16 January 2023
Band: SOFT CELL
Who: Famous synth-dance-pop duo Marc Almond and David Ball
Active: 1977–1984, 2000–2005, 2018–present / 5 LPs with last year’s
comeback one Happiness Not Included as the most recent one.
Album: THE ART OF FALLING APART
Released: 16 January 1983 – 50 years ago today
Score: #5 in the UK
Inner sleeve
Single
Full album
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SOFT CELL: Bio – Discography – Instagram
Back sleeve
Band: RED SPOT RHYTHM SECTION
Who: A roots rock rhythm section from Chicago
Tracks: Tainted Love / Boy’s Don’t Cry
RSRS speed up the giant 1981 Soft Cell hit (actually written by American songwriter
Ed Cobb in 1964 and recorded by Gloria Jones in the same year, but with no real success),
add some Ska dynamics, and create a summer feel with a glowing 60s Booker T. & the M.G.’s organ sound, while singer Claire Liparulo signs for swinging and sunlit vocals.
Sometimes you feel like you’ve got to run away…
Here RSRS go for a slowed-down, vintage reggae vibe version of The Cure‘s 1979 blockbuster. It’s a hip-swaying take with a tasty summer 2022 sauce and soulful
vocals by Erthe St. James
Shake your booty, folks…
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RED SPOT RHTYM SECTION: Facebook
1981
1979
11 May 2022
Band: SOFT CELL (Leeds, UK)
Who: Vocalist Marc Almond
and instrumentalist David Ball
Active: 1978–1984, 2001–2003, 2018–present
Five studio albums, including the new one.
New album: *HAPPINESS NOT INCLUDED
Released: 6 May 2022 – more info here.
(photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Marc Almond: “In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place
where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality
and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness
and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others. But
in the album there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back
the layers and understand what really matters.”
The Guardian (British newspaper): “*Happiness Not Included cleverly compares t
he 80s promises of a future straight out of science-fiction (“rocket ships and monorails, electricity that never fails”) with how things have actually turned out… While these songs reference war, famine, loneliness, isolation and authoritarianism, Marc Almond’s witty lyrics and synth man David Ball’s bouncy tunes mean the mood is more wryly hopeful than bleak.” Score: 4/5.
Turn Up The Volume: 40 years after their debut LP and 20 years after their 5th
one Cruelty About Beauty, Soft Cell come back to remind us of their sharp 80s nose
for electro-pop crackers (Tainted Love / Say Hello Wave Goodbye / Bedsitter / Torch) and prove it once more here with a tantalizing trio of stellar singles (hear/see below).
But a whole retro (they sound almost exactly the same as back then) album sounds
a bit too retro in the end. But as I said they still have a musical nose for dancefloor
thrills (half of the album). Put on your blue suede glitter shoes.
Singles/clips: Heart Like Chernobyl / Bruises On All My Illusions
– HEART LIKE CHERNOBYL –
– BRUISES ON ALL MY ILLUSIONS –
– PURPLE ZONE –
(With Pet Shop Boys)
Stream full album on Spotify…
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SOFT CELL: Facebook
22 December 2021
Band: SOFT CELL (Leeds, UK)
Who: Vocalist Marc Almond
and instrumentalist David Ball
Active: 1978–1984, 2001–2003, 2018–present
Five studio albums, including the new one
New album: *HAPPINESS NOT INCLUDED
Out: Spring 2022
(photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Marc Almond: “In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place
where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality
and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness
and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others. But
in the album there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back
the layers and understand what really matters.”
Singles: Heart Like Chernobyl / Bruises On All My Illusions
– HEART LIKE CHERNOBYL –
– BRUISES ON ALL MY ILLUSIONS –
SOFT CELL: Facebook
Turn Up The Volume‘s 20 Knockout Tracks for August 2021!
A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams and romantic reveries.
