Soft Cell - Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go

ecuadorian_bass, Sep 28, 2005

This is one of the first songs I remember from my childhood, and its always stuck with me.
This is actually a cover version of a northern soul song of the same name, which was sung by Gloria Jones (girlfriend of T Rexs Marc Bolan).
In Dave Balls hands and with Marc Almonds androgynous voice the song was transformed from a talcum powdered dancefloor favourite into a minimal/electronic/mechanistic unrequited love song.
From the opening bars of simplistic synth stabs (coupled with the stripped to the bone drum machine beats) Tainted Love is equal to any electronic composition by Kraftwerk (who were riding high at that time). Its sheer simplicity is the key to its perfection as a classic pop song.

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