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Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
studio
ArtistSoft Cell
CoverSoft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.png
Released27 November 1981
Recorded1980–1981
Studio
Genre
Length40:32
LabelSome Bizzare
ProducerMike Thorne
Next year1982

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.[3][4] 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 second 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.[4] 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."[5] 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.[6]

The album name derived from a real strip club sign in Soho.[7]

Reception

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."[8] 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."[9] 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."[10]

Accolades

CMJ New Music Report included Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret on a list of The Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time.[11] American magazine Out placed the album at number 66 on their list of The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time).[12] It was also included in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[13]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.[14][15]

Soft Cell

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Mike Thorne – production
  • Don Wershba – engineering (tracks 1, 3–10)
  • Paul Hardiman – engineering (track 2)
  • Harvey Goldberg – mixing
  • Nicky Kalliongis – engineering assistance
  • Andy Hoggman – engineering assistance
  • Michael Christopher – engineering assistance
  • Jack Skinner – mastering
  • Arun Chakraverti – mastering
  • Daniel Miller – production (1996 reissue)
  • David Ball – production (1996 reissue)

Artwork

  • Peter Ashworth – photography
  • Huw Feather – padded cell
  • Andrew Prewett – design
  • Richard Smith – liner notes (1996 reissue)

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Chart (1981–1982)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[16]34
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[17]19

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
Chart (1982)Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[18]13
UK Albums (BMRB)[19]20
US Billboard 200[20]32

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ Buskin, Richard (April 2012). "Classic Tracks: Soft Cell 'Tainted Love'". Sound On Sound. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  2. ^ "Top 15 Electropop Albums". Classic Pop. 25 August 2021.
  3. ^ Harrigan, Brian (21 November 1981). "Soft Cell's Bizarre Eroticism". Melody Maker. p. 5. ISSN 0025-9012
  4. ^ NME. 28 November 1981. p. 43. ISSN 0028-6362
  5. ^ "Electric Dreams". Mojo. February 2021. p. 51.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Tebbutt, Simon (1984-03-31). "Part Two: The Soft Cell Pictures". Number One!. p. 33.
  8. ^ Sutherland, Steve (28 November 1981). "Soft Cell: Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Melody Maker. p. 16. ISSN 0025-9012
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (9 March 1982). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  10. ^ Martin, Gavin (28 November 1981). "It's Silly Celly Time, Kids...". NME. p. 37. ISSN 0028-6362
  11. ^ 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. p. 12. ISSN 0890-0795
  12. ^ "The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time)". Out. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  13. ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Rocklist.net. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
  14. ^ Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (liner notes). Some Bizzare Records. 1981. BZLP 2.
  15. ^ Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (remastered reissue liner notes). Some Bizzare Records. 1996. 532595-2.
  16. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated ed. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "Top 100 Albums 82". RPM. Vol. 37, no. 19. 25 December 1982. p. 19. ISSN 0033-7064. – via Library and Archives Canada.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1982". Billboard. Archived 15 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 April 2020.