In Sodom, rather.

and oh my god, 'Surrender To A Stranger'...

Great, scuzzy and insane album. My favorite of theirs by a mile.

The Art of Falling Apart is my favourite but some of my favourite songs of theirs are on Sodom. Little Rough Rhinestone, Meet Murder My Angel and Soul Inside are all so good. It does have its weaker moments, Slave to This still creeps me out a little too much and Down in the Subway is the only weak Soft Cell single.

I've occasionally read Sodom being described as "unlistenable", but that's absolute bollocks really. It does have an attitude to it that I don't seem to get from the other two Soft Cell albums, though. A synth-punk from a time when mainstream synth-pop was getting increasingly chirpier.

*album

Neil Tennant's review of This Last Night In Sodom from Smash Hits:

Out with a bang. For their final LP together Marc Almond and David Ball have put together a hot, rockin' collection of new songs about sin, squalot, suffering etc. The rock'n'roll rhythm of 'Down In The Subway' isn't restricted to that track; several others, particularly 'Mr Self Destruct' could be jived to with ease. Others are steeped in a luscious, Spanish sensuousness, hot and revengeful, with richly textured synthesizers and a twangy guitar. A triumphant farewell. (8.5 out of 10)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h2SS-sSMfY

So I'm listening to 'Fun City' for what must be the hundredth time now, and it still hasn't lost any of its power. Their best ever song? I'm beginning to think so.

I'm listening to This Last Night In Sodom again and... man, this album is just fucking incredible. Why aren't this and The Art Of Falling Apart seen as being up there with the first album? They're all excellent!

'Soul Inside' just came up on shuffle and my god, why this song wasn't the huge hit it deserved to be is a huge mystery.

Lol at "luscious, Spanish sensuosness" in that Neil Tennant review if you read it in his voice.

Ha, yeah!

Of course, being a Pet Shop Boys fan, I was delighted when I found out that Tennant liked This Last Night In Sodom. It's become my favourite Soft Cell album of them all, and without question one of my personal favourite synthpop albums of all time. I love the relative abrasiveness of it, and such great songs.

Putting 'Slave To This', the most "out there" track on the album, as the second track was an absolute stroke of genius, IMO. After the catchy synth-rock of 'Mr. Self Destruct' it just pours a bucket of ice cold water over the listener immediately. I suspect it was at this point that most turned off the LP, thinking that the rest of the album was going to be some kind of far-out endurance test. It's one of those "are you with us or not?" songs, and remains fucking brilliant. Then it's followed up with songs like 'Little Rough Rhinestone' and 'Meet Murder My Angel'... Superb.

YOU'VE NEVER KNOWN LOVE!
UNTIL YOU HAVE KNOWN THE LOVE OF GOD!

THAT'S RIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIGHT!

New box set on the way, apparently!

Makes sense. Any reports on the contents?

Not yet - although on their FB page a picture of a master tape box from 1980 was posted, which was apparently being digitised.

More news on this...

EXCITING SOFT CELL NEWS - PLEASE READ!!!

We’re pleased to officially announce that we are working on a Soft Cell anthology via Universal Music Catalogue, who did such a fantastic job on Marc’s box set. Release date is not yet scheduled, but we are currently expecting the box set to include 9 CDs and 1 DVD. We are unearthing some amazing content and unreleased/unheard material from the archives of Universal, and the personal collections of Marc and Dave.
However, it’s a mammoth task putting such a project together, especially as it’s over thirty years since the key releases, long before the days of the internet, e-mail, digital photography and modern recording formats as we know them today. We’re keen for this project to ultimately deliver a fully documented archive for posterity, and to remind how seminal this band are for decades to come.
We are therefore inviting Soft Cell fans to make this a really interactive experience by helping us fill in any gaps, and sharing their memorabilia (no pun intended) with us for possible inclusion in the box set and accompanying book. We are especially seeking rare live and other audio and video recordings, bootlegs, remixes as well as photos, press clippings, ticket stubs, merchandise, imports, adverts, posters, set lists – anything with a Soft Cell connection that might deserve a wider audience. All material used will be fully credited to contributors. You can send WeTransfer links, MP3s, scans, documents, or if easier, please just send us an email detailing how you’d like to get involved, or even your suggestions on what you’d like to see (or not for that matter!) on the box set.
We are also looking for written pieces from fans about their own Soft Cell experiences, whether it be general comments, memories, live experiences or anything on topic, some of which we hope to include in the book.
Modern studio techniques allow us to improve both audio and visual content to a certain extent, so as long as it is of a reasonable standard, we might be able to use it – if in doubt, please let us know anyway.

