Tainted Love – Soft Cell | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#8) and Hot Dance/Disco (#4) – Club Play; 1982
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Music makes for strange bedfellows. Consider the case of Tainted Love. Its composer was Ed Cobb, once of 1950’s hitmakers The Four Preps (remember 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) and Big Man?) who went on to work with the Standells, for whom he wrote the 1966 garage rock classic, Dirty Water.
Two years earlier, Texas soul singer Gloria Jones had recorded another of Cobb’s compositions, Tainted Love. Her version sunk without a trace, only to be rescued from obscurity by England’s aficionados of Northern Soul.
Tainted Love quickly became one of the all-time spin favs. In 1981 art school techno-poppers Marc Almond and David Ball released their version of it. Produced by Mike Thorne, well-known for his work with the experimental band Wire, Tainted Love raced to #1 in late summer.
It appeared on the US list in January of 1982 and began a slooooow climb up the Hot 100. Six months later, Love peaked at #8; ultimately racking up a 43 week chart run.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Mike Thorne
Lyrics Written by:
- Ed Cobb
Awards:
- Single Of The Year at the 1982 BRIT Awards
- Ranked number 305 in NME’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2014
- Soft Cell’s version of “Tainted Love” ranked number 5 on VH1’s 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 1980s
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).