One Hit Wonders: Tainted Love

Tainted Love” is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964.

It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synth-pop duo Soft Cell in 1981 and has since been covered by numerous groups and artists. Buoyed by the then-dominant synth-pop new wave sound of the time and a memorable performance on the BBC’s Top of the Pops, “Tainted Love” reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, and was the best-selling single of 1981 in the UK. A major hit in the US during the Second British Invasion, the song spent a then-record 43 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight.

The Soft Cell recording featured a slower tempo than Jones’ version, and was in the key of G rather than the original C to match Marc Almond’s lower voice. Synthesizers and rhythm machines replaced the original’s guitars, bass, drums, and horns.

On the US chart dated January 16, 1982, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90. It appeared to peak at number 64 and fell to number 100 on February 27. After spending a second week at number 100, it started climbing again. It took 19 weeks to crack the US Top 40. The song reached number 8 during the summer of 1982 and spent a then record-breaking 43 weeks on the Hot 100.

Listen to the iconic track that still gets airplay today, here.

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Photo Credit: Be Good / Shutterstock.com