For most people that know the song titles "Tainted Love," "I Want Candy" and "Venus," they likely bring to mind, respectively: the new-wave synth bleeps of Soft Cell, that pubescent mohawked girl singer from Bow Wow Wow, and the three overly-moussed chicks from Bananarama. But when it comes to these songs I now think about Gloria Jones alongside Soft Cell, The Strangeloves with Bow Wow Wow, and The Shocking Blue with Bananarama. That’s because these lesser-known names were the original artists to perform these songs, each doing it in the mid- to late-’60s — almost a generation before the much more recognized early-MTV-era bands that followed.
"Tainted Love" was first a fast, pumpin’ soul song performed with no blasphemous electronics anywhere in sight; "I Want Candy" and "Venus" were both initially done as pop songs like their later covers would be, but "Candy" originally had male vocals over its galloping drum beats, and "Venus" first featured a female vocal more dark and sultry than the light and sweet Bananarama vocals.
When I’m at an event, and I’m spinning music in a genre that it can go nicely with, it’s really fun to slip in a few of these "uncovered" tunes — they’re totally familiar yet totally unfamiliar, giving you a chance to both please the crowd and be a bit esoteric. And as a bonus, it’s a surefire way to get people to come up and ask, confused but intrigued, who the heck this is doing this song? It’s a win-win situation: I’m able to educate someone about great songs that I think deserve more attention (especially Gloria Jones’ "Tainted Love"), and they’re able to go back and impress their friends with a little music snobbery.
May 2, 2008
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