Contents
- 1 Life
and works
- 2 Miscellaneous
facts
- 3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.1.1 With Soft Cell
- 3.1.2 With Marc & the Mambas
- 3.1.3 With Raoul and the Ruined
- 3.1.4 With The Willing Sinners
- 3.1.5 Solo
- 3.2 Singles
- 3.3 Other
contributions
- 4 Books
- 5 DVDs
- 6 External
links
Life and works
Marc Almond has had a long and varied career spanning almost
30 years. During this time, after a career with Soft
Cell and Marc and the Mambas,
he has collaborated with an extremely wide range of artists including Antony and The Johnsons, Jools
Holland, Siouxsie Sioux, Nick Cave, P.J.
Proby, Nico,
Kelli
Ali of the Sneaker Pimps, Neal X
(on the albums Fantastic Star and Open
All Night), Marie France, Agnes
Bernelle, Lydia
Lunch, Gene
Pitney on the #1 UK single "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart",Foetus
(a.k.a. J. G. Thirlwell), Jimmy
Somerville of The Communards and Bronski
Beat, Psychic
TV, Coil,
Sally
Timms of the Mekons,
King Roc, John
Cale and David Johansen of The
New York Dolls and German band Rosenstolz.
Almond initially shot to fame in the early 1980s as one half
of synth duo Soft Cell, whose combination of
drama and peep show sleaze set to an electronic beat gave them hits
such as "Tainted Love" (UK #1), "Bedsitter" (UK #3), "Torch" (UK #2),
"Say Hello Wave Goodbye" (UK #3), "Soul Inside" (UK # 16), "What?" (UK
#3) and the club hit "Memorabilia".They were first spotted by David
Oddie, boss of Wakefield based Ambergris Records in a Bradford club,who
passed his enthusiasm onto Dead Good Records in Lincoln, famous for
their Hicks From The Sticks compilation, who in turn approached
Polygram , the newly formed amalgum of Polydor and Phonogram. Although
Soft Cell disbanded in 1984
just before the release of their third album, This Last Night In Sodom,
the duo reunited in 2001 for live shows and in 2002 released a new
album entitled Cruelty Without Beauty, from which
the single "The Night" (UK #39) was taken.
His biggest solo UK hits have been cover versions: the
aforementioned 1989 #1 duet with Gene Pitney and another near
chart-topper in 1991 with David McWilliams'
"The Days of Pearly Spencer", which peaked at #4 in the UK. In 1985, he
duetted with Jimmy Somerville and Bronski Beat on a cover of Donna
Summer's "I Feel Love (Medley)" and it hit #3. The highest UK positions
his self-penned singles have reached so far have been "Stories of
Johnny" (#23 in 1985), "Tears Run Rings" (#28 in 1988) and "Adored and
Explored" (#25 in 1995).
Almond's work runs the gamut from electronica
and dance
music to French chanson,
traditional piano ballads, and Russian romance songs, as exhibited on
his 2003 album Heart on Snow. Influences include David
Bowie, a childhood hero of his, as well as early 1960s Northern
Soul and disco.
Other major influences have been Scott Walker from the Walker Brothers
and Jacques
Brel, 12 of whose songs Almond reworked in English for his 1989 album Jacques.
Almond's own lyrics are a creative expression of what he sees and are
not to be confused with his own life. He also operates a record
label, Blue Star Music, on which he has released many of his solo and
collaborative records in the UK. In 1999, he received attention and accolades for
his autobiography,
entitled Tainted Life, which confronts details of
his early life, creative ventures, his sexuality,
and drug addiction,
for which he was hospitalised in 1994. Almond wrote the autobiography without a ghost
writer, and his publishers subsequently commissioned him to write a
travel book, In Search of the Pleasure Palace: Disreputable
Travels, whose publication in 2004 was accompanied by a
book-signing tour.
On 17
October 2004,
Almond was critically injured in a motorbike accident in which he was a
pillion passenger in London. Although the initial prognosis was
considered poor, he was discharged from Royal London Hospital on around
6
November 2004
and was said to be making a "remarkable" recovery. Two months later he
was giving press and TV interviews saying he could not wait to get back
on stage. His recovery was, however, to take longer than he thought,
involving several operations and counselling for post traumatic stress
disorder.
In 2005,
he continued his recovery, did some DJ gigs all over Europe and guested
at the Meltdown Festival in London in June 2005, hosted by Patti
Smith. Almond contributed two songs to this night of Brecht music,
"Bilbao Song" and "What Keeps a Man Alive". In October, November and
December 2005, Almond went on tour with Jools Holland and his Rhythm
& Blues Orchestra, singing two songs during the shows, "Say
Hello Wave Goodbye" and "Tainted Love", which had a new arrangement
done by Holland. 2006
saw Almond concentrate on recording, making few public appearances,
though he did headline the Manchester Gay Pride Festival in August of
that year.
