― I Should Coco Schwab (Arthur), Saturday, 6 August 2005 14:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 August 2005 14:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Saturday, 6 August 2005 14:41 (nineteen years ago) link
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 bedand push the tea leaves down the draintake a long deep breathand start the nightlife over againbrings 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 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
shit.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 6 August 2005 15:54 (nineteen years ago) link
normal service now resumed.
― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 6 August 2005 15:55 (nineteen years ago) link
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.'
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 6 August 2005 16:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Sunday, 7 May 2006 21:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Sunday, 7 May 2006 21:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― Harrison Barr (Petar), Sunday, 7 May 2006 21:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― lil' merzbow wow (haitch), Sunday, 7 May 2006 22:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― lil' merzbow wow (haitch), Sunday, 7 May 2006 22:52 (eighteen years ago) link
― dar1a g (daria g), Monday, 8 May 2006 00:14 (eighteen years ago) link
-- Onimo (gerry.wat...), April 3rd, 2005 10:57 PM. (GerryNemo)
WTF was I on about?
Curse you drunken internets!
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 8 May 2006 00:24 (eighteen years ago) link
― honorary joy division roadie (Bimble...), Monday, 8 May 2006 03:54 (eighteen years ago) link
-- 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!
― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 8 May 2006 07:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 8 May 2006 08:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 8 May 2006 11:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 8 May 2006 11:31 (eighteen years ago) link
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 8 May 2006 11:33 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 8 May 2006 12:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 8 May 2006 12:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim (Tim), Monday, 8 May 2006 13:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 8 May 2006 13:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 8 May 2006 13:58 (eighteen years ago) link
― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Monday, 8 May 2006 14:01 (eighteen years ago) link
― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 8 May 2006 14:24 (eighteen years ago) link
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.
― toast kid (grimly fiendish), Monday, 6 October 2008 17:32 (fifteen years ago) link
I just rediscovered Non-stop Erotic Cabaret. God I love this album. Is it a bad thing that it kind-of speaks to me?
― burt_stanton, Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:40 (fifteen years ago) link
What, do you identify with being a sex dwarf?
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
haha, no. Just the feeling and attitude of grubby urban vice and disappointment.
― burt_stanton, Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
xpostBored suburban housewife?
― Creedence Clearwater Couto (Billy Dods), Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:46 (fifteen years ago) link
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+
― burt_stanton, Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:49 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 26 February 2009 17:53 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― burt_stanton, Thursday, 26 February 2009 18:01 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― System Jr. (Mackro Mackro), Thursday, 26 February 2009 20:12 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― the 'hip' thing nowadays — gay Mormon missionaries (Abbbottt), Sunday, 17 April 2011 17:24 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― the 'hip' thing nowadays — gay Mormon missionaries (Abbbottt), Sunday, 17 April 2011 17:25 (thirteen years ago) link
I like all these alternate interpretations!
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 17 April 2011 17:28 (thirteen years ago) link
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"...
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Friday, 22 April 2011 20:42 (thirteen years ago) link
classic burt itt
― buzza, Friday, 22 April 2011 20:44 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Friday, 22 April 2011 20:52 (thirteen years ago) link
I still can't believe a bedsit is just a place a person lives in.
― offee is for losers only, do you not c? (Abbbottt), Saturday, 23 April 2011 00:54 (thirteen years ago) link
that it is literally his (only) homeI think about this every day.
― offee is for losers only, do you not c? (Abbbottt), Saturday, 23 April 2011 00:55 (thirteen years ago) link
what kind of question is this, who would ever say dud?
― akm, Saturday, 23 April 2011 03:04 (thirteen years ago) link
The original video for Sex Dwarf remains disturbingly impressive:
http://vimeo.com/10458506
(NSFW and probably illegal in a few states.)
