Soft Cell

English synthesizer duo, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. Their lyrics often focus on love and romance as well as the darker side of life, with subjects such as the nightlife, kinky sex, transvestism, drugs and murder. They had a huge world-wide hit in 1981 with a cover version of "Tainted Love," a northern soul classic originally sung by [a=Gloria Jones] (the wife of [a=Marc Bolan]), that they followed up with more charting singles and one of the first remix Albums "Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing." Their self-penned non-album single "[m=4349]," missed the No.1 spot of the UK charts by a hairbreadth. "The Art Of Falling Apart'," produced with Mike Thorne and the then new CMI Fairlight at hand with endless efforts by Dave Ball aiming at perfection followed in 1982. It spawned two singles chosen against the will of the record companies; "Where The Heart Is," and "Numbers," the first on youthful frustration, the later about frequently changing sexual partners and neither sold too well. The commercial pressure finally collided with their artistic ambitions which led to solo and side projects and two farewell shows in January 1984 even before "This Last Night In Sodom," was released. They reunited in the early 2000's and toured with a 4th studio album "Cruelty Without Beauty," following in 2002. Once again they reunited for a final well documented "[m=1583486]," live show in 2018 and the recording of a new single.