Soft Cell - Tainted Love on Pure 80’s

Good question, Aaron. I know I've heard the intro you describe on the radio. Perhaps this is some sort of DJ version? Can anyone confirm this?

jim, as always, great info.....how do you remember all the details.....keep em comin!!!

Aaron, you are correct in that the "Pure 80's" cd does not contain what I am calling the 45 version of Tainted Love. I have two dj vinyl 45's of this song, one is Sire 49855 which runs (2:38), does not contain "Where Did Our Love Go" and is the version listed in Billboard magazine as the hit version. The other version is the medley, Sire PRO-1028 which runs (3:58) and from what I can tell is a promo only release.

jimct wrote: I'm just stating the actual facts and the actual reasons for its ultimate success. No matter what Billboard/Whitburn had to list then, or states, either then or now, the medley was the coast-to-coast airplay hit.

I always knew that the reason for "Tainted Love"'s
longevity on the "Hot 100" was because it had made two
trips up the chart, but thanks for filling in all of the
additional details, jimct. (It had fallen off just a few
months before I first started buying "Billboard" weekly
in May of '83.) If Paul Haney is reading, it certainly
sounds to me like this info about the two different runs
is worth adding to the song's footnote in the next
edition of Whitburn's "Top Pop Singles", if not the new
soon-to-be-published 7th edition of the "Pop Annual" as
well, where they list only the shorter "2:38" timing.
(I'm thinking something like, "First xx weeks song
charted by itself, peaking at #xx on xx/xx/82, last xx
weeks when re-serviced to radio as a medley w/ 'Where Did
Our Love Go,'" even if it wasn't PUBLISHED as a medley on
the chart by "Billboard" at the
time.)

Paul: I very much appreciate your feedback here. I respect your opinion very much, and your reasoning is based on firm logic and solid thinking (which I regrettably don't always find to be the case for "hot-button" issues on this Board.) I was the MD at the station by '83, and was the #2 man in '82, when "Tainted Love" hit. Dave Sholin is certainly someone I know of and respect. I was neck-deep in dissecting trades in '82, and although we did receive and report to Gavin at the time, I recall us giving FAR more creedence to R&R, Hitmakers and Kal Rudman's FMQB at that time, as to "buzz" and version situations. Remember that radio isn't always extremely "anxious" to publicize/divulge which versions of hit songs they play - even to the point of being "secretive." If our local competitors played the short version, we thought that was to OUR benefit - that they were "missing the boat." Radio is ALWAYS looking for a local "competitive advantage" here. Us telling Dave Sholin about playing the medley could endanger that - if he asked us about it, point blank, we'd probably try to change the subject! After all, our local competitors subscribe to Gavin, too! And, certain trade mags are much more "in bed" with certain labels - so we looked at 8-10 of them weekly, developed a "higher credibility" for some, based on our past experience, and drew a consensus. Citing any single trade mag, as to ANY record, was something we considered "dangerous" back then, and probably still would be today, even with Gavin being, as you say, "Airplay-only". Paul, that was the NORM back then. 90%+ of the "industry trades" we used back then were "Airplay-only." We didn't look to them for sales info - we'd do our own call-out for local sales; and the local label reps would often, and LOUDLY recite their sales figures to us, if they thought it would help their record's case for airplay. I duly acknowledge that KDWB was a huge station, Paul. Perhaps they "dayparted." During AM/PM drive, they'd play the short version, and switch over to the longer one after 6PM, when there were less commercials and younger listeners. Depending on when you were listening, maybe this got past you, even bring the big music fan you are. I'm not sure - just a thought. Almost all Top 40 stations did that, ALL the time. We even had THREE different version lengths for some songs, and we were only a P2 ("medium") market, here in CT. I imagine KDWB was even MORE dayparted, being a P1 ("large") market. Paul, I can only conclude that by having Billboard SPECIFICALLY list the medley on the year-end Top 100, it was finally "admitting" what the "real truth" was here, when it was all said and done for "Tainted Love", without the "shackles" of weekly Hot 100 commercial availability parameters. I only know of TWO 80's songs NOT released as a "current" commercial 45, but had its "definitive" version, almost immediately, put out as an "oldies, reprint" 45. They were "Into The Groove" and "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go." Sire, those troublemakers! :) If Sire agreed with you, Paul, why did they opt for this rather "unusual" step? Because the court of public opinion had spoken, IMHO. I concur -let's "agree to disagree." I can only say that I was "in radio, and in the trenches" at the time. For example, if you REALLY wanna know what Vietnam was like, there's nothing like asking someone who personally fought there, no? Thanks again for your respected take here, Paul.