Tainted Love - Gloria Jones Version (1965)

Gloria Jones Version (1965)

Gloria Jones recorded the original version of "Tainted Love", which was written and produced by Ed Cobb. It was the B-side to the 1965 single "My Bad Boy's Comin' Home", which was a commercial flop, failing to chart in either the US or the UK. Before Jones recorded the song, Cobb had offered it to The Standells, which he managed and produced, but they rejected it.

However, in 1973, British club DJ Richard Searling purchased a copy of the almost decade-old single while on a trip to the United States. The track's Motown-influenced sound (featuring a fast tempo, horns, electric rhythm guitar and female backing vocals) fit in perfectly with the music favoured by those involved in the UK's Northern Soul club scene of the early 1970s, and Searling popularised the song at the Northern Soul club Va Va’s in Bolton, and later, at Wigan Casino.

Due to the newfound underground popularity of the song, Jones re-recorded "Tainted Love" in 1976 and released it as a single, but this version also failed to chart.