Soft Cell is an English synthesizer duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s and come from Leeds, England. They consisted of Marc Almond (vocals) and Dave Ball (synthesizers). Their lyrics often focused on the darker side of life, with subjects such as kinky sex, transvestism, drugs and murder. They had a huge world-wide hit in 1981 with a cover version of "Tainted Love", a northern soul classic originally sung in 1964 by Gloria Jones (the wife of Marc Bolan).