"Panic / Tainted Love" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Coil | ||||
from the album Scatology | ||||
A-side |
| |||
B-side | "Tainted Love" | |||
Released | 1985 | |||
Genre | Industrial | |||
Label | Some Bizzare | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Coil singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Tainted Love" on YouTube |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
"Panic" and "Tainted Love" are songs recorded by British experimental music band Coil. These were released in 1985 through Some Bizzare in the UK and Wax Trax! Records in the US respectively, as the band's first [2] [3] single, [lower-alpha 1] and the sole one from their 1984 debut studio album, Scatology . [7] [8] Originally released on twelve-inch vinyl discs, the single was regarded as the first AIDS benefit release, and has been reissued several times on compact discs.
"Panic", co-written and co-produced by the band with JG Thirlwell, is the second track on Scatology, and explores the theme of an initiatory approach to experience, as well as the using of fear; its remixed version is featured on the single's A-side. [lower-alpha 2] "Tainted Love", originally written by Ed Cobb and popularly known after its recording by new wave duo Soft Cell, was included as the B-side, [lower-alpha 2] having been drastically re-arranged to reflect HIV/AIDS epidemic, emerged in the early 1980s. The music video for "Tainted Love", directed by the band's member Peter Christopherson and featuring Marc Almond, has caused a minor controversy during its release, and has been purchased by the Museum of Modern Art.
"Panic" was written by John Balance, Peter Christopherson, and J. G. Thirlwell. [11] It is four minutes and twenty-one seconds long, and is the second track on both vinyl and compact disc versions of Scatology. [12] Musically, the song contains use of guitar feedback, rhythmic drum machine parts and Balance's "feral" vocal styling. [13] The song ends with a vocal outro chanting, "The only thing to fear is fear itself". [11] [lower-alpha 3]
The liner notes of Scatology feature an extended commentary on the song, allegedly written by John Balance. [13] According to Balance, "Panic" is intended to be "about the deliberate nurture of states of mind usually regarded as dangerous and insane," and is also about "using a fear as a key [...] to crystallize and inspire." [11] [14] Balance also writes about a so-called "murder in reverse" that means "performing [...] psychic surgery - in order to restore the whole being." Liner notes for the single feature the similar text, [15] and so does A Coil Magazine which was published in 1987. [16] [17] A Coil Magazine editors John Sanders and Mike Gaffney interpreted the song's lyrics as a hymn to Pan as an incarnate of liberating aspect of chaos. [16] David Keenan gives a same statement, adding that the song deals with theme of initiatory approach to experience which was concurrent theme throughout later Coil's work. [17]
The A-side of the single features a remixed version of the song, extended to last approximately seven and a half minutes. [18] The remix features Marc Almond's band bassist Bill McGee playing on double bass, [15] [1] and is being preceded by "Aqua Regis", an instrumental track which was said to be "a restructured version" of "Panic". [19] Dubbed "the Dionysian remix" in the liner notes of Unnatural History III , it was described as a "curious and somewhat clumsy consctruction" since it was edited on the digital 3⁄4-inch video system. [3] [20]
A cover version of Ed Cobb's song "Tainted Love", which was originally recorded by American singer Gloria Jones and became popular after being recorded by British band Soft Cell, was included on the single's B-side. [21] Referred to by the band as "desecratory but sensitive," [5] it became widely viewed by commentators, as well as the band's members, as a reflection on then-emerged HIV/AIDS epidemic. [22] In the 1992 interview, Christopherson said that "Tainted Love" was "one of the first records that was supposed to have a moral as well as an entertaining aspect". [23]
An arrangement for Coil's version of "Tainted Love" was heavily changed in contrary to Soft Cell's version, slowed down to the point when it gives a terrifying impression. [24] [25] Beside from synthesizer and percussion parts, Balance sings in a capella approach, giving one of his "most harrowing vocal performances". [26] Remembering Christopherson upon his death in 2010, Thirlwell said this appoarch to be to an improvisation which came about during the recording: feeling that Balance's vocals were too "deadpan", Thirlwell asked Christopherson to go into the vocal booth with Balance and wrench the latter's arm behind his back, and pull on it, "to put a bit of pain into the performance." [27]
In the November 2005 issue of The Wire , Coil's version of "Tainted Love" was featured in the "Remake Remodel" list of renowned cover songs; in the entry, author Keith Moliné deemed it a superior version to the 2001 performance by Marilyn Manson. [28] : 48 In 2017, "Tainted Love" was given an entry in the Treble webzine's "10 Creepy Cover Songs" list; [29] the year later, it was ranked at number 99 in the same publication's "The Top 100 Cover Songs" list. [30]
