“Tainted Love” is a Northern soul song by American musician and producer Ed Cobb. The band Soft Cell included the song in their live performances. Eventually, manager Roger Ames chose the band to record a single, with Mike Thorne producing. Soft Cell’s version was recorded in just a day and a half, with the album featuring Almond’s very first recorded vocal take.
The story behind the creation and meaning of the song Tainted Love performed by Soft Cell
The song is about a destructive relationship in which the lyrical hero realizes the need to end it. The song's creator, Ed Cobb, shared his memories:
“I was in a relationship with a girl who was hardly a positive character. I tried to look at the world through her eyes and write a song from her perspective. As soon as the word “broken” popped into my head, the song was written almost instantly, probably in about fifteen minutes.”
The song is based on a 1964 cover of a song by American soul singer Gloria Jones. According to DJ Ian "Frank" Dewerst, he was playing Jones's "Tainted Love" when Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond dropped in. Dewerst, by his own admission, had been avoiding Almond because of his violent temper. Upon hearing the song, Almond asked Dewerst to record it on tape.
Producer Mike Thorne admitted he was surprised by the choice of song, as Jones' 1976 version hadn't impressed him much. However, the new arrangement and Almond's dark vocals intrigued him:
“That second version of Northern Soul had this cocaine energy, it was so overloaded and wild. It was perfect for the dance floor, but I didn’t like the recording itself… When Soft Cell performed the song, I heard a completely new sound and really nice vocals, and we decided to take it on.”
The vocal part of Marc Almond that we hear on the recording is the very first take. It was made as a test, to adjust the equipment, but it turned out to have exactly the necessary emotionality, so they decided to leave it. Marc Almond himself described this song as follows:
"It's a combination of cold electronic sounds with overly passionate, overly stormy, slightly off-key vocals. Dave Ball introduced me to this record, I really liked it and we decided it would be a great encore song at our shows. Dave loved northern soul and it was quite unusual for a band playing electronic synths to play a soul number.
When we got a record deal, they wanted to record the song. They asked us to add bass, guitar and drums because they thought it sounded too weird. They ended up releasing it and it soon became a radio hit and then went to number one in the charts. I was really impressed that it was originally performed by Gloria Jones, Marc Bolan’s girlfriend, because I’ve always been a T-Rex fan.”
The divine meaning of the song is simple - it is about love that hurts.
