Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Studio album by
Soft Cell
Released27 November 1981 (1981-11-27)
Recorded1980–1981
Studio
Genre
Length40:32
LabelSome Bizzare
ProducerMike Thorne
Soft Cell chronology
Mutant Moments
(1980) 		Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
(1981) 		Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing
(1982)
Singles from Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
  1. "Tainted Love"
    Released: 17 July 1981
  2. "Bedsitter"
    Released: November 1981
  3. "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"
    Released: January 1982

Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Soft Cell, released on 27 November 1981 by Some Bizzare Records.[1][2] The album's critical and commercial success was bolstered by the success of its lead single, a cover version of Gloria Jones's song "Tainted Love", which topped the charts worldwide and became the best-selling British single of 1981. In the United States—as a result of the single's success, the album had reported advance orders of more than 200,000 copies.[2] The album spawned two additional top-five singles in the UK: "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye".

Recording

The album was created on a limited budget; it was supposedly recorded almost entirely with a ReVox tape recorder, a borrowed Roland drum machine belonging to Kit Hain, a Korg SB-100 Synthe Bass, and an NED Synclavier, belonging to producer Mike Thorne. David Ball noted the Synclavier would ordinarily have been well beyond the band's means, costing £120,000: "That was our technological advantage over the other synth bands at the time. In fact, I remember Don Was calling me – desperate to know how we got those sounds."[3] The group caused some controversy in the United Kingdom over the song "Sex Dwarf", the music video of which was banned due to its explicit, S&M-related content.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Pitchfork8.5/10[7]
Record Mirror[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Rolling Stone Russia[10]
Select4/5[11]
Smash Hits8½/10[12]
The Village VoiceB+[13]

Reviews for the album were generally positive. Critic Steve Sutherland of Melody Maker said "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret... is the brashest, most brilliant and least-caring indictment of pop music's bankruptcy I've ever heard. No compassion, no sorrow, no joy, it just faces facts and moves to the motions... Like traditional cabaret, the whole thing parodies true emotion and like the best subversive cabaret its shallowness makes those devalued emotions even more painful – the very real decadence of this album springs from its callous realisation of pop's impotency, and yet its bored resignation to the ritual."[14] Similarly, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stated that "these takeoffs on Clubland "decadence" get at the emotion underneath with just the right admixture of camp cynicism."[15] However, NME found the album's premise was hollow, complaining that "the Soft Cell sex strategy should offer something spicy, rude and even a little wonderful... but Soft Cell are conceptualists who rely on too many preconceptions and play around with too many ideas to convince you of any personal energy or commitment... Soft Cell are very plain fare – unspectacular music and very drab and flat lyrics, wrapped in a hint of special promise which is never realised."[16]

Accolades

CMJ New Music Report included Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret on a list of The Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time.[17] American magazine Out placed the album at number 66 on their list of The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time).[18] It was also included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by David Ball and Marc Almond, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Frustration" 4:12
2."Tainted Love"Ed Cobb2:34
3."Seedy Films" 5:05
4."Youth" 3:15
5."Sex Dwarf" 5:15
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Entertain Me"3:35
7."Chips on My Shoulder"4:05
8."Bedsitter"3:36
9."Secret Life"3:37
10."Say Hello, Wave Goodbye"5:24
1996 remastered CD bonus tracks[20]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Where Did Our Love Go?" (B-side of "Tainted Love")
3:14
12."Memorabilia" (B-side of "A Man Can Get Lost" in the UK and "Tainted Love" in the US) 4:49
13."Facility Girls" (B-side of "Bedsitter") 2:25
14."Fun City" (Marc and the Mambas B-side of "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" 12″ single) 7:45
15."Torch" (non-album single) 4:08
16."Insecure Me" (B-side of "Torch") 4:39
17."What?" (non-album single)H. B. Barnum2:50
18."....So" (B-side of "What?")Ball3:47
2002 remastered CD bonus tracks[21]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" (12″ mix)
  • Cobb
  • B. Holland
  • Dozier
  • E. Holland
8:55
12."Tainted Dub" (12″ mix)Cobb9:12
2008 deluxe edition – disc one bonus tracks (Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing)[22]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Memorabilia" 5:20
12."Where Did Our Love Go?"
  • B. Holland
  • Dozier
  • E. Holland
4:22
13."What?"Barnum4:31
14."A Man Could Get Lost" 3:57
15."Chips on My Shoulder" 4:28
16."Sex Dwarf" 5:10
17."Torch" (bonus track) 4:08
18."A Man Can Get Lost" (bonus track) 3:18
2008 deluxe edition – disc two[22]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Memorabilia" (extended) 7:45
2."Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?" (12″ mix)
  • Cobb
  • B. Holland
  • Dozier
  • E. Holland
9:02
3."Bedsitter" (extended) 7:52
4."Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (extended) 8:53
5."Torch" (extended) 8:27
6."What?" (extended)Barnum6:06
7."Persuasion" 7:38
8."Facility Girls" 2:21
9."Fun City" 7:44
10."Insecure...Me?" (Extended) 8:14
11."....So"Ball3:49

