Soft Cell - Tainted Love on Pure 80’s

Pat is exactly right. I just heard the LP version for the first time in a long time, and it's not the same as the Pure 80's version. To be honest, I hadn't listened to the Pure 80's version in a long time either. The Pure 80's version also fades out and doesn't end with just the "cha cha cha" sound. I got confused earlier. Must be old age setting in. (I'll be 30 soon.)

Edited by aaronk

Just revisiting this song, and plenty of confusion here. I found three different mixes of the song, all of which use the same vocal take (not the '91 rerecording from Memorabilia).

First, I dug out the commercial 45 (the RE-1 from the above scan). It has a printed time of 2:38, an actual run time of 2:39, and runs 144.8-144.6 BPM (from beginning to end).

It appears that the true commercial 45 version didn't appear on CD until 1994 (!), unless I'm missing something. I found it on these:

• Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough Vol. 4 (1994)
• Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties - 1982 (1994; differently EQ'd digital clone of above Rhino CD)
• Time-Life's Modern Rock - Dance (1999; differently EQ'd digital clone of above Rhino CD
• Rhino's Like Omigod box
• Rhino's Millennium '80s New Wave Party (1999; differently EQ'd digital clone of above Rhino CD with extra compression? I don't really like the sound on this CD)
• Razor & Tie's Awesome '80s (1994)
• an Icelandic 2-CD set on Skifan Records called Pottpett '80s (2001)
• a 4-CD set from Germany on Dominion Records called Disco Fever (1993; sound not so good on anything on this set; I don't consider this a proper release)

Unless noted, the sound is pretty good on all of the above CDs.

I noticed that there are a few more drumbeats at the beginning of the commercial 45, compared with the medley version, so one can't be faded early to get the other. Both can be edited down from the 12", though. (Editing instructions are in an earlier post.)

Next, I found that the Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret LP version is a slightly different mix than the 45. It starts where the medley version starts (no extra drumbeats at the intro like the commercial 45 version). The mix is a little more exaggerated, with lots of reverb, and the synth accents and the vocals being pushed way out in front. It runs only 2:33. The easiest way to spot this mix is the ending - after a slight fade, it ends completely cold with a drum fill at 2:33.

I have this LP mix on:

• Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (Polygram Special Markets PEG006, no release date but this is the version with 18 tracks)
• Columbia Germany's Pop & Wave Vol. 1 (2-CD set, 1992)

Finally, there's the mix that was brought up on the original post. I have no idea where this mix originated, unfortunately. It begins with two single-note synth hits, then a little silence, then a snare drum-like fill, then the rest of the instrumentation comes in on the downbeat at 0:04. There's no reverb on anything - listen to the first 10 seconds or so and it sounds WAY too dry. It's also a little slower than the true 45, running at 143.3-143.2 BPM (beginning to end). The fade begins before the 45 fade, and extends beyond the end of the 45 fade. Hmm. This odd mix turned up on:

• Priority's Rock Of The 80's Vol. 2 (1992)
• UK's Now 1981 - The Millennium Series (1999; sounds a little better than the Priority CD)

I'm assuming that this is the still-unidentified mix mentioned above.

Muddying the waters even more is a rerecording from scratch for the Memorabilia CD from 1991. It's a brand new vocal take, so you can tell the difference pretty easily.

The U.S. promo 45 lists a 4:10 "edit" of "Where Did Your
Love Go" on the B-side. Is this an exclusive edit of the
12" medley, running 4:10? Or, is it a misprint and actually
the 3:10 original version of "Where Did Our Love Go"?

Thank you, John, for the response. Sorry for the confusion,
as I am well aware of this 4:01 edit of "Tainted Love/Where
Did Our Love Go" (listed as 3:58 on the promo 45 A-side),
as I have the Eric Records CD. I am actually referring to
the B-side of the promo 45, which is listed just as "Where
Did Our Love Go" (Edit) with a run time of 4:10 (no
"Tainted Love" is listed on this side). See here:

https://www.45cat.com/record/pros1028

Edited by Bellenger1981

Thanks, Aaron. So, in other words, this YouTube video of it
playing is most likely correct:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0shWR62Mu8

Edited by Bellenger1981