Friday, 22 October 2010

Soft Cell - Bedsitter

The follow-up to a massive hit can go several ways, but the main possibilities include: 1) an almost exact simulation, a lucky strike turned into a formula or 2) the hit is used as a springboard to go deeper and weirder, with the added confidence caused by unexpected success.

'Bedsitter' came off the back of 'Tainted Love', Soft Cell's 1981 bestselling single. Their cover of Gloria Jones's northern soul classic (which segued, on the 12-inch, into the Supremes' Where Did Our Love Go) was a minimalist anthem that both betrayed the duo's north-western origins and made the most of their performance art leanings.

'Bedsitter' is cut from the same cloth as 'Tainted Love': sparse production, highlighting the simple, repetitive synth lines, the expressive vocal and the almost burlesque uh-uh hook cueing the verse. Ball understood structure and dance appeal, while Almond got the grunge beneath the glitz, the desperation behind the shiny facade of London's newly swinging club land.

Released in November 1981, Bedsitter peaked at No 4 that Christmas; the No 1 was the Human League with their breakthrough hit, 'Don't You Want Me'. The single version was included on Soft Cell's classic first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which continued the group's tender/wicked duality, especially in the segue between Youth and Sex Dwarf.

Click the link blow to download the following:
Video
Single Version
12 inch Extended Version
Facility Girls - B-Side
Favulty Girls - Extended 12 inch Version

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c331c4b83bb4c7607edaada8390b259c5f

Soft Cell - Bedsitter - Video



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