The "Panic/Tainted Love" single was initially released in April–May 1985, shortly after the release of Scatology, by Force & Form and K.422. [31] [6] In the United States, the single was licensed by Wax Trax! Records; [1] [32] [33] it was reissued in 1990 on CD by Wax Trax!, and later in 1994 by TVT Records. [34] An extended edition of single was issued in 2015 as part of the Threshold Archives series. [35] The single's first pressing featured a textured sleeve, with the first 1000 copies also being produced on red vinyl; some copies included an A4 insert with an advert for the single and Scatology on one side, and a listing of other Some Bizzare releases on the other. [34] The artwork for the single was designed by artist Eddie Cairns, who was said to be the band's friend, and later died from AIDS-related disease. [36]
Profits from the single's sales were reportedly successful, [37] and had been donated via the Terrence Higgins Trust for the AIDS research, as it was announced in the single's liner notes; [38] [5] [39] [40] [41] since then, it is regarded as the first AIDS benefit music release. [lower-alpha 4]
"Aqua Regis" and "Tainted Love" were included on compact disc versions of Scatology released in 1988 and 2001. The single version of "Panic" is in a 1997 compilation Unnatural History III , while the album version is featured on compilation albums A Guide for Finishers: Golden Hair and The Golden Hare with a Voice of Silver . [44]
The music video for "Tainted Love" was directed by Peter Christopherson with an £8.000 advance, [45] and was aired around same time the single was released. The video features Balance, portrayed as an AIDS victim in his last days, and Christopherson as a hospital orderly. [32] At one point, Marc Almond appears as a leather-clad hospital visitor, viewed by some commentators as representing the angel of death. [46] [32]
In August 1985, the video was featured on an exhibition held by the Museum of Modern Art, [47] and was later purchased into the latter collection, [48] [49] of which the band was said to be proud. [45] In 1994, the video was featured on a Wax Trax! video compilation, Black Box: Retrospective, Vol. 2. [50]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Aqua Regis" | 2:27 |
2. | "Panic" | 7:31 |
3. | "Tainted Love" | 5:52 |
Total length: | 15:50 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Aqua Regis" | 2:25 |
2. | "Panic" | 7:38 |
3. | "Tainted Love" | 5:52 |
Total length: | 15:58 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Aqua Regis" | 2:28 |
2. | "Panic" (Extended Remix) | 7:39 |
3. | "Tainted Love" | 5:55 |
4. | "Restless Day" | 4:48 |
5. | "Untitled" | 0:27 |
6. | "Neither His Nor Yours" | 2:53 |
7. | "Panic" (Alt Mix 1 - Cello) | 4:11 |
8. | "Panic" (Alt Mix 2 - Guitar) | 4:22 |
9. | "Tiny Birds" | 3:46 |
10. | "Circles of Mania" | 3:08 |
11. | "Untitled" | 4:26 |
12. | "Ice" | 5:40 |
13. | "Tainted Love" (Sleazy Vocal) | 6:33 |
Total length: | 56:16 |
Charts (1985) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Indie Chart [52] [53] | 5 |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 1985 | Force & Form | LP | FFK 5.12 |
United States | Wax Trax! Records | WAX 013 | ||
1990 | CD | WAXCD 013 | ||
1994 | TVT Records | TVT 7013 | ||
2015 | Threshold Archives | T-ARCH 005CD |
Coil were an English experimental music group formed in 1982 in London and dissolved in 2005. Initially envisioned as a solo project by musician John Balance, Coil evolved into a full-time project with the addition of his partner and Psychic TV bandmate Peter Christopherson, formerly of pioneering industrial music group Throbbing Gristle. Coil's work explored themes related to the occult, sexuality, alchemy, and drugs while influencing genres such as gothic rock, neofolk and dark ambient. AllMusic called the group "one of the most beloved, mythologized groups to emerge from the British post-industrial scene."
Peter Martin Christopherson was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis.
Geoffrey Nigel Laurence Rushton, better known under the pseudonyms John Balance or the later variation Jhonn Balance, was an English musician, occultist, artist and poet.
Time Machines is a 1998 studio album by English experimental group Coil, originally released under the one-off project alias Time Machines. The album was created under the premise of psychedelic drone pieces named after corresponding hallucinogenic drugs, "tested and retested" during the album's studio sessions for apparent narcotic potency. Main member John Balance also described the album as an attempt to create "temporal slips".
Scatology is the debut studio album by English experimental music group Coil. It was recorded at various studios in London during 1984 and produced by the band along with JG Thirlwell; the album features a prominent appearance of Stephen Thrower, who subsequently became Coil's official member since their next studio album, Horse Rotorvator. Despite its title, the album focuses on alchemy, mainly an idea of turning base matter into gold. The record contains a wide array of cultural references, including personnel such as Marquis de Sade, Alfred Jarry, Salvador Dalí, Charles Manson, and others.
The Snow is a track by the British group Coil, available on the album Love's Secret Domain and also released as a 12" vinyl, cassette and CD EP.
Unnatural History is a compilation album produced by Coil, including tracks that originally appeared on various compilations and limited edition releases along with some previously unreleased material. The compilation contains material from 1983–1986, but was only released in 1990. It would become the first in a series of compilation albums with the releases of Unnatural History II and Unnatural History III.
