Marc Almond speaks of himself as a chansonierre troubadour, a singer of other peoples' songs, covering works from Jacques Brel to Lou Reed. A talented songwriter himself, he claims that he prefers to sing other artists songs because "it frees me from my own baggage allowing me to express the things I wants to, in sometimes a better way than I can write myself." Like almost everyone, he came to my attention as the vocalist & songwriter of the 80s group Soft Cell, who had a massive hit with their cover of Tainted Love. His arrangement of this song has been has been covered by artists from Marilyn Manson to Pussy Cat Dolls. Marc considers his style to be a mix of cabaret, glam, northern soul, 60s pop & music hall. He gives Marc Bolan, Gene Pitney, David Bowie & Edith Piaf as influences. Antony Hegarty of Antony & the Johnsons cites him as his major reason that he became a singer. Marc has written two biographies & 3 books of verse. I adore him & his album Stardom Road ( an album that is "essentially my story", say Almond) was one of my most played in 2008. Marc Almond is in his 30th year of making music & he has sold over 30 million albums. I have included Marc doing a cover of a Jacques Brel's What Makes A Man A Man.
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