Soft Cell

Soft Cell were an English synthesizer duo during the early 1980s. They consisted of Marc Almond (vocals) and David Ball (synthesizers). Their lyrics often focused on love and romance as well as the darker side of life, with subjects such as kinky sex, transvestism, drugs and murder. They had a huge world-wide hit in 1981 with a cover version of "Tainted Love".

They became the prototypical synth duo. They emerged from the New Romantic and New Wave era, but were part of the 'futurist' scene, alongside the likes of Depeche Mode, OMD, The Human League and Gary Numan. The darker nature of their music also made Soft Cell popular in the emerging Goth scene.