Please email your content to he✧✧✧@softcelloffic✧✧✧.c✧.u✧

We really appreciate your help!

Soft Cell HQ

and on a related note, 'Soul Inside' is one of the most perfect songs ever.

http://www.softcell.co.uk/soft-cell-announce-one-off-40th-anniversary-concert/

Soft Cell Announce One-Off 40th Anniversary Concert
“With Soft Cell I always felt something was unfinished. This last ever final show will be the best ever ending. It will be a real statement and send off, and thank you to every fan” – Marc Almond
“We live in very interesting times, and 2018 promises to be a very special year” – Dave Ball

As announced on BBC Radio 2’s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show this morning we are delighted to confirm that Soft Cell will mark their 40th anniversary in fine style by reuniting for one final concert at London’s The O2 in September 2018.

Marc Almond and Dave Ball will reunite at the venue on September 30th to perform together for the first time since 2003. The ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ show will also be Soft Cell’s only and last ever show.

I presume it'll end with a burning of an effigy of Stevo.

..and 20.000 waving attendees

And here's the box set's initial details

https://www.lexermusic.com/soft-cell/soft-cell-keychains-snowstorms-the-soft-cell-story

https://i.imgur.com/kMfOW2V.png

Perfect.

Psyched

We have tracklisting

http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/keychains-and-snowstorms-the-soft-cell-story-9cddvd-box-set/

Damn. At 70 quid this looks a steal!

The Torch 12 version may be the best thing ever.

The whole run of singles between the first two albums was amazing.

The supremes redux of tainted love will always be classic

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/aug/21/soft-cell-release-northern-lights-first-new-song-15-years-marc-almond-dave-ball

Wait, whatwhat now!?

Box set in hand:

Two words: hell yes

Four words: Misery! Complaints! Self-pity! Injustice!

(And bonus @simon_price01 content doncha know.) pic.twitter.com/HsVPU1ty0j

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) September 5, 2018

Would crack into it immediately but I have houseguests for the next few days. Alas.

That looks marvellous!

Well, a couple of days away but I'm envious of anyone going to the O2 show on Sunday for sure. They're recording it for audio/video release and preorders are up so I can't complain too much, and I did see them on their American reunion tour back in 2002 or whenever it was as well. Even so, a twinge of regret I can't make it over.

Amazing setlist. Just would have liked “It’s a Mug’s Game” too!

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/soft-cell/2018/the-o2-arena-london-england-33e914c5.html

anyone have it yet? https://www.lexermusic.com/soft-cell-live

Ordered and en route...

Back back back again!

https://softcell.tmstor.es/

Also a new set of shows, performing _Non Stop Erotic Cabaret_ in full:

https://myticket.co.uk/artists/soft-cell

Misread the thread title as Soft Cell -- classic or duo? and thought, well gosh, really?! Can't they be both?

Hey hey, we got one of the new songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnheY81x3dM

https://thequietus.com/articles/30878-soft-cell-non-stop-erotic-cabaret-oral-history-dave-ball-marc-almond-interview
Wonderful oral history

Heads up...

https://liveherenow.co.uk/products/soft-cell-stream-ticket?_pos=2&_sid=a595cf9d2&_ss=r

Available for the next couple of days, but there will be a separate Blu-ray etc release later.

video for “Purple Zone” (duet w/ PSBs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv4QNTg1Mps

Struggling to think of any collaboration in any medium that is quite so staggeringly less than the sum of its parts.

