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 Do you both make a point of keeping abreast of the pop scene now?
Dave: I do listen to current stuff, but when you say 'pop' music...well, no! I think it's very cheesey, kiddie-orientated, so I wouldn't say either of us would keep abreast of that. But like with the electro-clash thing, we're very aware of current, modern music. I wouldn't say I've ever really been interested in the out-and-out pop stuff.
Marc: I think as older artists you don't necessarily go around chasing the new sounds so much. It's good to keep an eye on it and see what's happening, but I don't think you'd seek to go aligning yourself with it too much. It's best to stick to your own thing and be true to yourselves.
Do you have particular favourites that you keep around you when writing new material?
Marc:
I try to avoid listening to too much stuff when writing new material, because you don't want to be too influenced by it in a way. I always do go back to listen to a lot of older music, like Roxy Music or something. I think you do naturally like to return to stuff like that. But when you're recording, you're usually so immersed in writing the lyrics or new music that you don't really want to be listening to loads of other stuff. It can be depressing if it's better! [Laughs] I just wouldn't want to be too influenced by other things.
Dave: I think you can subconsciously find yourself picking up on things. You hear something and it sticks in your head.
Marc: I think also you become conscious of being fashionable and of pandering to something...
Dave: Yeah, you kinda want to avoid being wilfully fashionable. It's worth listening out for current production values and stuff, so you know that your song doesn't sound like it's been made 15 years ago or something. I think we were both very conscious of that this time, we didn't want it to sound like it was made in the '80s...
Marc:...while still being true to Soft Cell.
Going back to 'Tainted Love', can you define five northern soul classics?
Marc: [Laughs] Dave's the one for that really, more than me. Can you think your way through the thousands in your record collection...
Dave: I think the rarest one is a track by Frank Wilson called 'Do I Love You?' currently valued at around £15,000 for a 7". I've got a bootleg of it though, I think there's only about two copies of it, but that's a great track! There's so many, the list could be endless. Another one is 'Love You Baby' by Eddie Parker.
Marc: We did another song that was quite a good northern soul one, didn't we?
Dave: Yeah, 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' by Sandy Sheldon. There really are so many great tracks that to do a definitive top 20 even would just be too difficult. I mean, 'The Night' is not strictly a northern soul track, there's another track by Frankie Valli called 'Are You Ready Now' which is more of a classic northern soul track. 'The Night' came out in the 1974 or something, it's a great track but not strictly northern soul I would say.
Similarly, have you got a definitive top five torch songs?
Marc: Again, that's really difficult. I couldn't be put on the spot about that you know. I like listening to a lot of classic songs, I like their simplicity and structure. I also like a lot of obscure stuff, I like going to record stores and fishing out very old '50s albums, like Johnny Ray. It's great that you can track stuff down on the net as well, as I love stuff from the '30s and '40s as well, you know crackily old songs.
You're both noted for your eclectic taste, but are their any surprise possessions in your collections?
Marc: A lot of early progressive music, a lot of Free and Deep Purple. [Laughs]
Any that you hide when credible people come round?
Dave: I think I sold all my dodgy ones!
Marc: Yeah, I think I had a clear out as well.
Dave: I think both of us though have always collected really weird records. I mean, I just got a Pat Boone album, 'No More Mr Nice Guy' with Pat doing heavy metal. [Laughs] It's absolutely unbelievable, especially when he does 'Paradise City' with a brass section. On the front, there's a picture of him, with a leather waistcoat and nothing on underneath, with a little twinkle in his eye...trying to look like a rocker. It's the kitschist record I've bought...Pat Boone 'No More Mr Nice Guy', in a metal mood... You've got to get it!
Dave, through your work with The Grid, do you feel in any way responsible for 'Cotton Eye Joe'?
Dave:[Laughs] It was pure coincidence! I'd heard this Irish band, so it was meant to be a more gaelic thing. I blame the whole line dancing craze, because 'Cotton Eye Joe' and 'Swamp Thing' got played a lot across America at the time. It was a massive hit, but it's slightly embarrassing to be associated with it. I think it's the only time that a banjo's been played in the Ministry of Sound.
And a question for you Marc, are you all set to follow up your biography this year?
Marc: Next year, maybe... I think I might do a travelogue in a way, revisiting places I've been to in the past. Cities I went to 20 years ago, returning to see how they'd influence my music now.
A kind of Marc Almond's 'Pole to Pole'...
Marc: [Laughs] Yeah, I'm after a TV series!
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