Emerging in England toward the close of the 1970s, synth pop duo Soft Cell first drew major attention with their 1981 reinterpretation of Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love," reshaping the original pop-soul number into an atmospheric electronic torch song. Singer and songwriter Marc Almond is frequently recalled through his work with the group as his earliest venture, and together with producer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Ball the pair issued four albums that reached the U.K. Top 20 from 1981 through 1984 before turning to separate pursuits. The duo later reconvened in the early 2000s and issued Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002, which yielded the U.K. Top 40 single "The Night." After delivering an expansive career-spanning box set and a singles collection, they staged what was presented as a farewell performance in 2018, only to secure a new recording contract and return with the studio album Happiness Not Included in 2022.
Almond and Ball established Soft Cell in 1977 after meeting as art students at Leeds Polytechnic. They soon captured an EP using a two-track recorder. Family members initially financed the project, and Mutant Moments eventually appeared on the Big Frock label in 1980. This release secured them a deal with Some Bizarre Records, the imprint that handled all their early studio albums.
The pair scored a Top 40 U.S. dance hit with the stand-alone single "Memorabilia" in May 1981. Two months afterward, Soft Cell issued a 12" single of the medley "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go," joining the Ed Cobb composition first performed by Gloria Jones in 1965 (later reworked for clubs by Marc Bolan in 1976) with a version of the 1964 Holland-Dozier-Holland track that became a hit for the Supremes. The Soft Cell record turned into a defining new wave success, reaching number one in territories such as the U.K., Germany, Canada, and Australia. It appeared on their debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, released that November. The album climbed to the Top Five on the charts in the U.K. and Canada. When "Tainted Love" arrived in the U.S. in early 1982 it peaked at number eight on the Hot 100 and remained on the chart for more than 40 weeks. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret also contained the singles "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye," both of which reached the U.K. Top Five.
Although Soft Cell never returned to the U.S. singles chart, they attained the U.K. Top Three in 1982 with the stand-alone single "Torch" and with "What!," the sole new track on the remix mini-album Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing, which appeared that same year. The album reached number six in the U.K. and number 57 in the U.S. They entered the Billboard 200 once more with 1983's The Art of Falling Apart. Featuring the U.K. Top 30 singles "Where the Heart Is" and "Numbers," it peaked at number five at home. Issued in 1984, This Last Night in Sodom climbed to number 12 and was supported by two additional U.K. Top 30 hits, "Soul Inside" and "Down in the Subway."
During this period Almond formed Marc & the Mambas with Anni Hogan and The The's Matt Johnson, while Ball released his debut solo album, In Strict Tempo. Soft Cell soon disbanded as both members explored further collaborations and solo work. Almond delivered his first proper solo album, Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters, in 1987. His consistent output of solo recordings maintained his visibility in the U.K., where his only number one arrived in 1989 with the single "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart," a duet with the legendary Gene Pitney. By that time Ball had assembled the electronic dance group the Grid, which continued charting into the 1990s with tracks such as 1994's "Swamp Thing."
Almond and Ball rejoined in 2001 for a short Soft Cell reunion tour and remained together to record Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002. Their cover of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons' "The Night" reached number 39 on the U.K. singles chart. A set of rarities from 1978 to 1980 titled The Bedsit Tapes appeared in 2005. In 2007, Heat: The Remixes presented fresh versions of Soft Cell songs by more than a dozen contributors, among them the Grid, Ladytron, and Richard X. As Almond continued releasing solo material, Ball launched the post-punk-inspired group Nitewreckage, whose debut album came out in 2011. Almond achieved his highest solo U.K. albums chart placement to date in 2017 with the covers collection Shadows and Reflections, which rose to number 14.
Soft Cell reunited once more in 2018, issuing the original singles "Northern Lights" and "Guilty (Cos I Say You Are)" ahead of what was billed as a farewell concert at the O2 Arena on September 30. That month Mercury/Universal released the ten-disc compilation Keychains & Snowstorms: The Soft Cell Story, more than half of whose contents were previously unreleased. The project was accompanied by the 20-track Keychains & Snowstorms: The Singles. Rather than dissolving again, the duo signed with BMG, and following the 2021 single "Heart Like Chernobyl" they played a brief series of U.K. dates that November. Further singles such as the pulsing "Bruises on All My Illusions" led to Soft Cell's fifth album, Happiness Not Included. Recorded remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic and released in 2022, it represented the band's first collection of new material in twenty years.
