Tainted Love

Today's edition of Retro Friday features Soft Cell and the song "Tainted Love."

Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who emerged on the music scene in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and the platinum debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. In the United Kingdom, they had ten Top 40 hits, including "Bedsitter" which reached the number four spot, "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" which reached number three, "Torch" which reached number two, and "What!" which reached number three. They also had four Top 20 albums between 1981and 1984. The duo split in 1984, but reformed early in the 2000s to tour and released a new album in 2002. Their songs have been covered by various artists including Nine Inch Nails, David Gray, Nouvelle Vague, Marilyn Manson and A-ha.

Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" was released in 1981 and was a No. 1 hit in 17 countries, including the United Kingdom, as well as a No. 8 single in the United States in 1982. It also went on to set a Guinness World Record at the time for the longest consecutive stay (43 weeks) on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song's popularity developed slowly, needing 19 weeks to enter the U.S. Top 40. The A-side of the 12 inch single of "Tainted Love" actually featured a two-song medley, with "Tainted Love" blending into the Motown classic "Where Did Our Love Go" ( which was originally recorded by The Supremes).

According to Marc Almond's book Tainted Life, when Soft Cell had finished the recording of the "Tainted Love" they only had modest expectations that the track might break into the UK Top 50. Furthermore, Almond wrote that the only significant contribution that he made to the song's instrumentation (besides the vocals) was the suggestion that the song should begin with a characteristic "bink bink" sound which would repeat periodically throughout. Almond also wrote that he dedicated this song to his sometime partner Christian Andrews.

I love the song "Tainted Love" ... especially the mix with "Where Did Our Love Go." Shortly after college we got tickets to see the band Dishwalla play at this local club in St. Louis, and they played their version of "Tainted Love" ... which was amazing ... and made me love Dishwalla even more!

And now ... here's some Soft Cell and "Tainted Love" for your listening pleasure!



Cheers!