Soft Cell

Soft Cell are an English synth-pop duo from Leeds, formed in 1980 and active from 1980 to 2025. The group consists of Marc Almond and Dave Ball, and they are associated with electronic, minimal synth, new wave, pop and synth-pop.

Formation and early years

Marc Almond grows up in Southport and Dave Ball in Blackpool. They meet while studying at Leeds Polytechnic Fine Arts University, now Leeds Metropolitan University, where Almond works as a performance artist and collaborates with Ball on avant-garde multimedia performances. Ball has a background on guitar, but uses access to the university studio to experiment with early synthesizer technology, helping to shape the duo’s distinctive sound. They are initially linked with the British press’s “New Romantics” scene alongside acts such as Visage, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.

Recording career

Soft Cell come to prominence in the early 1980s with their 1981 version of “Tainted Love”, which becomes a worldwide hit. Their debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, is described as influential and multi-platinum. In the UK, they score five Top 5 singles, including “Bedsitter”, “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”, “Torch” and “What!”, and have four Top 20 albums between 1981 and 1984.

Split and reunion

The duo split in 1984. They reunite in the early 2000s for live performances and release a new album in 2002. Their reunion begins with well-received concerts at the opening of the Ocean nightclub in London in March 2001, followed by a mini-tour later that year. Their 2002 album Cruelty Without Beauty is followed by a European tour and a partial US tour in early 2003. The album contains their first new material together in almost twenty years, including the 2003 single “The Night”, which reaches number 39 in the UK. The song had earlier been considered as an alternative to “Tainted Love” in 1981.

Later work and related projects

Soft Cell’s songs are later covered by artists including David Gray, Marilyn Manson, Nouvelle Vague and A-ha. In 2007, the group announces work on a remix album, Heat - The Remixes, built around classic Soft Cell tracks reworked by artists including Manhattan Clique, Cicada, Richard X, Ladytron, MHC, Mark Moore, Kinky Roland, Spektrum, George Demure and Yer Man.

Other projects

After Soft Cell’s split, Marc Almond has a solo career and also works with Marc & the Mambas and other collaborations. Dave Ball also works on solo productions with other British new wave acts in the early 1980s and later becomes involved in the electronic dance project The Grid with Richard Norris.