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 favourite 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 2020 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.