Marc Almond is not alone among pop fans in looking forward to the day that Rihanna releases her new Greatest Hits album… but perhaps he has more reason than most.
For when she does – and if she includes SOS – it means Marc will get a boost to his bank account, as her early No1 hit is built around the riff of Tainted Love, his most successful hit with 1980s synthpop duo Soft Cell.
Not that Tainted Love needs any kind of revival, it has not been off the airwaves since it was released in 1981 and became the UK’s best-selling single of that year.
It even sparked an unexpected dance craze on TikTok last year, bringing the song to a whole new generation.
Marc, 65, says: “It’s had this life for the last 40 years or so, and it’s still finding its way into movies, adverts, TV shows. People use it and sample it – it still goes on and on.
“When the TikTok thing happened I was made up, it went all over the place and brought a new audience in. Every week we get a request to have it in a different show or film, it’s great it’s still out there and having a life of its own.”
And the popularity of the song means the royalties keep on coming.
He says: “I can’t complain, it’s great. I’m just waiting for Rihanna’s Greatest Hits and I really hope SOS is on it because the whole thing is Tainted Love, and me playing electronic drums on it.”
Born in Southport, Lancs, Marc suffered with anxiety from childhood and, aged 17, had a nervous breakdown and was sectioned for two months.
He had always sought solace in music and shortly after his breakdown he got accepted into Leeds art college.
It was there that he met David Ball and they started Soft Cell. After their first single flopped, the record company gave them one more chance, and Tainted Love – a reworking of a 1965 track by Gloria Jones – was released in 1981. It went straight to No1, catapulting them to stardom.
The song also set a record for the longest consecutive stay in the US Billboard Hot 100. It has proved to be timeless and is still hugely popular. Marc says: “Everyone goes through a stage when they fall out of love with their big hit single, as we want people to know we do other things as well.
“But it would be foolish of us to run away from it. You’ve got to embrace it.
“People love it when I play it on stage, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done for the other two hours, when I do Tainted Love everybody loves you. It’s a great song to have.”
Marc is looking forward to seeing some of the song’s new younger fans in the audience this year as he and David reunite for a series of festivals around the UK, starting with the Hampton Court Palace Festival on Wednesday.
He says: “There’s a big group of fans who have followed me through the years. Sometimes I wish the front row would change because it’s always the same faces, but I have started to see more younger people who have discovered me on social media.
“I always love it when I look out and see younger people. Even if they see you as some kind of retro relic, I suppose it still means they are curious about you, which is great.
“I’m lucky because I came from a golden age of pop music, music that has lasted.”
It’s not the first time Marc has announced a “final” Soft Cell reunion. – in 2018 the duo played a sold-out farewell gig at the O2 in London, only to come back for a “last ever” tour in 2021. But Marc says he’s pretty sure this year really will be the last time fans will be able to see him and David performing together. He says: “Dave’s not in great health, which makes it difficult to do the live shows.
“We had to bring in an extra keyboard player as a back-up, and sometimes he has to take over as Dave can’t always do every gig.
“At nearly 66, I also think maybe I should do other things that don’t involve touring. I just don’t enjoy it as much.”
Not that he is feeling his advancing years.
He says: “I feel ageless, I have loads of energy. I’m here, there and everywhere, working on lots of different projects.” Those include a new solo album, and work with his punk band The Loveless. Then there is the remote farmhouse he is renovating in Portugal. Marc says: “I bought a farmhouse in Portugal and this huge piece of land that I’m doing up.
“I’m doing a lot of planting trees, I follow Druidry quite a lot, so I’m planting tree circles, tree groves and things like that. It’s very rural, just a getaway from life to be quite honest.
“I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, so it’s somewhere I can get away in the middle of nowhere, somewhere I’ll probably retire to.”
“When I’m on stage I’m a different person but in real life I keep myself to myself. I get invites to a million things I just don’t go to.
“I get asked to be on I’m a Celebrity all the time. I’m very socially inept. It’s probably because I’m somewhere in the spectrum.”
His house in Bermondsey, South-East London, used to be crammed with collections of ornaments and artefacts but he has now rid himself of almost all of his possessions.
He says: “I don’t have anything like that any more. Everything that I had is in storage, or given away. There comes a point in life that you just have to get rid of everything. I’ve kept some of my favourite bits and pieces but I got rid of most of my stuff.
“I’ve also spent a lot of my time over the past couple of years archiving my work. I have hundreds of hard drives with stuff on, and one day I’m just going to give it all away.”
Soft Cell had 12 UK top 40 hits, including five in the top five, as well as four top 20 albums. Since they disbanded in 1984, Marc’s career as a solo artist has included a musical love affair with Russia. He recorded an album of Russian folk songs and toured the country, renting a flat in Moscow. The war in Ukraine has been heartbreaking for him.
He says: “Before the war I’d go to Russia once or twice a year, I’d sing Russian songs to Russian people. I still manage to keep in touch with friends there, but it has been heartbreaking.
“The reality is that I probably won’t ever go there again. Every day, my first thought is, ‘I hope Putin has died’.”
Despite his diverse musical output over the last 40 years, Marc knows he will be remembered for just one song.
He says: “Despite everything I’ve done, so many albums I’ve made, the people I’ve worked with, on the day I die it’s always going to be ‘Tainted Love Pop Star Dead’ as the headline.”
- Soft Cell headline Hampton Court Palace Festival on June 7. Tickets from hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com