All together on Spotify…
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Knockout by knockout…
‘Before You Gotta Go’ by COURTNEY BARNETT (Australia)
An infectious ditty, bouncing in your head before it ends. If this, simply irresistible, tune doesn’t do anything for you, you gotta go to your shrink. From Barnett’s new, upcoming album Takes Time, Take Time, out 12th November.
Catchy as hell…
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‘Hot Summer’ by PRINCE (US)
Summer is only over when it’s over. Still time to move and groove to this disco
stomper from the recently released lost Prince album Welcome To America.
Make your move here, ladies and gents…
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‘Go Get A Tattoo’ by FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES feat. Lynks
Why don’t we all get a tattoo, suggests Frank. I think he’s right, it’s
the only way to really go nuts to this bangtastic jackhammer. From
the band’s 4th longplayer called Sticky, arriving in October.
Smash your TV…
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‘Security’ by AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS (Australia)
“I’m not looking for trouble, I’m looking for love / Let me in your hard heart Let me in your pub” sings Amyl over and over again with fervency and tons of gusto, while flamed-up guitars go mental. A blast from new album Comfort To Me, out 10th September.
Hit hit hit, Amyl…
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‘Aire & Calder’ by ULTRASOUND (UK)
These passionate British glam-prog rockers unleash a deluxe edition of their
1999 double debut LP Everything Picture on 24 September. More info here.
Here’s a new video clip for one of the album’s highlights ‘Aire And Calder‘…
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‘Soap And Cigarettes‘ by Nun habit (London)
A queer five-piece from London who play fun, fuzzy garage rock. Their songs are a mishmash of influences all pulled together by a love of loud noises, pop tunes, and
having a good time. ‘Soap And Cigarettes‘ is a stand-out knockout from their brand
new album Hedge Fun.
Trust me, you can’t resist this vibrant vibe…
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‘You And Me’ by THE RUDDY RUCKUS (Canada)
This ardent 4-piece flames with force on this new riff-roaring ripper. They operate somewhere between Green Day and Weezer, with peppery panache, gusty guitars,
vivid vocals, and a cracking chorus.
Scream along…
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‘What’s Wrong With People?’ by PESCH (Belgium)
Darkwave electricity from Belgium. Haunting and ominous. You can smell Doomsday waiting around the corner. It’s 2021, folks, we need to fix our problems now. This sickly sticky roller coaster is a call to arms.
What’s wrong with all of us..
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‘Highway To Hell’ by TOM MORELLO feat. Eddie Vedder and Bruce Springsteen
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello launches his new album titled
The Atlas Underground Fire on 15 October. He invited several friends, like
Springsteen and Vedder for a bombastic version of AC/DC’s classic headbanger.
Yessssss…
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‘Queen Of Swords’ by TYPHOID ROSIE (Brooklyn, US)
The speedy and steamy title track is one of the fired-up highlights of the new album of this punked-up Brooklyn squad. A zigzagging collection of amplified belters to start and end post-lockdown parties with. More info here.
Rock your ass off here…
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‘Money Song’ by ROYAL CASTLES (Canada)
Wham bam, bloody bam! From the kick-off Money Song booms, bangs and batters. Hefty guitars blare in between and raise your blood pressure on the spot. And when the blissful chorus pops up it’s time to leave your cocoon and let your body do its thing. Don’t wait to boost your stream of adrenalin.
Act now, dance now, party now.
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‘And Tomorrow’ by LORE CITY (Portland, US)
A stunning and shadowy top piece from this duo’s equally stunning
album Participation Mystique. And Tomorrow sounds cinematic,
atmospheric and spacey. Join Lore City on their journey.
Listen today and tomorrow too…
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‘No Regrets’ by SHE/BEAST (Sweden)
Wurlitzer jukeboxes were invented for these 60s inspired humdingers, so they could be played in dark bars downtown were broken hearts gather at midnight. One more thing:
do not mess with SHE/BEAST, she’s not in the mood for fucking assholes and psychos.
And she’s absofuckinglutly right.
