I played the song above a lot back in the day. First I discovered “Tainted Love” of course. Followed by “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” and, the video here, “Torch”, it took me quite some time to get very hooked. Oh, I used to own the album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, too.
Marc Almond, Soft Cell’s vocalist, was at the forefront of openly gay musicians in the 80s together with Culture Club’s Boy George. Also Bronski Beatâs Jimmy Sommerville, Pet Shop Boys, Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Erasureâs Andy Bell almost at the same time.
However, Almond has stated that he dislikes being pigeon-holed as “a ‘gay’ artist”, saying that such a label “enables people to marginalise your work and reduce its importance, implying that it won’t be of any interest to anyone who isn’t gay.”
Last year, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to arts and culture. Let’s see, maybe in the future he’ll get promoted and becoming Sir Marc Almond. Just like Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and Bob Geldof.
Happy LGBT Pride Month! Today is a historic day for equality! Love wins!
