More than fifteen years from the moment of the first release, it took the song in question to turn into an international hit. For the Soft Cell group that made her famous, she remained, perhaps, the only calling card. But even Gloria Jones, the song’s original singer, admitted that the British synthpop duo sang the best version of “Tainted Love”.
Tainted Love song story
Now known in all civilized countries, the song was born thanks to the talent of the American musician Edward Cobb. He offered it to the members of The Standells, but they refused. But Gloria Jones happily took on “Tainted Love”, performing it in the style of northern soul. In 1965, the track was released on the back of the “My Bad Boy’s Comin’ Home” single. It was not commercially successful and did not chart.
A significant event in the history of the song occurred in 1973, when DJ Richard Sirling bought this record during a trip to the USA. With his light hand, “Tainted Love” became popular first with the visitors of the Bolton club Va Va, then with the customers of the Wigan casino, and then with the guests of many other establishments in the UK. A little later, he himself recorded the composition, but his attempt was also unsuccessful.
Which of the Soft Cell duet came up with the idea to sing “Tainted Love” is hard to say. According to Marc Almond, it was first heard by David Ball. They were just looking for a song that could be played as an encore during live performances, and decided to stop at this track.
Almond later recalled:
Dave introduced this record to me, I really liked it, and we needed an interesting song to play as an encore during our shows. Dave loved northern soul, and back then it was new for a band with an electric synthesizer to play soul. When we signed with our record company, they wanted to release it. We were told to add bass, guitar and drums to it because they thought it was too weird. But they released it anyway, and then it took over the radio airwaves and became number one. I was fascinated by the fact that it was originally sung by Gloria Jones, Marc Bolan’s girlfriend, and I’ve always been a T-Rex fan.
1000 UK #1 Hits
Previous Soft Cell releases had been flops, and record company bosses had warned that this would be their last chance. Unexpectedly for everyone, “Tainted Love”, which was released in the summer of 1981, soared to the top of the UK Singles Chart and literally occupied British radio stations. It was later released in the US and peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Overall, the song topped the charts in seventeen countries.
Subsequently, the song has been covered by many other musicians, including Marylin Manson, Scorpions, Palast Orchester and Coil. Manson’s single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart
The meaning of the song Tainted Love
The text of the composition clearly speaks of a once passionate relationship, from which love and trust have gone. After the performance of the song by the band Soft Cell, due to Almond’s unconventional orientation, all sorts of conjectures related to same-sex love arose. In addition, the popularity of “Tainted Love” coincided with the onset of the AIDS epidemic, which gave rise to additional rumors.
Naturally, all of them have no basis, since the composition was written much earlier, and its first performer was a woman who had nothing to do with the gay community.
Interesting Facts
- Soft Cell changed the word play in one of the lines of the song to pray. They also sing on behalf of the guy.
Tinted Love lyrics by Gloria Jones version
Sometimes I feel I’ve got to
Run away I’ve got to
get away
From the pain that you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I’ve lost my light
For I toss and turn I can’t sleep at night
Run away I must
slip away
From the pain you caused my heart
Our love,
Seems to have no future
There is no more light in my life
I lost my peace and sleep Once I ran to you
Now I’ll run from you
This tainted love you’ve given
I give you all a girl could give you
Take my tears and that’s not nearly all
Oh…tainted love
Tainted love I ran into you once
And now I’m running from you
And from the broken love that you gave me
I give you everything a girl can give
Take my tears and that’s not all
Oh tainted love
Spoiled Love Now I know I’ve got to
Run away I’ve got to
get away
You don’t really want any more from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you think love is to play
But I’m sorry I don’t play that way
Run away I must
slip away
You don’t really want anything more from me
Don’t wanna fix it
You need someone’s tight hug
And you think love is a game
But I’m sorry I don’t play like that Once I ran to you
Now I’ll run from you
This tainted love you’ve given
I give you all a girl could give you
Take my tears and that’s not nearly all
Oh…tainted love
Tainted love I ran into you once
And now I’m running from you
And from the broken love that you gave me
I give you everything a girl can give
Take my tears and that’s not all
Oh tainted love
Spoiled love Don’t touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I’m going to pack my things and go
Tainted love, tainted love Please don’t touch me
I can’t stand your teasing
I love you even though you hurt me
Now I’ll pack my things and leave
Spoiled love Spoiled love
Song Quotes
I love the excitement in his voice. Their version is much better than mine.
Gloria Jones
A mixture of cold electronics with overly passionate, overly stormy and slightly out of tune vocals.
Mark Almond, 1000 UK #1 Hits
