Marc Almond continues to rake in royalties for ‘Tainted Love’.
Synthpop duo Soft Cell – which sees singer Marc joined by instrumentalist David Ball – released their version of the timeless classic in 1981, and more than four decades later, it’s still making a packet and has now gained further popularity thanks to the powers of TikTok.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror about its enduring success, Marc said: “It’s had this life for the last 40 years or so, and it’s still finding its way into movies, adverts, TV shows. People use it and sample it – it still goes on and on.
“When the TikTok thing happened I was made up, it went all over the place and brought a new audience in. Every week we get a request to have it in a different show or film, it’s great it’s still out there and having a life of its own.”
On the royalties, he added: “I can’t complain, it’s great. I’m just waiting for Rihanna’s Greatest Hits and I really hope ‘SOS’ is on it because the whole thing is ‘Tainted Love’, and me playing electronic drums on it.”
Gloria Jones was the first one to record the song penned by Ed Cobb in 1965.
‘Tainted Love’ has been covered multiple times by the likes of Marilyn Manson, Coil and Inspiral Carpets.
As well as being heavily sampled on Rihanna’s 2006 hit ‘SOS’, it was also used on the Veronica’s 2007 track ‘Hook Me Up’.
‘Tainted Love’ was the biggest-selling song of 1981 in the UK.
Upon its release 42 years ago, it sold 1.05. million copies, jumping to 1.35 million by August 2017.
The song has also appeared in countless commercials, including for Levi’s and Corsodyl.