It's a song that has had dozens of lives and dozens of covers, but until Bilal did his version recently on Billboard's Mashup Mondays, I had never thought of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as a jazzy R&B jam, a song that would allow for vamping and vocal histrionics. But if anyone can pull of a version like that, it's Bilal, who breathes new life into the song here. In some ways it's like the first time I've heard it. Except for those "ohh ohhs," there isn't much in common with the original. Great stuff. [Billboard]
