Tainted Life - Marc Almond

You can make a game out of guessing the titles of modern autobiographies. It's not that hard, and it becomes easier if the subject of tome in question is a music personality. Hands up all those who could have correctly guessed the title of this book by Marc Almond on his life to date? I thought so, just about everyone. This is not to detract from the book itself, or the quality of the writing, just that so many book titles in this library category are now very very obvious. Is there a point to this intro? No, just something I was reflecting on whilst reading this one and an autobiography by Midge Ure…

Fans of 80's synthpop will be familiar with the man and myth that makes up the former frontman of Leeds duo Soft Cell. With synth player Dave Ball, Almond notched up a string of gloomy hits and even gloomier albums. Many will also be aware of the tabloid-like obsession with Almond's private life and some of the half-truths and blatant lies told about him over the years. What most people are not aware of, however, was just how bad it really was. Marc (note the 'c') Almond tells it as it really was, well all that he can reasonably remember, warts and all.

Life for Almond starts with his adventures in Southport, his hometown and his broken home. Vivid descriptions of life in an unhappy home with an alcoholic father take us towards Marc's retreat into music and art. Further on, we discover the unhappiness of personal relationships and friendships as Almond realises his true sexuality and then shows us the hidden world of homosexuality behind the glitz of the tourist town.

His life really changes when he attends Leeds Polytechnic as an art student. Amongst the drama and trauma of student life, Almond meets the man who was to be his musical partner during their formative years, Dave Ball. Marc's student years mainly consisted of performance art with an eye to shock, something he took with him into Soft Cell. Prior to this, he became a major part of the Leeds version of the New Romantic Blitz scene of the early eighties. It was during this time that Soft Cell started to write and perform. The eventual release of the Mutant Moments EP brought the duo to the attention of Stevo and the opportunity to sign to Some Bizarre.

From hereon in, it is mainly a tale of meteoric success and both the happiness and pitfalls that this success can bring. Through the glory days of Soft Cell and throughout his solo career, Marc Almond had a taste for drugs. Not a small taste either, this was an insatiable appetitite that was never seemingly quenched. A lot of stars recounting their life will either miss out or play down the unsavoury or illegal aspects of their life. Not Almond. He is never anything short of uncompromising, listing just about every drug he ever took until he eventually cleaned up in the late nineties. On top of this, he recounts the appalling artistic and financial decisions he made throughout his career and effect that drugs and his ego had in making them. We hear of the deteriorating relationships with Stevo and friends who either collaborated musically or supplied drugs (or both). We see the early retirement of Soft Cell and fail to understand how either member could let it happen. We then follow Marc's solo career through it's ups and downs, the enforced movement between various record companies and various escapades (some near fatal) by a man with too much time, too much money and too big a habit to care about himself or his career that much.

Of course, Almond also shares the painful journey to redeem himself and rid himself of bad friends and bad habits. As with most addicts, the journey is long and full of pitfalls. He stumbles on more than one occasion, but eventually makes it to the end in one piece. The book ends with a postscript written in 2000, where Almond reveals his intent to work with Dave Ball again as Soft Cell. Of course, we all know that the result of this was the 2002 album Cruelty Without Beauty. Most will also know of the life-threatening accident late last year and hope that Marc Almond can continue his career for years to come.

The book is a difficult read, at some points it reads almost like a literary prescription with most illegal drugs listed across it's pages. There are more downs than ups (although more uppers) in the life so far of Marc Almond, but this makes it an engrossing read. Almond is one of those singers who hasn't had too much commercial success during his solo career but you cannot accuse him of living off the back of Soft Cell. The book explains quite clearly the musical decisions and backdrop to each new segment of his career, and you get a detailed understanding of what Almond was thinking of and trying to achieve. Sometimes it was simply too epic a vision, sometimes just too bloody minded. At all times though, you can't help admiring the man for the fact that he realises his life and career were a complete mess and that this is not covered up one iota. The fact he ended up making a lot of good music (although I'm not a fan of a lot of it myself) amidst the chaos he brought on himself says much about his character and talent.

This is not a book that everyone will enjoy reading. It has its light moments and funny anecdotes, but the history of Marc Almond is littered with darkness. I ended up completely surprised at how little I actually knew about the man after reading this book, and at times I found myself picking up my jaw from the floor at the sheer decadence he encouraged and created around him. If you prefer the glossy stories of the latest celebrity magazine, avoid this book like the plague. If, however, you want to get a glimpse into dark places and attempt to understand the arduous journey Almond took, then you won't be disappointed. A warning for everyone on the perils of success, don't miss it.

This review originally appeared on www.synthpop.net in 2005