Tainted love was written as a northern soul song for Gloria Jones by former The four preps bass player Ed Cobb in 1964. A British club DJ popularised the song in the Seventies, and producer Mike Thorne created a totally different version in 1981. I’ve seen singer Marc Almond when he was performing in Leipzig years ago. I admit I really didn’t like his voice, but I also like this version of the song.
Marc Almond and David Ball formed Soft Cell in 1978 after meeting at the Leeds Polytechnic. They developed as a synth-pop duo and published their debut record in 1981, with this song as the second single. The first single didn’t chart.
Northern soul is a British version of Black American soul, mostly coming from the Midlands and the North.