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Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

Fittingly for an album so much concerned with the seamy and the sleazy, the LP copy of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret I picked up seven or eight years ago was in decidedly mucky condition. While the sleeve is still tatty, after a couple of cleans the record now plays a lot better, despite clearly (and, again, appropriately) having been well used.

I knew and loved the singles ('Tainted Love', 'Bedsitter', 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye') from when they were first released, and had been introduced to the notorious 'Sex Dwarf' at University, via some acquaintances who'd got their hands on a copy of the original banned version of the video. Tracks like 'Frustration' and 'Seedy Films', on the other hand, I'd seldom heard, if ever, and it was a delight to belatedly make their acquaintance.

Now over forty years old, this is an album that, for me, still sounds vivid and compelling with its very British combination of camp comedy, 'kitchen sink drama' (to use a later song title of theirs) and the allure of the taboo, all of which is neatly parcelled into melodic pop songs: it's a classic!

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