Soft Cell

Formed 1980 in Leeds, England Disbanded 1984

Group Members:
Marc Almond, Dave Ball

A synth-pop duo famed for its uniquely sleazy electronic sound, art students Marc Almond and Dave Ball formed Soft Cell in Leeds, England in 1980. Originally, vocalist Almond and synth player Ball teamed to compose music for theatrical productions, and as Soft Cell, their live performances continued to draw heavily on the pair's background in drama and the visual arts. A self-financed EP titled Mutant Moments brought the duo to the attention of Some Bizzare label head Stevo, who enlisted Daniel Miller to produce their underground hit single "Memorabilia" the following year.
It was the next Soft Cell effort, 1981's "Tainted Love," that brought the duo to international prominence; written by the Four Preps' Ed Cobb and already a cult favorite thanks to Gloria Jones' soulful reading, the song was reinvented as a hypnotic electronic dirge which became the year's best-selling British single, as well as a major hit abroad. The group's debut LP, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, was also enormously successful, and was followed by the 1982 remix collection Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing.

While 1983's The Art of Falling Apart proved as popular as its predecessors, the LP's title broadly hinted at the internal problems plaguing the duo; prior to the release of 1984's This Last Night in Sodom, Soft Cell had already broken up. Almond immediately formed the electro-soul unit Marc and the Mambas; another group, Marc Almond and the Willing Sinners, followed before the singer finally embarked on a solo career in the late '80s. After a number of years of relative inactivity, Ball later resurfaced in the techno outfit the Grid.

Discography:

Album
2003 Live
2003 At the BBC
2002 Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [Bonus Tracks]
2002 Cruelty Without Beauty [Bonus CD]
2002 Cruelty Without Beauty
1998 Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [Germany]
1996 Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [UK Bonus Tracks]
1994 Down in the Subway
1984 This Last Night in Sodom
1983 The Art of Falling Apart
1982 Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing
1981 Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret