Put The Needle On The Record - Week #97

Put The Needle On The Record Week #97 Soft Cell - The Art Of Falling Apart

For this weeks feature we go back to January 1983 and the Soft Cell album "The Art Of Falling Apart".

"The Art Of Falling Apart" was Soft Cell's 2nd studio album release and the follow up to "Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret". Initial copies of the album came with a 12 inch vinyl single that contained the tracks "Martin" and "Hendrix Medley", which I still have in my vinyl collection!

The album was produced by Mike Thorne and features 8 tracks and includes a couple of my all time favourite Soft Cell tracks, "Where The Heart Is" and "Loving You Hating Me", other standout tracks are "Forever The Same", which was planned as a 3rd single but was shelved, even though a 12 inch mix had already been done, which later appeared in the Soft Cell box set, "Keychains And Snowstorms", "Heat" and "Kitchen Sink Drama". The 12 inch version of "Where The Heart Is" is one of my all time favourite 12 inch singles.

2 singles were released off the album "Where The Heart Is" (which reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Numbers", baffling that this track was released as a single, (which reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart). "Loving You Hating Me" was released as a single in the United States and Canada only, why on earth it wasn't a single in the UK baffles me completely and "Heat" was released as a single in the United States only.

The album, reached Number 5 in the UK album chart.

Track Listing

Forever The Same
Where The Heart Is
Number
Heat
Kitchen Sink Drama
Baby Doll
Loving You Hating Me
The Art Of Falling Apart

A 6 disc edition of the album has just been released, which is excellent and very comprehensive, of course we recently heard about the passing of Dave Ball from the band, which was really sad news, especially as a new Soft Cell album had been completed days before he died, which is due out in Spring next year.

If you have this album in your collection, dig it out and give it a spin!