I used to bump into Marc Almond regularly in the early days of The Batcave. A small, intoxicating creature, he fitted that scene like a glove. There was no-one quite like him. Wonderfully uncool with a voice wavering all over the place yet bursting with an all too human passion, he explored the seedier, tackier side of life, living out his fantasies in the clubs and alleyways of old Soho.
I loved all those early, ground breaking records; Torment And Toreros, Vermine In Ermine, Stories Of Johnny and Mother Fist. They were all so magnificently beyond standard 80’s new pop I just couldn’t resist. Gothic, cabaret masterpieces they painted colourfully ribald pictures of a sordid, romanticised Europe with glimpses of the lost, the lonely and the bizarre.
Over the ensuing years Marc Almonds artistic choices may have veered from dazzlingly original concepts to the ridiculously idealistic but the one thing he’s never been is boring. Even in this retro crazed 21st century he’s continued to dodge the call of the lazy 80’s nostalgia circuit, preferring instead to produce unusual and essential work. The end result may be a noble failure on occasion but continues to act as a window on his marginalised and much hidden history. He continues to pursue his own artistic dream and there are precious few who can say that.
1. Black Heart (Marc And The Mambas) / Single A Side June 1983
2. The Bulls (Marc And The Mambas) / Torment And Toreros LP August 1983
3. Tenderness Is A Weakness / Vermine In Ermine LP October 1984
4. Stories Of Johnny / Single A Side September 1985
5. Love And Little White Lies / Stories Of Johnny LP September 1985
6. Mother Fist / Mother Fist And Her Five Daughters LP May 1987
7. The Stars We Are / The Stars We Are LP September 1988
8. A Lover Spurned / Enchanted LP June 1990
9. The Days Of Pearly Spencer / Tenement Symphony LP October 1991
10. In Your Bed / Absinthe The French Album LP September 1993
11. Adored And Explored / Single A Side April 1995
12. Child Star / Child Star EP November 1995
13. The Idol Part 1 / Fantastic Star LP February 1996
14. Beautiful Losers / Single B Side March 1999
15. Heart In Velvet / Open All Night LP April 1999
16. Moonbathe Skin / Stranger Things LP June 2000
17. Gone But Not Forgotten / Heart On Snow LP November 2003
18. Idumea (Current 93) / Black Ships Ate The Sky LP May 2006
19. Redeem Me / Stardom Road LP June 2007