I think it's a sweet little fillip

More info---Pets do some mixes---Happiness Not Included (thanks for warning) out May 6: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Soft-Cell-Team-Up-With-Pet-Shop-Boys-For-The-New-Single--Purple-Zone-.html?aid=sqHHp24xO3Q&soid=1101984419757

North American dates! https://www.marcalmond.co.uk/live/index.html

--

23 AUGUST 2022
The Magnolia, El Cajon, CA, USA
(presale code TAINTED2022)

24 AUGUST 2022
YouTube Theater, Inglewood, CA, USA

26 AUGUST 2022
The Masonic, San Francisco, CA, USA
(presale code TAINTED2022)

28 AUGUST 2022
House Of Blues Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
(presale code TAINTED2022)

30 AUGUST 2022
Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, USA
(presale code TAINTED2022)

31 AUGUST 2022
History, Toronto, Canada
(presale code TAINTED2022)

listening to this last night in sodom for the first time…. ahahahaha omg

Can't wait for your review Brad

Here doggy doggy

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/soft_cells_infamous_sex_dwarf_video_nsfw

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, March 28, 2012 1:28 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink

Link is still good but video is gone:
https://vimeo.com/429915379

Still can’t believe I get to see them again next week

Little Rough Rhinestone <33

Ah man, this sucks, but at least there'll be something:

Sadly we learned today that Dave Ball will not be able to do the Soft Cell USA tour. The shows are still happening, for full details please see the statement on the website:https://t.co/MSWd25GFnf pic.twitter.com/YLnxzVAkwW

— Marc Almond (@MarcAlmond) August 22, 2022

From the FB announcement:

Sadly we learned today that Dave Ball will not be able to do the Soft Cell tour in the USA. We hoped until the last minute that his recovery would make it possible and all was looking good but unfortunately he has had a set back and is unable to make it.
Philip has been on standby, as our contingency being the producer of the album, and having stepped up in the past.
I will miss Dave on stage as his presence is hard to replace but musically and visually the show will run the same and Phil always does a great job on synths.
I know you will still enjoy the show. The show will be in two halves: The first half a mixed selection, songs from The Art Of Falling Apart and our other albums plus a selection of new songs from Happiness Not Included. The second half the whole of Non Stop Erotic Cabaret in order.
I know Dave wants everyone to see what a brilliant show it is and he thanks everyone for their messages in recent weeks.
The team being already in the USA for this, let’s just do it.
It is stressful enough as it is on the occasions that Dave is not with me, so hopefully the love and support will be there for us.
Marc Almond

damn so its just a marc almond show i guess.

Sad news. Wishing Dave Ball the best.

Well...if you're made of money:

https://thesoundofvinyl.com/collections/soft-cell/products/non-stop-erotic-cabaret-6cd-box-set

