Soft Cell - The Art of Falling Apart

After their 1981 debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (click here for that review) and the follow up EP in 1982 Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing (click here for that review) , the English synth pop duo Soft Cell (Marc Almond and David Ball) released their second full length album in January of 1983. Today, for its thirtieth anniversary, we will take a look at The Art of Falling Apart.

Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Happy fifty-fifth birthday today (July 9th) to English singer/songwriter/musician Marc Almond. In the early 1980's, he was one half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell, along with instrumentalist David Ball. Almond has gone on to sell over 30 million records worldwide over the past three decades.

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was their first album released on November 23rd, 1981. It soared up various charts, peaking at number 55 on the US Billboard R&B chart, number 25 in Sweden, number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 7 on the New Zealand charts, and number 5 on the UK charts. It was so groundbreaking that it ended up on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list as well as College Music Journal's "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time" list.

Soft Cell - Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing (30th anniversary)

Today (June 21st) marks the 30th anniversary of the English synthpop duo Soft Cell's second release Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing.

Following on the heels of their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, this six song EP was meant to compliment that debut while emphasizing the more "dance" aspect of their music. The record went to number 6 in the UK and number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Non-Stop Soft Cell

I have been a big fan of the English synthpop duo Soft Cell (Marc Almond on vocals, David Ball on instruments) since my Junior year of high school (almost 30 years ago). It was likely their number 1 hit "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" that first hooked me (this song is still one of my favorite 80's tunes today, especially as an extended mix version) and hearing other tracks by them on the nearby SUNY Fredonia college radio station that lead me to seek out their music on vinyl. It also helped that my best friend at the time (John P.) was also into the band - he too picked up a few disks of theirs and we often listened to them when hanging out at his house.


Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was their first album released in late 1981 and ended up on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" list as well as College Music Journal's "Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time" list. While I had some of these tracks on greatest hits collections, I didn't complete my MP3 collection of them until a few years ago. It was kind of cool being able to "discover" some of the songs I was missing after all these years - like a familiar voice from the past on the other end of the phone saying "hello" (but not waving goodbye - these songs are here to stay in my collection).