[kj] ot: Marc Almond

[iPat]

Soft Cell singer Marc Almond is critically ill in hospital after a
motorcycle crash in central London.
The singer was injured after he was pillion passenger on a bike that
collided with a car near Cannon Street station on Sunday.

Both he and the rider were taken to hospital. Almond had emergency
surgery and is being treated in intensive care.

Almond scored his biggest hit with his group Soft Cell when their song
Tainted Love went to number one 1981.

Police investigation 

A spokesman for City of London Police said the crash happened at about
1600 BST (1500 GMT) on Sunday.

"There was a serious collision between a car and a motorcycle at the
junction of Cannon Street and New Change in the City of London," he
said.

"Both the motorcycle rider and the pillion passenger are in hospital.
The rider has severe injuries and the pillion passenger is critical.

"City of London Police are investigating the collision. Marc Almond
was the pillion passenger."

 
Soft Cell performed on Top of the Pops in their heyday 
The vehicles involved were a Suzuki bike and a Vauxhall car, the
spokesman added.

Almond is being treated at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
In a statement, the hospital said: His family request that his and
their privacy is respected at this time."

Soft Cell, which comprised Almond and musician David Ball, were one of
the biggest-selling acts of the early 1980s.

They split in 1984, three years after Tainted Love - a cover of Gloria
Jones' soul classic - became the biggest-selling UK single of 1981 and
the 10th biggest-seller ever in the US at the time.

The band's other hits included Torch, Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. 

After the split, Almond went on to have chart success with a cover of
the Days Of Pearly Spencer and a duet with Gene Pitney on Something's
Gotten Hold Of My Heart.

Almond and Ball reunited in 2001 to play a gig launching new venue
Ocean in Hackney, east London.



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