Synth-pop royalty Marc Almond dealt with a lot of fame in his younger years – but he’s relieved he never had to deal with social media in the 1980s. 

The former Soft Cell member is performing at the Olympia Theatre on September 26th. 

Following the release of his latest solo album, I’m Not Anyone, he is touring the UK and Ireland – something he is well used to by now. 

He told The Anton Savage Show today that when he started Soft Cell with David Wall, they were “belligerent arts students”. 

“We'd grown up through the time of punk,” he said. “That's when we started - we were kind of a post-punk band, really. 

“We were really kind of against all that corporate-ness – and then suddenly we’re thrust into this very commercial corporate world of commercial pop music. 

“Dave was always happy to do anything... but I was told to tone it down. 

“So, I just said, you know what - I'll just go on and be myself, I'll wear 10 times more eyeliner – and whatever it did, it worked.” 

Marc Almond performs at the Castro Theatre. Image: The Photo Access / Alamy Stock Photo

The duo is most known for their version of ‘Tainted Love’, which broke the Guinness World Record at the time for the longest consecutive stay (43 weeks) on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

Almond noted he still received “hate” for his eccentric look. 

“Thank God we didn't have social media in those days,” he said. “I could imagine the trolling would have been unbelievable. 

“But enough people liked [‘Tainted Love’] and made it a huge hit - but we really had to battle against people who wanted to change it.” 

Marc Almond and sexuality

Almond also felt like he was quite “blurry” about his sexuality at the time, never explicitly saying that he was gay. 

“[But] it’s absolutely obvious,” he said. “But I think there was all that pressure at that time. 

“There was from the media at that time, from the radio, from TV, from record companies, from the corporate side of things, a lot of homophobic things. 

“You were working in a very much homophobic industry, I think - so I think people of the early 80s were very kind of blurry about it.” 

He noted that when he became friends with Siouxsie Sioux, the band’s press team wanted to pretend they were dating. 

You can find tickets to Almond’s shows here. 

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