340) Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

I am under no illusion that anyone under thirty, possibly forty, reads these reviews. My daughter will often say someone is old and when I ask, she will usually say about forty, I point out that I am a lot older than that and she says “yes, you re my dad, I know your old. “ She is twenty-four I am fifty-four so of course she is right I would have thought someone of fifty-four was bloody ancient when I was her age.

Dave Ball died last week and he was only sixty-six, which is nothing, I was particularly struck by his loss as I had just read an interview with him and Marc Almond in Classic Pop where they talked about their second album The Art of Falling Apart where Almond mentions they maybe could do the whole album live and Ball ends the interview saying it’s a strange record but no one died. We really are here for just a fleeting moment.

Ball and Almond were only just into their twenties when Soft Cell hit the top of the charts with Tainted Love, do we need to say anything about it. If you are of a certain age from the opening seconds, you know it. It was their only number one single but if you are going to have one then have a classic which people will remember you forever for.

However, the two follow up singles, both here, are even better. Bedsitter “clothes and records on the floor, the memories of the night before,” as the duo tap in perfectly to the glamour of going out, when sometimes it can be a hollow experience, we have all been there as Marc sings, “A thousand people just like me.”  Then we have Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, should have also been a number one, Almond’s voice all perfect phrasing and just the right emotion as Ball provides minimal synths before they both build us to the chorus. It’s one of the hundreds of songs I need to whittle down to three when my funeral comes along, cheery, sorry. Just magnificent.

It’s not just the singles; this is a proper album Frustration starts us of with what sounds almost simplistic (sure it wasn’t) synth and the sax enhances and fits with Almond’s voice. Seedy Films is slow, and atmospheric and Cindy Ecstasy’s vocals are a treat but it’s maybe a bit too long.

Sex Dwarf the music matches Almond’s lyrics, listen to the background each time something appears that you may have not noticed, Almond was willing to deliver these songs but Ball could match him all the way and Entertain Me with a crowd almost shouting back at Almond is playful and exciting and Ball excels on Secret Life a sharp repeating piano matching the lyrics all the way.

Dave Ball and Marc Almond had just finished a new record before he died, if its half as good as this it will be something to look forward to but this man, along with Almond, has certainly already given us all plenty.

RIP Dave.

8.5/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye