Regular readers of this blog, as well as my good friends, know that Marc Almond has godlike status in my record collection. I'm not just talking about Soft Cell here, I am also speaking of collaborations with the likes of Jim Thirlwell (he of Foetus and the most excellent score for The Venture Brothers), Bronski Beat and Gene Pitney, 12" solo disco singles and, of course, Marc and the Mambas (the primary subject of this post, which also included Matt Johnson of The The and tons of other cool folks). I'm not the sort of person who normally engages in parasocial behavior involving rock stars, but Marc Almond is another story. See, even though we never met, I always felt that we should just so that I could thank him because, if it weren't for Marc Almond, I never would have spent the past decade of my life working regularly as a club DJ. Specifically, it was this song that scored me my first residency.

Marc and the Mambas "Untitled"

At nineteen, I was DJing at KXLU and spending pretty much every night driving from the bluff to Hollywood, where we would hit mostly goth and industrial clubs. I kind of had this idea in the back of mind that I would make a good club DJ. Radio seemed to be working pretty out pretty well and I thought that could translate into a good club set. Plus, in a club setting, I wouldn't have to speak over a microphone and no one would have to endure my childlike voice with all of its San Fernando Valley phrasings. I didn't really pursue club gigs though, mostly because I didn't think anyone would take a 19-year-old girl seriously (even though I had a habit of fibbing about my age). So, I remained content just doing my radio show, playing stuff that I heard at the clubs mixed with relatively obscure items that I came across in the station's archives or sourced from one of my favorite record stores. One day, I played this set that was really no different from any other set: Nick Cave; PJ Harvey; Project Pitchfork and the aforementioned Marc and the Mambas track. I finished my show, went back to my dorm and started getting ready for class when the DJ after me called. She hoped I didn't mind, but she gave my dorm phone number to this guy who called in because she recognized him as the DJ from Helter Skelter and he sounded like he really needed to talk to me. I got all giddy on the other end and thanked her because, even though I had chatted up the DJs a few times over the year or so that I had been attending the clubs, I never really got to know any of them. I was just another kid with a dyed-black bob.
Later that afternoon, I got a call from Jason, who had just left Helter Skelter to start his own club, and he told me that I played his absolute all-time favorite Marc Almond song and was so shocked to hear it on the radio that he almost got into a car accident in the process. Then he asked if I could guest DJ at Coven 13. Naturally, I obliged. Then I hung up the phone and started screaming (and when I say "scream" I really mean it) for my roommates, Amy, Miko and Reagan, about the news.
Two months passed and it came time for my first Coven 13 gig (in the interim, I played my actual first gig, which was a last-minute job at an offshoot of Amagi's 80s night that managed to change locations three times before 8 p.m.). The club was at Mogul's, which is now called something else if it even exists at all anymore, and I played in the front room in a loft that required me to climb a rickety ladder in an unfortunately short dress and heels. Prior to the event, part of the speaker system went down, meaning that I didn't have a monitor and the music downstairs sounded incredibly thin. One of the other DJs got frustrated and said, "So, do you want to play the rest of the night?"
"Um, I guess so."
I had no idea what I was doing, so I just played everything that I knew people danced to every week at the clubs, including this number.

Marc and the Mambas "Black Heart" (12" version)

Keep in mind that this is the version from the single, not from the album Torment and Toreros, but, if you get the CD version of the album, it will be on the second disc.
I thought my set sucked. In fact, I almost started crying up in the DJ booth because I was so angry at myself for sucking so badly. The next day, though, I got a call from Jason telling me that people loved my set and he couldn't wait to have me back. By the end of winter, I was a resident in the front room with Frankie. I ended up staying at Coven 13 for most of its run. I left when I graduated college and started working my first 9-5, but ended up with a residency at Rodney's English Disco, also promoted by Jason, a month later. The rest is history.

Since we're on the subject of Marc Almond, I wanted to add this song that he did with Foetus.

Flesh Volcano "Slut"

In college, I had this friend, Dave, who played the straight man (literally) on Camp Stop the World at KXLU. This was (roughly) his recommendation of the album.

"Liz, I can't believe you don't have Flesh Volcano. It's like, eight minutes or something like that of Marc Almond screaming 'Slut.' You have to hear it."

Copies of Untitled and Torment and Toreros are available at Amazon.com, but they range from pricey to expensive. If you're a vinyl junkie, look around because both albums pop up periodically in the L.A. used bins (that 12" for "Black Heart" is another story, though). Vinyl Fetish on Cahuenga is probably your best bet. I think that's where I purchased both albums.

Flesh Volcano was reissued on CD in the late-1990s and it appears to still be in print. Again, I bought my copy at Vinyl Fetish, so unless you really like ordering stuff online, I suggest trying there first.