soft cell “say hello, wave goodbye”

Good stuff! I found out about it here too. The Marc Almond revival starts here!

 

The song and recording and performance are all absolutely perfect.

 

Bought it. Love it.

What about me? Well I'll find someone who's not going cheap in the sales.

Great stuff.

 

Clarinet - Dave Tofani.

 

So why start a thread on a song you hate?
FYI
The song you are talking about is considered one of the best Soft Cell songs ever.
And the singing is so far from being awful.

 

It’s weird I prefer the darker stuff, than the obvious singles.
Bedsitter is the ultimate Soft Cell song, but Martin and Heat are probably my 2 fave songs from them ever.
They are always on my Halloween playlist.

 

They have several “bests” and this is one also. Great song!

 

I agree, wonderfully emotional song, I think the first two posts on this thread are a wind-up.

 

Johnny Rotten can sing. Joe Strummer could sing.

Those Soft Cell guys can’t. There’s nothing to get.

 

Bollocks.

 

All a matter of personal taste, obviously but I would choose to listen to Mark Almond, put up with Joe Strummer's music if it was on the radio and happily organise burnings for any recording featuring John Lydon. Can't bear his voice.

 

Never mind the bollocks...

 

Is it me or "The Art of Falling Apart" is the best Soft Cell album?

 

Personal taste, of course. But aside from liking a vocal style or particular voice, Johnny and Joe could hold a note, and stay in key. Almond can’t, and for me, that’s a tough listen.

 

This....

 

He's always sounded pretty consistent to me. A little on the flat side but that's part of the charm. I love the melodrama of it all. He could sing the instructions for a flat pack bookcase and imbue them with gravitas and emotion.

I'm happy to concede that Joe can sing well, it's more the material I find a bit dreary with The Clash. As far as John Lydon is concerned, I find that he's all whine and sneer. Very off-putting, at least to my ears.

 

I saw Marc Almond walking down Berwick Street in the West End once - he was tiny. A few minutes later I passed Alexei Sayle on Tottenham Court Road. He wasn't tiny

 

Torch would be my favourite Soft Cell song too - the 12" version - even with the talking bit

 

Torch/Insecure Me may be my favorite 12" single of all time.

 

Torch is one of my favourite singles of all time, but as great as the 12" is and I love it, the 7" is pop perfection. Some very inventive and subversive stuff was selling vast amounts and charting very highly in the early 80s. I know it was a re-release, but Being Boiled by The Human League getting in the top ten is amazing.

 

I think it is a fabulous song from one of the best albums of the early 80s.

Strangely enough, I am not that keen on the 12” version. I can hear the edits where they stuck the fabulous Tofani clarinet instrumental from the 7” B side onto the vocal version. That 7” B side has never been issued digitally. All of their other 12” mixes are fabulous though (at least from their original run together).

I also love the vocals in this song. Later in the decade Marc Almond took singing lessons and he re-recorded the vocals for an early 90’s compilation. Technically, they are better in the newer version but the passion just isn’t there.

 

Of course, you would see him in Berwick Street, Soho! Would have been a bit disappointing to see him anywhere else!

 

One of the very best songs from that era , I love the clarinet intro on the 12" version . Marc's vocals are exactly right for this song ,in fact everything is right about this wonderful creation .
A grownup love/breakup song for the ages!

 

I hear this a lot about most classic songs. Being overplayed doesn't make a song crap. Sadly we can hear a song too many times but we can still judge it fairly.