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. 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. 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. a year later. 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. 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.
Sunn O)))
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