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.[23][24]

Soft Cell

Additional musicians

Technical

Artwork

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[37] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ^ Except "Tainted Love"
  2. ^ "Tainted Love"

References

  1. ^ Harrigan, Brian (21 November 1981). "Soft Cell's Bizarre Eroticism". Melody Maker. London. p. 5. ISSN 0025-9012.
  2. ^ a b NME. London. 28 November 1981. p. 43. ISSN 0028-6362. ((cite magazine)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ^ "Electric Dreams". Mojo. London. February 2021. p. 51.
  4. ^ Irvin, Jim; McLear, Colin, eds. (2007). The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion (4th ed.). Canongate Books. p. 464. ISBN 978-1-84195-973-3.
  5. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret – Soft Cell". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). "Soft Cell". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  7. ^ Torres, Eric (23 October 2022). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  8. ^ Cooper, Mark (28 November 1981). "Sympathetic Synthesis". Record Mirror. London. p. 16. ISSN 0144-5804.
  9. ^ Fricke, David (13 May 1982). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Rolling Stone. New York. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  10. ^ Bukharin, Andrew (June 2009). "Soft Cell "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret"". Rolling Stone Russia (in Russian). No. 59. Moscow. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  11. ^ Scott, Danny (May 1992). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret / Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing / The Art of Falling Apart / Last Night in Sodom; Marc and the Mambas: Untitled / Torment and Toreros". Select. No. 23. London. p. 85. ISSN 0959-8367.
  12. ^ Cranna, Ian (26 November – 9 December 1981). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Smash Hits. Vol. 3, no. 24. London. p. 25. ISSN 0260-3004.
  13. ^ Christgau, Robert (9 March 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  14. ^ Sutherland, Steve (28 November 1981). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Melody Maker. London. p. 16. ISSN 0025-9012.
  15. ^ Christgau, Robert (9 March 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  16. ^ Martin, Gavin (28 November 1981). "It's Silly Celly Time, Kids...". NME. London. p. 37. ISSN 0028-6362.
  17. ^ Kleinfeld, Justin (6 January 2003). "The Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time – Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 74, no. 5. New York. p. 12. ISSN 0890-0795.
  18. ^ "The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time)". Out. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  19. ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Rocklist.net. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  20. ^ "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [UK Bonus Tracks] – Soft Cell". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [Bonus Tracks] – Soft Cell". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  22. ^ a b "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret [Deluxe Edition] – Soft Cell". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  23. ^ Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (liner notes). Soft Cell. Some Bizzare Records. 1981. BZLP 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  24. ^ Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (remastered reissue liner notes). Soft Cell. Some Bizzare Records. 1996. 532595-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  25. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  26. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0463". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  27. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  28. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  29. ^ "Charts.nz – Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  30. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  31. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Soft Cell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  33. ^ "Soft Cell Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  34. ^ "Top 100 Albums 82". RPM. Vol. 37, no. 19. 25 December 1982. p. 19. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  35. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Lazell, Barry; Jones, Alan (1983). "The Top 100 UK Albums". Chart File Volume 2. London: Virgin Books. pp. 82–83. ISBN 0-907080-73-1.
  36. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1982". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  37. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Music Canada. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  38. ^ "British album certifications – Soft Cell – Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". British Phonographic Industry. 15 November 1982. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
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