soft cell Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Soft Cell “Non-Stop Extended Cabaret”

sfilzen — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 17:30:21 +0000

Soft Cell “Non-Stop Extended Cabaret” 2024, limited edition Record Store Day release which I’m spinning today in honor of David Ball who died on Wednesday (b. 1959 d. October 22 2025). Non-Stop Extended Cabaret is a modern look back at their classic debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (1981) which went to #22 in the US and to #5 in the UK. The lead single from the LP, “Tainted Love” (originally performed by Gloria Jones, 1964) went to #1 in the UK and to #8 in the US. I feel somewhat responsible for part of its success: as a 10 year old me and my friend pestered the local radio dj’s on the request line relentlessly to spin the track. The version on this RSD release is a 2021 10″ extended version by Dave Ball. From the RSD website about the record: “This release was created by Dave Ball using only the original studio parts – they’re not remixes, they’re extended versions! Also included are a new reworking of their first single for Phonogram, “A Man Can Get Lost,” and the new, previously unreleased remixes of its flipside, “Memorabilia,” by The Hacker and Daniel Miller.” Soft Cell released two other singles from their debut which get an extended mix as well: “Bedsitter” which went to #4 in the UK (from Wiki: it is “a song that explored the underbelly of the London club scene of the time, it has been described by critic Jon Savage as one of the greatest songs of the 1980s”) and “Say Hello Wave Goodbye” (#3 in the UK and ranked no. 65 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 1982). I also like the dark wave vibe of “Youth (Dave Ball’s 2018 ‘Wasted On The Young’ Mix)” and dark, super-seedy “Sex Dwarf (2023 Extended Version).”

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Soft Cell “The Art of Falling Apart”

sfilzen — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 18:03:58 +0000

Soft Cell “The Art of Falling Apart” 1983 on Some Bizarre/Sire Records. 80′s new wave synthpop. The Art of Falling Apart is Soft Cell’s second LP and this is an early copy of the album which includes a bonus insert 12″ EP of “Martin” b/w a Hendrix Medley of “Hey Joe,” “Purple Haze” and “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).” The album reached #5 on the UK charts and a couple of the singles did alright: “Where the Heart Is” hit #21 and the double-A side of “Numbers” and “Barriers” went to #25. Soft Cell released “Loving You, Hating Me” and “Heat” in the US but I don’t think either one charted at all. The entire album is kinda weak, the beat and the vocals are pretty monotonous and the synth is uninspired, especially as compared to their ‘82/’83 contemporaries in the genre like Depeche Mode, OMD and Duran Duran or even to Soft Cell’s own big hit from ‘81, their cover of “Tainted Love” (originally recorded by Gloria Jones in ‘64). A couple of songs are really awful, like “Kitchen Sink Drama” which is sappy plink-plunk piano’d and slightly off-key (I’m guessing intentionally, but still, yuck) and “Baby Doll” which is melodramatic and over-orchestrated.

The bonus EP is a mixed bag. The A-side, “Martin,” is an epic 10+ minute dark synthpop dance track that’s pretty much better than the entire LP that accompanies it. But, wow, the “Hendrix Medley” is epic, too, epically bad. I love Hendrix and I love synthpop but I really don’t think the two should have been put together, or at least not like this.

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Soft Cell “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 16:50:06 +0000

Soft Cell “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go” 12″ single, 1981. Sire Records. I like to think that I had a hand in “Tainted Love” hitting #8 on the US charts and setting a Guinness World Record with its 43 consecutive week run on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart: during the summer of ‘81 my friend Jenny and I would spend hours harrassing the DJ’s at Appleton’s Top 40 radio station (I think WIXX) to play it. We’d scream with delight when it would come on and probably made up dance routines to perform in the backyard. Soft Cell, along with Human League, are responsible for the beginning of my British New Wave obsession.

The B-side of this 12″ single contains “Memorabilia” and “Tainted Dub.” “Memorabilia” is straight up 80′s British synth-pop. “Tainted Dub” is the experimental remix of “Tainted Love” – close to 10 minutes of synth noodling and vocal echoes; I can almost hear the producer saying “Hey, I wonder what THIS button does?!”

Here is a pretty cool demo version of the “Tainted Love”.

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