My Only Home...
- aksmith304
- Sep 13, 2024
- 2 min read
I was seventeen when I first saw Soft Cell perform Tainted Love on Top of the Pops. It is no exaggeration to say that it permanently transformed my relationship with music. So, when I was asked by Patrick Clarke, author of Bedsit land: the strange worlds of Soft Cell, to recall the experience as part of his research, I was excited to revisit it. On one level it makes no sense. I was very young, very naïve, very innocent. There is no reason why that single and, let’s face it, all their subsequent work, should have spoken to me. Apart from growing up in a slightly decaying seaside town, I had absolutely nothing in common with the band. The true subject matter of most of their songs was lost on me. That didn’t matter at all.
The book is very interesting. It’s extremely well researched, locating the rise and implosion of Soft Cell from the mid-1970s to 1984 within a detailed cultural and social historical context. Clarke is a journalist, and that is clear from the structure of the book, much of which is made up from interviews with all the key movers and shakers of the period. In each chapter, he uses this material to shape a story, about the places that inspired the band, the music, the sub-cultures, the sleaze, to create a coherent whole. This is a broad and colourful picture, a snapshot of a moment of musical history with multiple, far-reaching implications. It has sent me running to my records, the old vinyl and the later CDs, to listen again and to wonder at just how many Soft Cell and Marc Almond records I own.
Despite my youth, it was not the ‘pop song’ Tainted Love that did it for me. It was the overall sound, and in particular Marc Almond’s voice. The exoticism, the hedonism, the experimentation and debauchery, all of which Clarke explores with the help of the people who were there living it, actually meant very little to me. I learnt a lot… but I wasn’t especially interested. After all, I’ve never even lived in a bedsit. But I was a very shy kid who often felt on the outside of things because I lacked the confidence to be anywhere else. Although I was probably not part of Soft Cell’s primary target audience, they spoke to me, nonetheless.
I’m reminded here of Roland Barthes (sorry!) The meaning of these songs was determined by my interpretation rather than the intention of the authors. In the decades since Soft Cell’s first blaze of glory, I’ve met many other people who are life-long fans, but who, like me, don’t look the part. I’ve seen Marc Almond live more times than I can count, in many places and under many different circumstances, and I’ve always felt included. This is my thing. Imagine my excitement when I actually made it into Patrick’s book, quoted recalling how it all started for me. Consequently, believe me when I say there is something here for everyone. A fascinating piece of music history that also speaks to the world today. Do read it.
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