Soft Cell

As an English synth-pop act with a theatrical image and sexually provocative lyrics, Soft Cell made for unlikely chart-toppers even by the permissive standards of '80s New Wave. Nevertheless, singer Marc Almond and multi-instrumentalist Dave Ball scored one of the era's definitive hits with their sultry 1981 version of "Tainted Love," originally a 1965 single by Gloria Jones, which was a favorite of Northern soul DJs in the UK. Though the song was Soft Cell's only international smash, "Tainted Love" was part of a remarkable string of hits in the group's home country, with Almond imbuing the passion and poignance of originals like "Bedsitter" and "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (from 1981’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret) with both a keen intelligence and a queer sensibility. Though the pressures of fame and success prompted the end of the partnership in 1984, Almond and Bell reunited in 2018 to begin a new chapter that included 2022's Happiness Not Included, an album that boasted much of their earlier music's slyness and panache.