‘Tainted Love’ is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones (girlfriend of T-Rex’s Marc Bolan) in 1964. It was the B-side of her 1965 single ‘My Bad Boy's Comin' Home’, which was a commercial flop, failing to chart in either the US or the UK. Ed Cobb was the manager of the Standells and the Chocolate Watchband, for whom he also wrote songs, including ‘Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White.’ Cobb was also a member of the Four Preps, and wrote songs for Brenda Holloway, including ‘Every Little Bit Hurts.’
The song eventually attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1981, and has since been covered by numerous groups and artists. English vocal-and-synth duo Soft Cell became aware of the song through its status as a UK "Northern soul" hit. In 2010, DJ Ian "Frank" Dewhirst claimed he was the first person to play the song for Marc Almond, the vocalist for Soft Cell. Some time after, Soft Cell began performing the song in their live setlist. Eventually, a Phonogram Records A&R manager Roger Ames convinced the band to record the single at a London-based Advision Studios, with producer Mike Thorne. There, Soft Cell's version was recorded in a day and a half, with Almond's first vocal take being used on the record.
Thorne commented that he was surprised by the choice, as he had not been impressed by Jones's 1976 version on hearing it, but was impressed by the new arrangement and Almond's sinister vocal: "You could smell the coke on that second, Northern Soul version, it was really so over-ramped and so frantic. It was good for the dance floor, but I didn't like the record...when Soft Cell performed the song, I heard a very novel sound and a very nice voice, so off we went."
Thanks to a memorable performance on the BBC's Top of the Pops chart show, ‘Tainted Love’ reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, and was known as the best-selling single of 1981 in the UK, until the Official Charts Company recalculated the data in 2021 (giving the title to ‘Don't You Want Me’ by The Human League). ‘Tainted Love’ had 1.05 million sales in the UK in 1981, with that total increasing to 1.35 million copies as of August 2017. Buoyed by the then-dominant new wave sound of the time, ‘Tainted Love’ became a major hit in the US during the Second British Invasion, with the song spending a then-record breaking 43 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100. 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 American Top 40 and reached number 8 during the summer of 1982.
Soft Cell's version of ‘Tainted Love’ ranked number 5 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 1980s. The song was used in the 1993 movie Coneheads in the scene where Dan Aykroyd's character is bringing his daughter and some friends to school. The friends mock the musical notes after the vocal phrase, "Sometimes I feel I have to... Get away".
Labels – Some Bizzare, Sire/Warner Bros. Records (US)
Songwriter – Ed Cobb
Producer – Mike Thorne
SONG LYRICS
[Intro][Verse 1]
Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away I've got to
Get away
From the pain 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
[Chorus]
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now, I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh, tainted love
Tainted love
[Verse 2]
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 pray
But I'm sorry, I don't pray that way
[Chorus]
Once I ran to you (I ran)
Now, I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
Oh, tainted love
Tainted love
[Bridge]
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you, though you hurt me so
Now, I'm gonna pack my things and go
[Chorus]
Tainted love, oh, tainted love, oh
Tainted love, oh, tainted love, oh
[Outro]
Touch me, baby, tainted love
Touch me, baby, tainted love
Tainted love, oh
Tainted love, oh
Tainted love