Press play…
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‘Popstar’s Daughters’ by SHAUN RYDER (Manchester, UK)
The Happy Mondays frontman’s brand new solo album
Visits From Future Technology is hip-shaking proof
that he still can fill dance floors.
Here’s the trippy and poppy single…
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‘All Nations’ by NADINE GAGNE and The Star Nation Collective (British Columbia)
This resonates as a bright sonic light at the end of our troubled world tunnel. Only with togetherness, friendship, mutual respect, equality, harmony and tolerance, humankind can have hope for the future. This tremendously catching chant reflects all that. It’s a joyful, anthem that should be played on radios all over the planet.
“We are all stars, all stars come on now. Rise, rise and shine, gotta stay proud!”
Let’s get together…
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‘Heart Like Chernobyl’ by SOFT CELL (UK)
The song’s title is the gloom and doom harbinger for
a scary, realistic vision of how we live on the edge.
Tainted love…
Lead-single from new album *Happiness Not Included,
out in the Spring of 2022.
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‘See The Light’ by SHAUNA SEETEENAK (Iqaluit, Canada)
We need songs like these in the restless times we live in. Songs of hope, songs of consolation, songs of inspiration. Shauna wants humankind to fight to see the light
(at the end of the tunnel) again. Her thoughts are embedded in a starry-eyed and
instantly enthralling groove that hops from dreamy pop to hip-swaying rap and back.
See the light here…
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‘Nowhere’ by THE BLACK FEVER (Toronto)
Nowhere sounds like a desperation song, but one that has a deeply felt effect on your psyche, on your state-of-2021-mind. This spellbound jam is driven by melancholic guitar lines, reminding me of Interpol‘s electrically-charged drive. Affecting and soul-stirring fever.
Check it out…
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‘Skin’ by BASEMENT REVOLVER (Hamilton, Canada)
An inspiring reverie for the countless girls/women and boys/men worldwide, struggling with the looks of their body when it doesn’t correspond with society’s everlasting sexist perception of how a body should look like, as we all know. Skin is an instantly heartfelt
slo-mo musing, turning after a distorted guitar intro, into a vocal and musical pearl, with touching piano play. I’m sure The Sundays‘s Harriet Wheeler would love it.
Open your ears and eyes here…
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‘You Are A Runner And I Am My Father’s Son’ by PORRIDGE RADIO (Brighton, UK)
Porridge Radio‘s leading Amazon Dana Margolin is a fan of Canadian rockers Wolf Parade. Here’s her terrifically gripping rendition of the band’s 2005 composition.
Just beautiful…
See/hear you next month, music junkies…
What happened this past week…
Turn Up The Volume‘s selection of
7 firecrackers from the past 7 days.
This week’s Magnificent Seven on Spotify…
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Track by track…
1. ‘Soap And Cigarettes’ by NUN HABIT (London, UK)
Can’t stop playing this sickly sticky amplified pop cracker. It’s a tremendous
shot of adrenalin. The kind of tickling tune that dances in your head on repeat.
My favorite track from their excellent new album Hedge Fun.
Catch the vibe here…
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2. Trigger by LUNA BAY (London, UK)
Wham bloody wham bam! Firework from the kick-off. This jagged jackhammer rocks
big time and triggers your appetite for going bonkers. Ace tune, ace chorus, ace score.
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3. ‘If You Ever Leave, I’m Coming With You’ by THE WOMBATS (UK)
Brisk and breezy. The Wombats do what they do best, putting a smile on
your face with easy-listening pop bliss. It’s the lead single from upcoming
LP Fix Yourself Not The World.
Start smiling…
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4. ‘Living In The Heart Of Love’ by THE ROLLING STONES
A previously unreleased corker from the upcoming 40th-anniversary
edition of their Tattoo You LP. Vintage Stones, buzzing and fuzzing.
Start yourself up, Mick…
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5.’Heart Like Chernobyl’ by SOFT CELL (UK)
A tantalizing doom and gloom meditation infiltrating your mind before you realize
it. An unexpected, but truly bold and clear-cut return. First single from the duo’s
forthcoming longplayer Happiness Not Included.
