Robert Elms had another ACE Cover to Cover on BBC Radio London this morning. Up for consideration was Tainted Love - Gloria Jones Vs, well, you know what.
As ever with Cover to Cover, the original was played first. I always thought the Soft Cell cover was the original until relatively recently.
The Gloria Jones Northern Soul stomp was first released in 1964. The Soft Cell version followed seventeen years later.
It’s not a major lapse of time in the chronology of popular music. But they sound worlds apart. One is huff and puff Northern Soul, the other is the future.
SHOUT OUT to erm, Ed Cobb who originally wrote the song. Plus Glenn Campbell weirdly plays guitar on the Gloria Jones version.
I found the original to be lacking in any hook. That synth double beat riff which defines the Soft Cell version is so underplayed. The song is pretty much over before it’s started.
Soft Cell meanwhile is a youth club classic for me. The highlight of each month for me was dancing away to the 12" at the youth club disco as Tainted Love morphs into Where Did I Love Go?
It’s a killer drop, especially the segue, which still has me dancing more than four decades later.
The reason for Elms selecting Tainted Love was of course the passing of Dave Ball. His production and synth arrangement here is magical. It sounds like seedy Soho of the time.
As soon as the opening seconds of the synth whip kick in, you know you’re there.
No surprises that Soft Cell won.