Tainted love

According to publicist Nick Talevski ( Nick Talevski ), Ed Cobb, a former member of , who was actively involved in producing activities with the dissolution of the latter, originally intended to record a song performed by , whose manager and producer Cobb was at that time; The Standells, according to Talewski, refused to record the song ^[4] ; the members of the group themselves on its Facebook page deny this, citing the absence of any contacts with Cobb until 1966 ^[5] .

Performed by Gloria Jones, Cobb met her through ^{[6] [7] [comm. 1]} - the song first appeared in 1965 as a b-side of the single “My Bad Boy's Comin 'Home”. The single was almost unnoticed; the songs did not fall into either the British or American charts ^[10] . As Jones later admits, she did not like the song very much because it did not fully reflect her style; moreover, she did not like the word “tainted” in the title of the song, as too vulgar ^{[11] [12]} .

In 1973, British DJ Richard Searling acquired a single during a trip to the United States. The song, which was heavily influenced by Motown sound (which included a fast tempo, the use of female backing vocals, wind instruments and rhythm guitar), was to the taste of fans of northern soul on the English club scene of the 70s; Sirling popularized the song, first at the Va Va Club in Bolton , and later at the Wigan ^[13] . Upon learning of the new interest in the song, Jones - with the participation of her boyfriend Mark Bolan - rewrote it in 1976; in the new version, the song entered the album but , but as before, did not receive success ^[14] .

Soft Cell Versions (1981 and 1991)

The participants of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell learned about the song due to its popularity among lovers of the northern soul; According to DJ Ian (Frank) Dewhirst , he put on the Tainted Love record performed by Jones when the duet's vocalist Mark Almond came to him - in his own words, Duerst tried to avoid it because of his penchant for fights; Learning about the song, Almond asked Dewerst to record it on a tape recorder ^[17] . Soon, Soft Cells included “Tainted Love” in their repertoire, by drawing lots by choice instead of “The Night” by Frankie Valley ^[18] . At the Taitned Love concerts, Roger Ames, the label manager for the Phonogram Records label , suggested that the band record a single at Studios with producer ^[19] . The latter subsequently admitted that he was surprised by the choice of “Tainted Love” - the 1976 recording by Jones did not impress him; when Soft Cell presented their version of the song to Thorn, he was impressed by Almond’s new arrangement and “sinister” vocals ^{[cit. 4]} . The recording of Tainted Love, according to Thorne, was a day and a half; when reducing the final version, the first double from Almond's vocals ^{[21] [19] was used} .

The single on “Tainted Love” performed by Soft Cell, first released in July 1981 on the label Some Bizzare Records , became the second in the duo's career - the first single on the song “ Memorabilia ”, which was popular in clubs but didn’t hit the charts ^{[22 ]} ; in this regard, representatives of Phonogram - Soft Cell were associated with him through a contract with Some Bizzare - hinted at the possibility of terminating the latter in case of failure of the next single ^[22] . Nevertheless, the song gained great popularity due to the synth-pop sound that dominated in those years, reinforced by the performance of the song in the Top of the Pops program . At the end of 1981, “Tainted Love” became the best-selling single in the UK; as of November 2012, the sold single circulation was up to 1 million 270 thousand copies ^[23] .

On "Tainted Love" in the Soft Cell version, two video clips were shot. The first, included on the Non-Stop Exotic Video Show , was filmed by director ; in it, the cricketer - the hero of - meets Almond dressed in toga on Mount Olympus ^{[24] [25]} . Another video was shot by musician and designer Peter Christofferson for an updated version of the song, released by the single in 1991 - seven years after the dissolution of Soft Cell; in it, Almond sings against the “background” of the starry sky, while the hero of the clip dances with ghosts ^[26] . Earlier, Christofferson also shot a video for “Tainted Love” performed by his band Coil , which appeared on the “B” side of the single “ Panic ” in 1985 ^[27] .

Marilyn Manson Version (2001)

The American rock band Marilyn Manson recorded their version of Tainted Love for the soundtrack of the movie Non-Kids Movie , based on an arrangement from the Soft Cell version; according to frontman Marilyn Manson in an interview with Ian Winwood for Kerrang magazine ! , a new cover version was recorded shortly after the end of the Guns, Gods and Goverment tour in support of Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) ; on the record, Manson, as he admits, was not guided by nostalgia for the 80s, although he understood this as the main task of the compilers of the soundtrack ^[29] .

Marilyn Manson's “Tainted Love” promotion was released in November 2001; the commercial single was released in the spring of 2002; later this cover version was included as a bonus track for the international edition of The Golden Age of Grotesque . In the UK, the song became the band's biggest hit; a week before the official release of the single, the song entered the British singles charts in sixth position, which was facilitated by the sale of imported copies; reaching the highest fifth position, Tainted Love lasted a total of 22 weeks ^[30] .

In 2014, the British music magazine New Musical Express placed the song “Tainted Love” in the original performance by Gloria Jones at number 305 on her list of “ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ” ^{[31] [32]} . In 2002, “Tainted Love” by Marilyn Manson was nominated for the Kerrang Award ! in the category " " ^[33] .

Soft Cell Version

Weekly Charts

Marilyn Manson Version

Comments

Sources

• Lyrics for this song on MetroLyrics
• Видеоклип «Tainted Love» (версия Coil) (англ.) . moma.org . Нью-Йоркский музей современного искусства . Дата обращения 4 августа 2017.

Video clips

•   Версия Soft Cell (1981 года)
•   Версия Soft Cell (1991 года)
•   Версия Coil
•   Версия Marilyn Manson