10 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 1980s

Most of the goth stuff permeating the airwaves in the mid '80s wasn't necessarily meant to be played all over the radio. As much drama and gravitas existed in the genre in the era of post punk like Television or early Joy Division, there's no real chance of getting something like this on the charts. And yet, somehow the world couldn't resist this little slice of magic from Soft Cell.

And like every other goth banger that would come after it, the topic of a jilted lover hits that much harder when it's coming out of Marc Almond, having the voice of Robert Smith years before his glory days with the Cure. Compared to the mall goth that we see these days though, Tainted Love is almost horror-influenced in spots, with stuttering beats driving the song along and even warping the classic '60s hit Where Did Our Love Go? on the expanded editions of the song.

Though this Non Stop Erotic Cabaret wasn't going to make it past 1983, time has still been very kind of Soft Cell, from being featured in '80s marathons to this day to even getting some more macabre covers from the likes of Marilyn Manson in the past few years. For as much as spooky pop has diminishing returns, Soft Cell managed to tap into something truly disturbed that still has our spines tingling to this day.