Tune in…
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6. ‘diditagain’ by THALA (Berlin, Germany)
This sparkling dream-pop ditty makes you forget the grim reality for a while and makes you lose yourself in your head. Light as a feather and starry-eyed vocals. If you are a fan of Mazzy Star, Beach House or Cigarettes After Sex then this sweet little gem will give you aural pleasure.
From her debut album Adolescence, out 17th September.
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7. ‘Vortex’ by NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS
A previously unreleased track that features on a ‘B-sides and Rarities’
collection arriving in October. A characteristic, moody Cave musing.
Sing it, Nick…
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See/hear you next week, music junkies…
Daily electricity to load your batteries
15 August 2021
Band: SOFT CELL (Leeds, UK)
Who: Vocalist Marc Almond
and instrumentalist David Ball
Active: 1978–1984, 2001–2003, 2018–present
Five studio albums, including the new one
New album: *HAPPINESS NOT INCLUDED
Out: Spring 2022
Marc Almond: “In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place
where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality
and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness
and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others. But
in the album there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back
the layers and understand what really matters.”
(photo by Turn Up The Volume)
Lead single: *HEART LIKE CHERNOBYL
David Ball: “When I wrote the music to Heart Like Chernobyl it was
at the height of lockdown and I had been alone for about 6 weeks. I
was feeling a bit Joy Division and recalled their track Isolation. I played,
programmed & recorded the track digitally in my home studio – Kitchen
Sink Drama. The track title was Marc’s idea, as was the subject matter.”
Turn Up The Volume: The song’s title is the gloom and doom harbinger for a
scary, realistic reflection on the roller-coaster times we live in. Pandemic, desolate
lockdown loneliness, intolerance, racism, sexism, nature taking revenge on its
destroyer, humankind.
When you profoundly think about, it feels like Armageddon is just around the corner.
Time to act, it’s not too late. Sonically, Heart Like Chernobyl is a tantalizing tune infiltrating your mind before you realize it. An unexpected, but truly bold and clear-cut return. Welcome back.
“Jesus was a naive romancer.”
Press play here…
SOFT CELL: Facebook
New album *HAPPINESS NOT INCLUDED out spring 2022 – more info here
Great magazine covers from the past…
MARC ALMOND
December 1983
ZIG ZAG
25 January 2020
Band: Soft Cell
Song: What!
Author: Written in 1965 by American musician
H.B. Barnum and first performed by Melinda Marx,
daughter of Groucho Marx
B-side: …So
Released: 11 August 1982
Score: The single reached #3 in the UK
Here’s the original Soft Cell clip…
Here’s Melinda Marx‘s version…
SOFT CELL: Facebook
Remarkable longplayers from the past
‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’
SOFT CELL
Released: 27 Nov 1981
Debut album
ALL MUSIC wrote: “‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ originally released in Britain in the fall of 1981, contained both the band’s first hit and its follow-up, “Bedsitter,” its title referring to what in America would be called a studio apartment. At full album length, lyricist Almond’s primary preoccupation, only suggested in ‘Tainted Love’ was spelled out. This was a theme album about aberrant sexuality, a tour of a red-light district. The point was well made on ‘Sex Dwarf’ with
its oft-repeated chorus ‘Isn’t it nice/Sugar and spice/Luring disco dollies to a life of vice?’ The insistent beats taken at steady dance tempos and the chilling electronic sounds conjured by
Ball emphasized Almond’s fascination with deviance; it almost seemed as though the album
had been designed to be played in topless bars. British listeners saw through Almond’s
pretense or were amused by him, or both. More puritanical Americans tended to disapprove, which probably limited the group’s long-term success stateside. But the music was undeniably influential.”
TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s favorite track: SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYE
Album in full
(Original track list: #1 – #10)…
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SOFT CELL: Discography / MARC ALMOND: Website – Facebook
For one night only…
TURN UP THE VOLUME 