Hello Soft Cell
Five years ago I bought David Gray’s White Ladder because I loved the song Babylon. It was the song Say Hello Wave Goodbye on the album that made me (temporarily) fall in love with David Gray.
Little do people know, Say Hello Wave Goodbye is not a David Gray original. The song was written by Marc Almond of Soft Cell (of Tainted Love fame) and originally recorded by Soft Cell in 1981, nearly 20 years before David Gray’s cover. The original cut is on the obscure side and is a little hard to find, but through the magic of ripping vinyl to mp3 I’ve finally got my grubby hands on the mp3. The bonus is not only have I secured the original version AND the 12″ remix, but I also managed to nab the 1991 re-release (and updated version) of the track by Soft Cell (also a little hard to track down).
Have a listen:
Say Hello Wave Goodbye ’81
Say Hello Wave Goodbye ’91
I am most satisfied with this latest treasure find.
you know… i used to wonder why the lyrics were sooo familiar to me. i swear… “you and i, it had to be the standing joke of the year”, “this is one scene thats gonna be played my way”, “i never knew you, you never knew me”. it’s like i knew david grey in another life or something. then you post this up and it’s all clear to me now. 1993, college days in hawaii, pink’s garage… maybe it was the wave, i’m not too sure which club it was, but the new wave deejays had it in high rotation. thanks jos, for bringing back the days. 🙂