CD1 - NSEC REMASTERED ALBUM & ORIGINAL 7" VERSIONS & NON-ALBUM SINGLES
Frustration
Tainted Love
Seedy Films
Youth
Sex Dwarf
Entertain Me
Chips On My Shoulder
Bedsitter
Secret Life
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Memorabilia (NSED Version)
Where Did Our Love Go? (NSED Version)
What? (NSED Version)
A Man Could Get Lost (NSED Version)
Chips On My Shoulder (NSED Version)
Sex Dwarf (NSED Version)
A Man Could Get Lost (Single Version)
Torch (Single Version)
What? (Single Version)
CD2 - NON-STOP EXTENDED CABARET & NEW REMIXES
Frustration (Extended Version)
Tainted Love (2021 10" Extended Version)
Seedy Films (2023 Extended Version)
Youth (2018 Extended Version)
Sex Dwarf (2023 Extended Version)
Entertain Me (2023 Extended Version)
Chips On My Shoulder (2018 Extended Version)
Bedsitter (1981 Extended Version)
Secret Life (2018 Extended Version)
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (2018 Extended Version)
Memorabilia (Daniel Miller 2023 Remix)
Memorabilia (The Hacker 2023 Remix)
A Man Could Get Lost (2023 Extended Version)
CD3 - CURIOS, RARITIES, SESSIONS & ALTERNATIVE MIXES
Frustration (Original Mutant Moments Version)
Tainted Love (2022 Version)
Seedy Films (Richard X Remix)
Youth (Dave Ball Warhol Funeral Mix)
Sex Dwarf (BBC Whistle Test)
Entertain Me (BBC Live Session)
Chips On My Shoulder (BBC Live Session)
Bedsitter (Flexipop Version)
Secret Life (George Demure Remix)
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (ORS Live)
A Man Could Get Lost (Live at Leeds Warehouse 2018)
Facility Girls (2018 Extended Mix)
Torch (Live) (TOTP2, 2002)
Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go (US Radio Edit)
Seedy Films (BBC Live Session)
Youth (BBC Whistle Test)
Chips On My Shoulder (ORS Live)
Bedsitter (BBC Live Session)
A Man Could Get Lost (Original Demo)
Tainted Love (Aborted Studio Take)
CD4 - NON-STOP INSTRUMENTAL CABARET & DEMOS
Frustration
Tainted Love
Seedy Films
Youth
Sex Dwarf
Entertain Me
Chips On My Shoulder
Bedsitter
Secret Life
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Frustration (Original Demo)
Tainted Love (Original Daniel Miller Demo)
Seedy Films (Original Demo)
Chips On My Shoulder (Original Demo)
Secret Life (Original Demo)
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Original Demo)
Facility Girl (Original Demo)
Memorabilia (Original Demo)
Persuasion (Original Demo)
Memorabilia (Instrumental)
A Man Could Get Lost (7" Instrumental)
CD5 - ORIGINAL 12" MIXES & B SIDES
Memorabilia (Original 12" Version)
Persuasion (Original 12" Version)
Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? (Original 12" Version)
Tainted Dub (Original Version)
Facility Girls (Original 12" Version)
Fun City (Original Version)
Torch (Original 12" Version)
Insecure…Me (Original 12" Version)
What? (Original 12" Version)
So (Original 12" Version)
CD6 - NON-STOP EROTIC CABARET, LIVE IN LEEDS, NOVEMBER 2021 PLUS MORE
Frustration (Live)
Tainted Love (Live)
Seedy Films (Live)
Youth (Live)
Sex Dwarf (Live)
Entertain Me (Live)
Chips On My Shoulder (Live)
Bedsitter (Live)
Secret Life (Live)
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Live)
Torch (Live in Leeds, 2021)
Memorabilia (Live in Leeds, 2021)
Insecure Me (Live at 02, 2018)
What? (Live at O2, 2018)
Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? (Live in Leeds, 2002)

Woah, sounds great.

"This Last Night In Sodom": a perfect album, I say. Consistent throughout. Buzzy, wild synths and boxy drum machines. Almond's nearly unhinged overdubbed harmonies and backing vox. Tons of reverb. MONO! Frayed and hungover sounding yet full of a weird, speedy energy. Needs more accolades!

Trudat!

Thirded! (is it really mono though? I never noticed)

Some of the tracks are, yes!

Bit of a fun surprise!

https://www.softcell.co.uk/product/non-stop-ecstatic-dancing-2025-coloured-double-vinyl-edition-pre-order

