‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ – the debut album from synth-pop legends Soft Cell – is set for a huge 98-track reissue.
Initially released in November 1981, the LP introduced Marc Almond and Dave Ball to the world and delivered such hits as Bedsitter, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, and the massive Tainted Love.
In the words of Almond, the 10-song record “tells a story of a bored ordinary bloke seething with his life wanting more and looking for excitement and adventure in a red neon lit Soho world of red-light cabarets, prostitutes and sex dwarves, looking back at his youth and wondering what happened.”
“The album was the other side of the coin of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain: I never felt it was political at the time, but it seems it now,” he adds. “‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ was the secret seedy life that went on behind the mask of Conservative Britain.”
Clocking in at six discs with various supplementary extras and rarities, the super deluxe version boasts the original remastered album along with 7” and 12” mixes, B-sides, demos, remixes, classic live performances, audio from the BBC archive and the LP played in full at at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo in November 2021. Forty of the tracks are previously-unreleased.
Meanwhile, a 2LP vinyl edition features the album plus its single mixes and B-sides.
Dave Ball recalls making the album as “all very weird and extreme, from living in a council flat and suddenly you’re flying on Concorde to New York”. He adds: “‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ was the first period of Soft Cell, really. It was our pop period, and by 1982 we were done and dusted with that. The next one was much darker…”
‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ is out October 20 on Mercury-EMI/UMR and available to pre-order now.
Listen to the previously unreleased version of Frustration (Extended Version) below.
Tracklist: Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (Super Deluxe Edition)
CD1: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret: 2023 Remaster + Singles, B-Sides & Edits
- Frustration
- Tainted Love
- Seedy Films
- Youth
- Sex Dwarf
- Entertain Me
- Chips On My Shoulder
- Bedsitter
- Secret Life
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
- Memorabilia (Single Version)
- A Man Could Get Lost (Single Version)
- Persuasion (Edit of 12” Single B-Side) *
- Where Did Our Love Go? (Single B-Side)
- Facility Girls (Single B-Side)
- Fun City (Edit of 12” Single B-Side)
- Torch (Single Version)
- Insecure Me (Single B-Side)
- What! (Single Version)
- …So (Single B-Side)
CD2: Non-Stop Extended Cabaret: Full-Length Versions & New Remixes
- Frustration (Extended Version) *
- Tainted Love (2021 10″ Extended Version)
- Seedy Films (2023 Extended Version) *
- Youth (2018 ‘Wasted On The Young’ Extended Version)
- Sex Dwarf (2023 Extended Version) *
- Entertain Me (2023 Extended Version) *
- Chips On My Shoulder (2018 Extended Version)
- Bedsitter (1981 Original 12” Mix)
- Secret Life (2018 Extended Version)
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (2018 Dave Ball ‘Lateral Mix’)
- A Man Could Get Lost (2023 Extended Version) *
- Memorabilia (Daniel Miller 2023 Remix)
- Memorabilia (The Hacker 2023 Remix)
CD3: Non-Stop Exotic Cabaret: Curios, Rarities, Sessions & Alternate Mixes
- Frustration (Original ‘Mutant Moments’ Version)
- Tainted Love (New 2023 Version) *
- Seedy Films (Richard X Remix)
- Youth (Dave Ball ‘Warhol Funeral’ Mix) *
- Sex Dwarf (Live On BBC ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ 4th February 1982)
- Entertain Me (Richard Skinner Session, Radio 1, 26th July 1981)
- Chips On My Shoulder (Live From ‘The Oxford Road Show’ 22nd January 1982) *
- Bedsitter ((Richard Skinner Session, Radio 1, 26th July 1981)
- Secret Life (George Demure Remix)
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Live From ‘The Oxford Road Show’ 22nd January 1982) *
- A Man Could Get Lost (Live at Leeds Warehouse, 16th July 2018) *
- Torch (Live from ‘Top Of The Pops 2’, 28th January 2002) *
- Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go (US Radio Edit) *
- Seedy Films (Richard Skinner Session, Radio 1, 26th July 1981)
- Youth (Live On BBC ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ 4th February 1982) *
- Chips On My Shoulder (Richard Skinner Session, Radio 1, 26th July 1981)
- Tainted Love (Live from ‘Top Of The Pops’ 1981 Reunion, 2001) *
- Bedsitter (‘Flexipop’ Version) *
- Memorabilia (2023 Dub Mix) *
- Tainted Love (Aborted 1981 Studio Take) *
CD4: Non-Stop Instrumental Cabaret: Instrumentals & Bonus Demos
- Frustration (Instrumental) *
- Tainted Love (Instrumental) *
- Seedy Films (Instrumental) *
- Youth (Instrumental) *
- Sex Dwarf (Instrumental) *
- Entertain Me (Instrumental) *
- Chips On My Shoulder (Instrumental) *
- Bedsitter (Instrumental) *
- Secret Life (Instrumental) *
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Single B-Side Instrumental)
- A Man Could Get Lost (Original Daniel Miller Instrumental Version) *
- Torch (Instrumental) *
- What! (Instrumental) *
- Insecure Me (Instrumental) *
- Tainted Love (Original 1981 Daniel Miller Demo)
- Seedy Films (Original 1981 Demo) *
- Sex Dwarf (Original 1981 Demo) *
- Chips On My Shoulder (Original Demo) *
- Secret Life (Original 1981 Demo) *
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Original 1981 Demo) *
CD5: Non-Stop Original Cabaret: The 1981 / 1982 12” Mixes & B Sides
- Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? (Original 12″ Version)
- Memorabilia (Original 12″ Version)
- Torch (Original 12″ Version)
- What! (Original 12″ Version)
- Tainted Dub (Original Version)
- Persuasion (Original 12″ Version)
- Facility Girls (Original 12″ Version)
- Fun City (Original Version)
- Insecure Me (Original 12″ Version)
- …So (Original 12″ Version)
CD6: Non-Stop Intimate Cabaret: Live In Concert, London 2021 & 2018
- Frustration (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Tainted Love (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Seedy Films (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Youth (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Sex Dwarf (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Entertain Me (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Chips On My Shoulder (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Bedsitter (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Secret Life (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Torch (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Memorabilia (Live at Eventim Apollo London, November 2021)
- Insecure Me (Live at 02 Arena London, 30 September 2018
- What! (Live at 02 Arena London, 30 September 2018
- Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go? (Live at 02 Arena London, 30 September 2018)
*Previously unreleased
