I’m certain that I heard Tainted Love on the radio or the Rock-ola juke box in the student lounge. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody else that owned this album. I remember reading some scathing reviews on it that were so scathing that they were really funny.
Still for all of its talent and technical limitations. I still like it. Yes,Tainted Love drew me in but there is more to like here. Did they think they were edgy? For me, Soft Cell walked the line of music and humor kind of like an early 80’s version of Flight Of The Conchords. I think the band is just a drum machine and a Casio keyboard. I’ve listened to three of the tracks so far tonight and I’ll admit it, I’m having a good time. The music may not rise to the level of Kansas or Styx. It seems really simplistic and under produced but I’m enjoying it. I find the lyrics amusing. “Isn’t it nice, sugar and spice, luring disco dollies to a life of vice?” or “Experiment with cocaine, LSD and set a bad, bad example”
Even though I found Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret so entertaining, I never bothered to investigate Soft Cell and further. I don’t know anything about the group. Did they record anything else? Where are they now? I may not care to find out but I am glad to own Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
Frustration
Tainted Love
Sex Dwarf
Chips On My Shoulder
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
All kidding aside, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye really is a pretty decent song. Soft Cell seems to be one of those groups that seems to sterotypically represent music in the early 1980’s.