CD1

1 Memorabilia (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

2 Where Did Our Love Go? (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

3 What! (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

4 A Man Could Get Lost (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

5 Chips On My Shoulder (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

6 Sex Dwarf (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Version) – Remastered

7 Tainted Dub (From Original 12″) – Remastered

8 Torch (12″ Version) – Remastered

9 Insecure Me? (12″ Version) – Remastered

10 What! (12″ Version) – Remastered

11 So (12″ Version) – Remastered

12 Torch (7″ Version) – Remastered

13 Insecure Me? (7″ Version) – Remastered

14 What! (7″ Version) – Remastered

CD2

1 Memorabilia (The Hacker 808 Remix) – Previously unreleased

2 A Man Could Get Lost (Jon Pleased Wimmin Remix) – Previously promo only

3 Torch (MHC 2001 Remix) – Previously unreleased version

4 Insecure Me? (Hifi Sean Remix) – Previously promo only

5 So (Hifi Sean Baltimore Basement Dub) – Previously promo only

6 Bedsitter (Manhattan Clique Mix) – Previously on Heat The Remixes only

7 Tainted Love (Paul Dakeyne Remix) – Previously unreleased version

8 Memorabilia (Wally Funk Remix) – Previously promo only

9 Sex Dwarf (The Grid Remix) – Previously on Heat The Remixes only

10 Bedsitter (Erasure Remix) – Previously on Keychains box set only

11 So (The Grid Remix) – First time ever on CD

12 Memorabilia (Daniel Miller Remix)

Okay, album number six incoming:

https://www.facebook.com/softcell/posts/pfbid075bbiUjevqny2F1UvAFYhEVNKgXto93UVqSGmt4DPh2K939o544r87MueuV2zZrHl

Soft Cell @marcalmondofficial and @daveballelectro have this week signed a new worldwide recording deal for their sixth studio album, Danceteria, which will be released via Republic of Music in spring 2026.
Named after the infamous New York nightclub which played host to Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret US launch party, the club became renowned as the centre of new wave music in early 80s New York, frequented by many musicians and artists who became famous during the decade, including Marc Almond and Dave Ball.
Danceteria is the follow up to 2021’s acclaimed ‘*Happiness not included’ album, which reached Number 7 in the UK charts, and features the hit single ‘Purple Zone’ with Pet Shop Boys.
Marc Almond comments: “I have loved working on this album. Dave’s music has once again inspired me to write a set of lyrics that this time reflect a time in my life in New York in the early 80s, at a particular creative and pivotal time of changes in my personal life and the city itself. Some of the songs are very personal. Soft Cell have always had a strong connection to New York, recording our first three albums there, and taking inspiration from its’ underground and culture, my Soft Cell lyrics have often looked at America through British eyes”.
Dave Ball comments: “I’m very excited about the new Soft Cell album – the first thing to be created in my new studio in London. With Marc’s vocals recorded across the river in Soho, it’s inspired by, and tells the tales of, our London and New York experiences in the early 80s”.
After spending 2025 touring the US and Australia, Soft Cell perform their only UK show, headlining the Rewind Festival in Oxfordshire on 16th August.
Marc and Dave promise that “2026 will be a Soft Cell year”. Watch this space…

Well this'll keep you busy:

https://www.softcell.co.uk/product/new-the-art-of-falling-apart-2025-6-cd-box-set-art-print-set

The Art Of Falling Apart’ will also be available as double LP and double CD packages, featuring highlights from the 6CD box with the LP pressed on colour vinyl.

‘The Art of Falling Apart’ reissue tracklistings for the 6CD box set

CD1 – REMASTERED ALBUM, B SIDES, BONUS 12″

Forever The Same – Remastered
Where The Heart Is – Remastered
Numbers – Remastered
Heat – Remastered
Kitchen Sink Drama – Remastered
Baby Doll – Remastered
Loving You, Hating Me – Remastered
The Art Of Falling Apart – Remastered
Martin – Remastered
Hendrix Medley – Remastered
It’s A Mug’s Game (7″ Version) – Remastered
Barriers (7″ Version) – – Remastered
Loving You, Hating Me – Special Mix – – Remastered

CD2 – THE ART OF FALLING APART – EXTENDED ALBUM PLUS ORIGINAL 12″ B SIDES

Forever The Same
Where The Heart Is
Numbers
Heat
Kitchen Sink Drama
Baby Doll
Loving You, Hating Me
The Art Of Falling Apart
It’s A Mug’s Game
Barriers