Almond's new album of cover songs, Stardom Road,
was released on 4
June 2007,
and features artists such as St Etienne's Sarah
Cracknell and Antony from Antony and the Johnsons. Two of the cover
versions included in this new album are Dusty
Springfield's "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten", which he
has recorded with Sarah Cracknell, and Gene
Pitney's over the top "Backstage (I'm Lonely)", as a tribute to the
late crooner, featuring a guest appearance by Jools
Holland. The album also includes one new self-penned song,
"Redeem Me (Beauty Will Redeem the World)", his first composition since
the near-fatal motorbike accident.
Marc also appears on the 2006 album Black Ships Ate the Sky
by experimental band Current
93. He is also working on a DVD compilation of all his promotional
video clips as well as his last ever self-penned album, tentatively
titled Dining with Panthers, which is due to be
completed in 2008.
Almond made his return to the London stage for a three-night
run at the historic Wilton's Music Hall from May 4-6
2007, his first full-length UK shows since his accident. He had been
warming up with shows in Barcelona, Athens and Moscow. He then recorded
a BBC Radio special which was broadcast on Radio 2 on 1st June, and
played a mini-tour in June and July, culminating in a 50th birthday
concert before 2,000 fans and friends at Shepherd's Bush Empire in
London on July 9th. On July 29th, Marc made his first ever live
appearance in his home town of Southport as a guest of Jools Holland's
Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. He performed "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" and
"Tainted Love".
Almond currently lives in the Bermondsey
area of south east London. In his autobiography he describes previously
living in Earl's Court, in a converted church in Fulham and most
memorably in Soho's
Berwick
Street, where he lived in a flat overlooking the Raymond
Revuebar.
Miscellaneous facts
- Almond's remix of Shocking Blue's "Venus" appears on
Bananarama's 2005 album Drama.
- Marc was a one-time member of the Church
of Satan, inducted by Boyd Rice, although he has later written
that perhaps this was a mistake. [1][2]
Discography
Albums
With Soft Cell
- 1981 Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret #5 UK
- 1982 Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing #6 UK
- 1983 The Art of Falling Apart #5 UK
- 1984 This Last Night in Sodom #12 UK
- 1986 The Singles
- 1991 Memorabilia: The Singles
- 1994 Down in the Subway (compilation)
- 1996 Say Hello to Soft Cell
(compilation)
- 1999 The Twelve Inch Singles
- 2002 The Very Best of Soft Cell #37 UK
- 2002 Cruelty Without Beauty #116 UK
- 2003 Live
- 2003 Soft Cell at the BBC (BBC)
- 2005 The Bedsit Tapes Early/Rare Demos 1978-1982
- 2006 Demo Non Stop - More Rare Demos
With Marc & the Mambas
- 1982 Untitled #42 UK
- 1983 Torment & Toreros #28 UK
With Raoul and the Ruined
- 1984 Bite Black and Blues Live (Fan
club only release)
With The Willing Sinners
- 1984 Vermin in Ermine #36 UK
- 1985 Stories of Johnny #22 UK
- 1987 Mother Fist & Her Five Daughters
#41 UK
Solo
- 1986 Violent Silence (mini album)
- 1986 A Woman's Story (mini album)
- 1987 Singles 1984 - 1987
- 1988 The Stars We Are (with La Magia)
#41 UK #144 US
- 1989 Jacques
- 1990 Enchanted #52 UK
- 1991 Tenement Symphony #39 UK
- 1992 A Virgin's Tale - Volume I
(1985-1987 era B-sides & remixes)
- 1992 A Virgin's Tale - Volume II
(1985-1987 era B-sides & remixes)
- 1993 Twelve Years of Tears (Live at the Royal
Albert Hall)
- 1993 Absinthe: The French album
- 1995 Treasure Box (rarities compilation)
- 1996 Fantastic Star #54 UK
- 1998 Marc Almond & La Magia Live in
Concert
- 1999 Open All Night #112 UK
- 2000 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (Fan
club only release)
- 2001 Stranger Things #186 UK
- 2001 Live at the Union Chapel (Fan club
only release)
- 2002 Little Rough Rhinestones Volume 1
(Fan club only release)
