It was at Leeds Polytechnic that Almond met David Ball, a fellow student they formed Soft Cell in 1977. He later credited writer and artist Molly Parkin with discovering him. He left art college with a 2:1 honours degree. Zazou was reviewed by The Yorkshire Evening Post and described as 'one of the most nihilistic depressing pieces that I have ever had the misfortune to see', prompting Almond to later refer to it as a 'success' in his autobiography. During his time at art college, he did a series of performance theatre pieces: Zazou, Glamour in Squalor, Twilights and Lowlifes, as well as Andy Warhol inspired mini-movies. Īlmond applied to Leeds Polytechnic, where he was interviewed by Jeff Nuttall, also a performance artist, who accepted him on the strength of his performing skills. He gained two O-Levels in Art and English and was accepted onto a General Art and Design course at Southport College, specialising in Performance Art. After his parents' divorce in 1972, he moved with his mother back to Southport where he attended King George V School. He later became a great fan of Marc Bolan and David Bowie and got a part-time job as a stable boy to fund his musical tastes. The first album he purchased was the soundtrack of the stage musical Hair and the first single ' Green Manalishi' by Fleetwood Mac. He found solace in music, listening to British radio pioneer John Peel. Īt the age of 11, Almond attended Aireborough Grammar School near Leeds, West Yorkshire. Two years later they returned to Southport, and then moved to Horsforth, West Yorkshire.There, he attended Horsforth Featherbank Infant School. When he was four, they left their grandparents' house and moved to Starbeck, Harrogate. He was brought up nearby at his grandparents' house in Birkdale with his younger sister, Julia, and as a child suffered from bronchitis and asthma. Almond was born in Southport, Lancashire, the son of Sandra Mary Diesen and Peter John Sinclair Almond, a Second Lieutenant in the King's Liverpool Regiment.

Soft cell songs list