CD3 – CURIOS, RARITIES, REMIXES & NEW MIXES

Ghost Rider (New 2024 version featuring Jim Thirlwell)
Martin (The Hacker Remix)
It’s A Mug’s Game (Dave Ball 2018 Re-Eq Version)
Where The Heart Is (The Grid Remix)
Baby Doll (Nightwreckers Remix)
Barriers (Dave Ball Broken Down Angels Mix)
Martin (Dave Ball Halloween Mix)
Where The Heart Is (Marcas Lancaster Remix)
The Art Of Falling Apart (Atomizer Remix)
Barriers (Dark Poets Remix)
Heat (Yer Man Remix)
Martin (Nightwreckers Remix)

CD4 – THE ART OF FALLING APART (DEMOS & LIVE TV APPEARANCES)

Forever The Same
Where The Heart Is
Numbers
Heat
Kitchen Sink Drama
Baby Doll
Loving You, Hating Me
The Art Of Falling Apart
Numbers (Live on BBC ORS, 14/1/83)
Heat (Live on BBC ORS, 14/1/83)
Ghost Rider (Live on CH4 The Switch)
Numbers 7″ (DJ Version)
Heat (US Single Edit)
Baby Doll (Dave Ball Dub Version)
Numbers (Dave Ball Dub Version)
Barriers (Dave Ball Dub Version)

CD5 – THE ART OF FALLING APART (INSTRUMENTALS & DUBS)

Forever The Same (Instrumental Version)
Where The Heart Is (Instrumental Version)
Numbers (Instrumental Version)
Heat (Instrumental Version)
Kitchen Sink Drama (Instrumental Version)
Baby Doll (Instrumental Version)
Loving You, Hating Me (Instrumental Version)
The Art Of Falling Apart (Instrumental Version)
It’s a Mugs’ Game (12″ Instrumental)
Martin (Instrumental)
Hendrix Medley (Instrumental)
Barriers (Instrumental)
Ghost Rider (Original 1983 Backing Track)

CD6 – THE ART OF FALLING APART (LIVE IN LONDON 2018-2021 + MORE)

Forever The Same – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Where The Heart Is – Live at The o2 – 30th September 2018
Numbers – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Heat – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Kitchen Sink Drama – Live in Hammersmith, 2021
Baby Doll – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Loving You, Hating Me – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
The Art Of Falling Apart – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Martin – Live At the 02 – 30th September 2018
Barriers – Live at The O2, 2018
Hey Joe/Purple Haze – Live in USA, 1983
It’s A Mug’s Game – Live at Hammersmith Palais, 1983
Ghost Rider – Live at Hammersmith Palais, 1983
Numbers – Live at Hammersmith Palais, 1983

I don't know that we needed it, but I appreciate the fact that they and Thirlwell thought: "what we need is to record Ghost Rider again"

Ah damn. Farewell, Dave.

https://www.softcell.co.uk/dave-ball-tribute

Immortal JUST for that opening to “Tainted Love” forever but when you consider all the work, wow what a genius and perfect foil.

Just as a reissue of The Art of Falling Apart looms too.

Oh no way, don't believe it.

New album next year too. It’ll be a valediction.

Heartbroken

Marc Almond’s full message is worth the read.

https://www.facebook.com/100044175322220/posts/1366794434803054/

Also some words from his partner in The Grid, Richard Norris:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Fs7pnQjVz/

Lovely Bob Stanley post:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/goodbye-dave-141888745

the Bedsitter bassline that sounded like Duane Eddy with a Korg

yes, otm!

I watched the Non Stop Exotic Video Show for the first time in over 30 years (found on youtube)... Are there any earlier examples of a band making videos for every song on their album and putting it out on vhs?

"Eat to the Beat" Blondie

Thanks!

Blondie's first video album got produced in conjunction with this record, featuring a music video for each of the album's 12 songs. It was the first such project ever in rock music.[8]