Soft Cell | Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

On November 27th, 1981 the synthpop duo Soft Cell—Marc Almond and Dave Ball—released their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret on Some Bizzare Records.

Previously Soft Cell released their debut recording in the format of the rare Mutant Moments EP, for which Marc Almond and David Ball funded the recording with a loan of £2000 from Dave Ball’s mother.

Following this release Stevo, owner of Some Bizarre Records, had the duo contribute “The Girl With The Patent Leather Face” to the infamous Some Bizzare Album which featured early tracks from The The, B-Movie, and even Depeche Mode’s debut track “Photographic”.

The four tracks on Mutant Moments were “Potential”, L.O.V.E.,  “Feeling”, Metro MRX, and Frustration, the latter of which would be reworked on Soft Cell’s full-length studio album Non-stop Erotic Cabaret.

Ultimately, the Daniel Miller produced Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret was a critical and commercial success, featuring the iconic best selling single “Tainted Love”, a cover version of a soul song by Gloria Jones.

Also featured on the album were the hit singles “Bedsitter”

and “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”

and the controversial “Sex Dwarf” (the video was banned for explicit, S&M-related content NSFW) from the mind of Tim Pope:

Tracklist:

1. Frustration
2. Tainted Love
3. Seedy Films
4. Youth
5. Sex Dwarf
6. Entertain Me
7. Chips on My Shoulder
8. Bedsitter
9. Secret Life
10. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye