Bedsit Land: The Strange Worlds of Soft Cell - Paperback

by Patrick Clarke (Author)

This is the first in-depth account of the band Soft Cell. Written by a leading music journalist and based on extensive interviews, it traces the band's remarkably varied roots, from British seaside entertainments and Northern Soul nights to art school experimentation and New York glamour.

Back Jacket

A rich and revealing examination of the legendary pop duo Soft Cell.

Soft Cell are not your average pop band. Marc Almond and Dave Ball may be best known for the string of hits they released in 1981, but the powerful first phase of their collaboration embraced a staggering array of sounds, influences and innovations that would change the face of music to come.

In Bedsit land, Patrick Clarke plunges into the archives and interviews more than sixty contributors, including the band members themselves, to follow Soft Cell through the many strange and sprawling worlds that shaped their extraordinary career. They lead him from the faded camp glamour of the British seaside to the dizzying thrills of the New York club scene. From transgressive student performance art to the sleaze and squalor of pre-gentrified Soho. From the glitz of British showbiz to the drug-addled chaos of post-Franco Spain.

Author Biography

Patrick Clarke is a music journalist and live DJ. He is the deputy editor of the Quietus and a freelance contributor to the Guardian, NME, DIY Magazine and many more.