― doug watson, Friday, 12 August 2011 02:18 (thirteen years ago) link
oh man i wanna watch that but i'm at W..Cabaret is the best €2 purchase I made this year
― willem, Friday, 12 August 2011 06:48 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Lee626, Friday, 12 August 2011 08:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Here doggy doggy
http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/soft_cells_infamous_sex_dwarf_video_nsfw
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:28 (twelve years ago) link
now that looks like a good time
― preternatural concepts concerning variances in sound and texture (contenderizer), Wednesday, 28 March 2012 20:40 (twelve years ago) link
Misread the thread title as Soft Cell -- classic or duo? and thought, well gosh, really?! Can't they be both?
― henry s, Wednesday, 28 July 2021 17:41 (three years ago) link
Hey hey, we got one of the new songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnheY81x3dM
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 12 August 2021 17:38 (three years ago) link
https://thequietus.com/articles/30878-soft-cell-non-stop-erotic-cabaret-oral-history-dave-ball-marc-almond-interviewWonderful oral history
― willem, Monday, 29 November 2021 10:19 (two years ago) link
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.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 December 2021 00:54 (two years ago) link
video for “Purple Zone” (duet w/ PSBs)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv4QNTg1Mps
― donna rouge, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 14:04 (two years ago) link
Struggling to think of any collaboration in any medium that is quite so staggeringly less than the sum of its parts.
― Piedie Gimbel, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 14:59 (two years ago) link
I think it's a sweet little fillip
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 14:59 (two years ago) link
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
― dow, Thursday, 24 March 2022 04:18 (two years ago) link
North American dates! https://www.marcalmond.co.uk/live/index.html
--
23 AUGUST 2022The Magnolia, El Cajon, CA, USA(presale code TAINTED2022)
24 AUGUST 2022YouTube Theater, Inglewood, CA, USA
26 AUGUST 2022The Masonic, San Francisco, CA, USA(presale code TAINTED2022)
28 AUGUST 2022House Of Blues Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA(presale code TAINTED2022)
30 AUGUST 2022Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, USA(presale code TAINTED2022)
31 AUGUST 2022History, Toronto, Canada(presale code TAINTED2022)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 9 May 2022 23:14 (two years ago) link
listening to this last night in sodom for the first time…. ahahahaha omg
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 18 August 2022 02:47 (two years ago) link
Can't wait for your review Brad
― Bee OK, Thursday, 18 August 2022 03:19 (two years ago) link
Here doggy doggyhttp://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/soft_cells_infamous_sex_dwarf_video_nsfw― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, March 28, 2012 1:28 PM (ten years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― 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
― Bee OK, Thursday, 18 August 2022 03:46 (two years ago) link
Still can’t believe I get to see them again next week
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 18 August 2022 04:27 (two years ago) link
Little Rough Rhinestone <33
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Thursday, 18 August 2022 05:09 (two years ago) link
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
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 22 August 2022 16:59 (two years ago) link
damn so its just a marc almond show i guess.
― kurt schwitterz, Monday, 22 August 2022 19:24 (two years ago) link
Sad news. Wishing Dave Ball the best.
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 22 August 2022 20:49 (two years ago) link
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 SINGLESFrustrationTainted LoveSeedy FilmsYouthSex DwarfEntertain MeChips On My ShoulderBedsitterSecret LifeSay Hello, Wave GoodbyeMemorabilia (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 REMIXESFrustration (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 MIXESFrustration (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 & DEMOSFrustrationTainted LoveSeedy FilmsYouthSex DwarfEntertain MeChips On My ShoulderBedsitterSecret LifeSay Hello, Wave GoodbyeFrustration (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 SIDESMemorabilia (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 MOREFrustration (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)
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 30 August 2023 18:26 (one year ago) link
Woah, sounds great.
― Chewshabadoo, Thursday, 31 August 2023 08:09 (one year ago) link
"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!
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 October 2023 01:04 (eleven months ago) link
Trudat!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 6 October 2023 02:42 (eleven months ago) link
Thirded! (is it really mono though? I never noticed)
― Doctor Madame Frances Experimento, LLC", Friday, 6 October 2023 14:06 (eleven months ago) link
Some of the tracks are, yes!
― SQUIRREL MEAT!! (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 6 October 2023 15:14 (eleven months ago) link