Soft Cell - 'Knocking 'Em Cold in Black 'n Gold!' Quiz

Answer: Blackpool

David Ball was born on the 3rd of May 1959. After attending school in Blackpool, Ball studied as an art student at Leeds Polytechnic where he met his future band mate. During his time at Leeds, Ball's studies included theatrical composition, drama and visual arts; all skills that were to be used to great effect in his future band's live performances. Ball borrowed two thousand pounds from his mother in order to finance Soft Cell's first recording, an unsuccessful extended play disc entitled 'Mutant Moments' which was released on the tiny independent label, Red Rhino Records in 1980.

Although this recording proved to be a commercial failure, it raised the band's profile and brought them to the attention of more mainstream record company executives.

Answer: Marc Almond

Peter Mark Almond was born on the 9th of July 1957 and had studied the performance arts whilst at school where he had managed to gain 'O'-Levels in Art and English. An obsession with Marc Bolan of British glam-rock band T-Rex encouraged young Mark Almond to adopt the same spelling of his name as his hero.

After being accepted to study at Leeds Polytechnic, Almond went on to stage a number of performance theatre pieces there, something he proved to have a talent for. It was after meeting at Leeds Polytechnic that he and David Ball would form their partnership as Soft Cell in 1979.

Answer: Some Bizarre

Almond and Ball's work on their self-funded first extended play single 'Mutant Moments' brought the duo to the attention of music producer, record label owner and entrepreneur Stephen John Pearce, popularly known as 'Stevo', the owner of the Some Bizarre record label. Stephen Pearce, who was born in Haverhill, Suffolk in 1962, became interested in music at an early age.

It was shortly after leaving school with no academic qualifications that he became recognised as a maverick DJ and his residencies at a number of clubs in the London area brought him to the attention of the capital's media.

After being asked to put together an electronics music chart by music newspaper The Record Mirror, Pearce realised that it would be a simple process to put together a compilation of the best of the huge quantity of music that he had been sent whilst performing as a DJ.

This compilation album, the 'Some Bizarre Album' was assembled and released whilst 'Stevo' was still just seventeen years old.

Answer: A stuffed teddy bear

Steve Pearce, or Stevo, was a businessman with a sense of humour; either that or he had a few issues 'upstairs', so to speak! Whilst negotiating the signing of Soft Cell, not only did he send a stuffed teddy bear to negotiate the contracts, but he had dressed it as Robin Hood... Maybe there is an analogy in there somewhere?

Answer: The Girl With the Patent Leather Face

This album contained early work by a number of other new and exciting synth-pop acts that also went on to achieve varying levels of success; interesting songs on this album include 'Moles' by the band B-Movie, 'Photographic' by Depeche Mode and 'Sad Day' by Blancmange.

Although 'The Girl With the Patent Leather Face' appeared on the 'Some Bizarre Album', it was never actually released as a single in the usual manner. It did, however, come packaged with a copy of the British music publication "Smash Hits" magazine as a cover flexi-disc; rarely seen today, these very thin, very flexible and very cheap discs were a popular method of introducing those new and often unusual bands shunned by the mainstream record companies during the 1970s, 1980s and even into the 1990s.

Answer: Tainted Love

Written by Ed Cobb, originally recorded in 1964 and released in 1965 by Gloria Jones, 'Tainted Love' was Soft Cell's second single release and catapulted the band from relative obscurity into one of the biggest selling bands in the world during the late summer months of 1981. Soft Cell's first single release, 'Memorabilia', failed to chart and in July 1981 'Tainted Love' was recorded on the Some Bizarre label.

The single achieved number one status on the UK Singles Chart and was the biggest selling single of the year in that country. 'Tainted Love' repeated this success across the world and remains the band's most successful release selling a total of just over one and one quarter million copies. Since Soft Cell's success with 'Tainted Love', the song has been covered by bands as diverse as Coil, a British experimental duo and US nu-metal artist Marilyn Manson.

Answer: Cabaret

The album 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret' spawned a total of three successful singles; in addition to 'Tainted Love', their second single 'Bedsitter', which was released in November 1981, told the story of a young person living a lonely existence away from home for the first time.

This single enjoyed a twelve week run on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at the number four position. Although the album received a mixed reception, 'Bedsitter' itself has been acclaimed by music critics of the period as being one of the greatest songs of the decade.

The ballad-like 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye', which was released in January 1982 also enjoyed top ten chart status reaching its peak at the number three position on the UK Singles Chart.

Answer: Sex Dwarf

Soft Cell quickly garnered a reputation for sleaze, exposing the bleak and seedy underbelly of life as any of the lyrics to their songs will testify. The video for 'Sex Dwarf' caused a scandal that approached hysteria at the time of recording as it was rumoured to contain images of bondage, sado-masochism, abuse and other forms of deviant behaviour. Considered pornographic by the British government and certain sections of the media it was banned immediately.

In fact, the recording, which would eventually be released in 1982 on the video album 'Non-Stop Exotic Video Show', was confiscated for censoring purposes by the authorities almost immediately on its completion. Viewing this film today, it is difficult to see or understand just what all the fuss was actually about.

The video that did eventually pass censorship laws featured Marc Almond conducting an orchestra of transvestite musicians and, considering some attitudes back then, it is surprising that even this version was passed as suitable for general release.

Answer: Ecstatic

'Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing' was a compilation of cover versions and remixes of Soft Cell's earlier material. Released as an EP in the United States, it was considered to be one of the first of a 'new' mini-album format in the United Kingdom. The record was released in slightly differing versions in the US and the UK, with the track 'Chips on my Shoulder' on the UK version being replaced with the track 'Insecure Me' on the US version of the disc.

The EP/album reached the number six and the number fifty-seven positions on the UK Album Chart and the US Billboard 200 Chart respectively.

The band are on record as stating that much of this album was recorded whilst they were under the influence of the drug MDMA, its street name Ecstasy finding its way, quite blatantly, into the album's title!

Answer: Mambas

Although still recording with Soft Cell, by the end of 1982 the band were beginning to take a back seat to Almond's solo project. Marc and the Mambas produced just two albums and three singles over a period of three years which were only issued in the UK.

Their first album, misleadingly titled 'Untitled', was released in September 1982 and peaked at number forty-two on the UK Album Chart and their follow up album, 'Torment and Toreros' achieving the number twenty-eight spot just under a year later in August 1983.

The band's single releases performed poorly; their first, 'Fun City', failing to chart at all, their second 'Black Heart' peaked at the number forty-nine position and their last, 'Torment' released in November 1983, only achieving the number ninety spot on the UK Singles Chart. During this period, Soft Cell partner David Ball was involved in recording and producing with artists David Bowie and The Pet Shop Boys. By mutual consent, Almond and Ball amicably decided to split and Soft Cell were no more by the early months of 1984.

The pair remain in contact and have supported each other's solo projects as well as reuniting briefly in 2001 to embark on a short series of live performances.