Bedsit Land
Bedsit Land
My debut book Bedsit Land: The Strange Worlds Of Soft Cell was published by the Manchester University Press in 2024 as the inaugural entry in their British Pop Archive series. Redressing the narrative that Soft Cell were little more than a one hit wonder synth pop band, the book instead presents Marc Almond in all their radical, transgressive, esoteric glory.
Plunging into the archives and interviewing more than sixty contributors, including the band members themselves, I follow Soft Cell through the many strange and sprawling worlds that shaped their extraordinary career. They lead me from the faded camp glamour of the British seaside to the dizzying thrills of the New York club scene. From transgressive student performance art to the sleaze and squalor of pre-gentrified Soho. From the glitz of British showbiz to the drug-addled chaos of post-Franco Spain.
Nominated for the 2025 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research
Praise for BEDSIT LAND
“Clarke brings together threads of discourse and aesthetics that feel truly unspoken [...] shows how Soft Cell inherited their own totem of working class glamour, with alchemical results."
— Tribune“A really, really good read"
— BBC 6 Music“A wonderful web of all the sticky threads that give Soft Cell their proper context. Clarke’s writing is full of empathy for what it’s like to be at the mercy of an audience. It positions Soft Cell, rightly in my opinion, as one of the most fearless duos in pop music.”
— Florence Shaw, Dry Cleaning“For those who only know ‘Tainted Love’, Patrick Clarke’s thorough and exciting book repositions Soft Cell as key counter-culturalists, at the very heart of a musical and artistic revolution.”
— Bob Stanley, author of Yeah Yeah Yeah
“Patrick Clarke’s book explores how, more than any other act, Soft Cell came to encapsulate the spirit of eighties libertinism, dirt-smeared glamour and joyous amorality. And, more importantly, how they made artful future pop music and dancefloor classics – music that provided a primer for Pulp, Brit Pop, synth takeover and house music yet to emerge. Detailing a world in transition, Soft Cell were observant and caustic. A perfect combination of British sleaze and exotic cosmopolitanism. A story of muck and glitter in equal measure.”
— Dr Stephen Mallinder, Cabaret Voltaire, Creep Show, Wrangler“Sordid and euphoric"
— TLS
“A must read for all fans of Soft Cell, synth music, art, fashion, fame or anyone interested in being iconic.”
— Blitzed Magazine“A fascinating and energetic dive into the seedy chaos of Soft Cell's short early life.”
— Luke Turner, author of Out of the Woods
“Clarke’s expert sifting of witness testimony captures the soul inside the eighties’ most brilliantly subversive duo.”
— Cathi Unsworth, author of Season of the Witch