marc almond - Beige Magazine

MARC ALMOND
I’m sitting in a top floor,
white conservatory room
overlooking central
London. The space belongs
to a mutual friend and
will remain top secret.
Why the secrecy?
Well, this quiet sunny room contains
one of the rarest artefacts from
British 20th century pop music
history: the original illuminated K
WEST sign which once famously hung
in Heddon St, directly above David
Bowie’s “screwed down hairdo” on the
cover of his legendary Ziggy Stardust
album. This afternoon it shines down
on another influential writer and
performer, Marc Almond, a star every
bit as iconic as Ziggy’s surviving street
sign, but far more illuminating.
I have been fortunate to see Marc
perform twice recently. First, when he
celebrated his 55th birthday at The
Shepherd’s Bush Empire, taking us
on a personal musical journey before
launching into an energetic, floor
shaking Northern Soul finale. Then
a month later, by startling contrast,
at the Royal Festival Hall, where he
enthralled the entire audience with
a staggering orchestral performance
of his seminal Marc and the Mambas
album, the epic Torment and Toreros.
Today he is relaxing and in a reflective
mood. I wondered if there had been
any highlights during his incredible
career. “That’s really hard to say,
there are so many,” he answers,
sipping a cup of green tea. “The fact
I’m still here is remarkable! My initial
success in the 80s was of course a
highlight, but I don’t dwell on that
time too much because although it was
fantastic it was also a double edged
sword. I really wasn’t prepared for
success. Soft Cell were formed when
I was studying performance art at
college. We never intended going into
pop music, we were an experimental
electronic underground band, so being
thrust into the limelight on Top of The
Pops was scary.”
BY MARTIN GREEN
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PHOTOGRAPHY: CLAIRE LAWRIE GROOMING: GOZRA LOZANO
Marc admits that he struggled with
self confidence back then. “I had a
terrible stammer, ADHD and some
learning difficulties, which didn’t
help my social skills, so when success
happened I couldn’t connect with
people in the mainstream world.
Something really magical and
fantastic happened to me then and I
wish I could have appreciated it more.
Another highlight from that period
was meeting Andy Warhol, Klaus
Nomi and all the artists who were
hanging out in New York. The edgy
downtown scene there was incredible
in the early 80s. It was a vibrantly
dark time.”
Marc is incredibly resilient. The
‘Boy Who Came Back’ grew up in
Southport, experiencing a tough,
abusive life with an alcoholic father
and persistent school bullying. “My
early education was a survival course.
I was ideal bullying material being
intelligent, creative and artistic. At
the same time home life was difficult.
My drunken father would come to my
class and, in front of everyone, ask the
teacher if I was a homosexual. It was
humiliating. To fight back I became
disruptive, that way people would
think I was brave. At the same time
I was forming obsessive friendships
with boys, but I wasn’t being very
subtle about it. My overt flirtations
would often attract the willing and the
curious.”
The early 1970s was an exceptional
period of gay liberation and glam
revolution. T- Rex and Slade excited
the young dude but David Bowie
really blew his mind. “No other artist
sent me on so many musical journeys
of discovery. He was my education.
I learnt about Jacques Brel, Lou
Reed, and Jean Genet. I could escape
from my grim surroundings into his
inspiring universe. In those days of
pre-internet, I’d travel to Liverpool
to seek out books by Genet and
Burroughs and records by Iggy Pop
and Jobriath, all because Bowie liked
them. I also went to see his mentor,
the choreographer, Lindsay Kemp
perform, which was amazing. Bowie
created life long passions in me.”