- 2003 The Willing Sinner Live in Berlin
- 2003 Marc Almond in Session Volume 1
(BBC)
- 2003 Heart on Snow
- 2003 Marc Almond in Session Volume 2
(BBC)
- 2006 Little Rough Rhinestones Volume 2
(Fan club only release)
- 2007 Stardom Road (covers album,
released 4 June 2007)
- 2007 All the A's (CD & DVD
compilation, release date tbc)
Singles
- 1982 "Sleaze" (as Marc and the Mambas, fan club only
release)
- 1983 "Black Heart" b/w "Your Aura" (as Marc and the Mambas)
#49 UK
- 1983 "Torment" b/w "You'll Never See Me on a Sunday" (as
Marc and the Mambas) #90 UK
- 1984 "The Boy Who Came Back" b/w "Joey Demento" #52 UK
- 1984 "You Have" b/w "Split Lip" #57 UK
- 1984 "Tenderness Is a Weakness" b/w "Love for Sale" #88 UK
- 1985 "I Feel Love" (medley) (Bronski Beat with Marc Almond)
#3 UK
- 1985 "Skin" (With Guy Chambers as The Burmoe Brothers)
- 1985 "Stories of Johnny" #23 UK
- 1985 "Love Letter" #68 UK
- 1986 "The House Is Haunted (By the Echo of Your Last
Goodbye)" #55 UK
- 1986 "A Woman's Story" #41 UK
- 1986 "Ruby Red" #47 UK
- 1987 "Melancholy Rose" #71 UK
- 1987 "Mother Fist" #93 UK
- 1987 "This House Is a House of Trouble" (With Sally Timms
(Mekon) and The Drifting Cowgirls)
- 1988 "Tears Run Rings" #26 UK, #67 US
- 1988 "Bitter Sweet" #40 UK
- 1989 "Something's
Gotten Hold of My Heart" (feat. Gene Pitney) #1 UK
- 1989 "Only the Moment" #45 UK
- 1990 "A Lover Spurned" #29 UK
- 1990 "The Desperate Hours" #45 UK
- 1990 "Waifs and Strays" #88 UK
- 1991 "Say Hello Wave Goodbye '91" (with Soft Cell) #38 UK
- 1991 "Tainted Love '91" (with Soft Cell) #5 UK
- 1991 "Jacky" #17 UK
- 1992 "My Hand Over My Heart" #33 UK
- 1992 "The Days of Pearly Spencer" #4 UK
- 1993 "What Make a Man a Man" #60 UK
- 1995 "Adored and Explored" #25 UK
- 1995 "The Idol" #44 UK
- 1995 "Child Star" #41 UK
- 1996 "Out There" / "Brilliant Creatures" #76 UK
- 1996 "Yesterday Has Gone" (with P.J. Proby
and the My Life Story Orchestra) #58
UK
- 1998 "Black Kiss" #97 UK
- 1999 "Tragedy (Take a Look and See)" #144 UK
- 1999 "My love"/"Threat of Love" (with Siouxsie)
- 2001 "Please Stay" (With Mekon) #91 UK
- 2001 "Glorious"
- 2001 "Total Eclipse" (Rosenstolz, Marc Almond & Nina Hagen)
- 2001 "Soul on Soul" (System F & Marc Almond)
- 2003 "Gone But Not Forgotten"
- 2004 "Vanity Poverty Revenge/Neo Burlesque" (Punx
Soundcheck featuring Marc Almond)
- 2004 "Sheherezade" (limited edition, vinyl only)
- 2004 "Face Control EP" (Replicant & Marc Almond)
- 2005 "Delirious" (limited edition)
- 2005 "Prime Evil" (limited dance release)
- 2005 "Perfect Honey" (limited dance release)
- 2005 "Baby's on Fire" (T-Total featuring Marc Almond)
- 2007 "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" (with Sarah
Cracknell) #43 UK (download only)
Other contributions
- Vocals on "Discipline" & "Stolen Kisses" by Psychic TV
from album Force the Hand of Chance.
- Vocals for "The Dark Age of Love" by Coil,
from Songs of the Week.
- Vocals for cover version of "Who By Fire" by Coil, from Horse
Rotorvator
- Vocals for "Idumea" by Current 93, from Black Ships Ate the Sky.
Books
- 1988 The Angel of Death in the Adonis Lounge
(poems)
- 1999 Beautiful Twisted Night (poems,
lyrics and prose)
- 1999 Tainted Life (autobiography,
reprinted in paperback in 2000)
- 2001 The End of New York (poems and
prose, including spoken word CD)
- 2004 In Search of the Pleasure Palace -
Disreputable Travels (autobiography)
DVDs
- 1982 Soft Cell's Non-Stop Exotic Video Show
(released 2004)
- 1983 Live at the Duke Of York's Theatre
(to be announced by Some Bizarre)
- 1987 A Lover Spurned - Live at the Astoria,
London 1987 (released 2002)
- 1991 The Willing Sinner - Live at the Berlin
Passionchurch 1991 (released 2002)
- 2000 Live at the Lokerse Festeen 2000
- 2000 Live at the Union Chapel Dec 2000
(released 2003)
- 2002 Soft Cell Live in Milan
- 2005 Sin Songs, Torch and Romance - Live at the
Almeida Theatre 2004
- 2007 Twelve Years of Tears - Live at the Royal
Albert Hall 1992
External links
