The Endless Struggle Behind Soft Cell and Tainted Love
British Electropop came down to four main ingredients: Kraftwerk, “I Feel Love,” David Bowie and Punk.
2020-11-20 19:00:00 - Trash Theory
With the latter it wasn’t so much the sound as the attitude, the DIY idea that anyone can form a band.
While Punk Rock required you to learn how to play guitar chords, with electropop’s synths you only needed one finger to write a song.
Gary Numan with His Tubeway Army were the first punks to gain a UK number one with a synthesizer, but he would not be the last.
One of the most enduring electropop hits was in 1981 by Soft Cell.
Though often painted as a one hit wonder, the duo are so much more, having hits with "Bedsitter", "Torch", "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" and "What!" as well as influencing everything from Pop, Darkwave, Industrial and Dance music in their wake.
This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Tainted Love.”
00:00 | Introduction
01:28 | The Origins of Soft Cell
05:01 | A Brief History of Tainted Love
07:38 | Recording Tainted Love
10:54 | Release of Tainted Love & Everything After
16:15 | The Enduring Influence of Soft Cell