"Windowpane" is a song by British experimental band Coil, from their third studio album, Love's Secret Domain.
Love's Secret Domain is the third studio album by the British experimental band Coil, released in 1991. The singles released from the album were "Windowpane" and "The Snow". Guest vocalists include Marc Almond on the song "Titan Arch" and Annie Anxiety on the song "Things Happen".
Gold Is the Metal was the third album released by Coil, in the year 1987. It is not a proper follow-up to 1986's Horse Rotorvator, but more a collection of outtakes and demos from the Scatology, Horse Rotorvator and Hellraiser soundtrack sessions. Some obviously correspond to earlier and later released material, while others do not appear anywhere else. "The Last Rites of Spring" includes a sample by Stravinsky, also used extensively in "The Anal Staircase".
Unnatural History II is the second in the Unnatural History series of compilation albums by Coil. Unlike the compilations Stolen & Contaminated Songs and Gold Is the Metal with the Broadest Shoulders, the Unnatural History albums collect songs from more than one era of Coil's work.
Unnatural History III, subtitled Joyful Participation in the Sorrows of the World, is the third and final release in the Unnatural History series of compilation albums by British experimental band Coil. Unlike the compilations Stolen & Contaminated Songs and Gold Is the Metal with the Broadest Shoulders, the Unnatural History albums collect songs from more than one era of Coil's work.
How to Destroy Angels is the debut extended play by British experimental band Coil. At this point, the group consisted only of John Balance and Peter Christopherson. It was originally released in 1984 on L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords, but was later re-pressed in 1988.
The Ape of Naples is the final studio album by English experimental group Coil. It was released on 2 December 2005 in the UK and Thailand by Threshold House, and has subsequently been reissued by multiple labels since. The album was a definitive effort by primary Coil member Peter Christopherson to rework and remix material from 1993 to 2004 into a coherent final record. It was produced and released following the death of co-lead artist and lead vocalist John Balance, who died on 13 November 2004, and the album was released in memory of him.
A Guide for Finishers: Golden Hair was the second of two CD compilations released to mark Coil's first performance in Russia. It is a collection of their industrial music style works. The titles were devised by the Russian musician and Coil collaborator Ivan Pavlov.
Live One was a double live album released by Coil. This CD was the fourth of four releases in a series. Its counterparts are Live Four, Live Three and Live Two. This album was later released as part of Coil's box set The Key to Joy Is Disobedience.
Nightmare Culture is a 12" split vinyl EP by Current 93 and Sickness of Snakes, which was John Balance and Peter Christopherson from Coil and Boyd Rice.
Discography for the experimental music group Coil and their aliases.
Live in Porto is the "authorised bootleg" of a live performance by Coil, which took place on 21 June 2003 at the Casa da Música Festival, Porto, Portugal. At this show, Coil were Peter Christopherson, Thighpaulsandra and Ossian Brown. Jhonn Balance was too sick to attend, as in case of Montreal concert at MUTEK Festival.
Astral Disaster is a studio album by Coil, originally released in January 1999 on Acme/Prescription, reissued in 2000 on Threshold House, and then reissued in 2017 through Acme/Prescription.
April sees the release of a 12" -a de-structured version of Panic, coupled with a short track called "Aqua Regis" and our desecratory but sensitive (!) version of "Tainted Love". A new slant is given to this title since all profits from this EP are being donated to AIDS counciling via the Terrence Higgins Trust.
[...] The Panic 12" here, we were using video recording techniques and we had never done it before and the guy working in the studio certainly had never done it before. We were editing sound digitally with videos and we had never done it before, but it's okay because we did it then.
When we came to record their version of "Tainted Love," I felt Geff's vocal was too deadpan. I asked Sleazy to go into the vocal booth with him and wrench his arm behind his back, and pull on it now and then, to put a bit of pain into the performance. They liked this idea and it improved the vocal immensely.
Coil's cover of Soft Cell's cover of Gloria Jones's 'Tainted Love' is a prime example. The first ever AIDS benefit release, the track was far too slow for any approach to dancing not rooted in comedy. But the video provided more than enough spectacle to compensate. Directed by Coil founder and Throbbing Gristle alumnus Peter Christopherson, it features Coil's John Balance, first as an AIDS victim in the final weeks of his life, then as a dead person being wheeled around by Christopherson, who was dressed as a hospital orderly. (Soft Cell veteran Marc Almond's brief cameo as a smirking hospital visitor marks the only appearance of another human.) The video's marriage of artful surreality and gut-wrenching realism helped make it the Museum of Modern Art's first music video acquisition.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link)[...] Despite a successful AIDS fundraising effort with the Tainted Love EP and video, the duo were left to cope with the fact that friends and associates were continuing to die.
Our 12 single of 'Tainted Love' was the first record release ever to benefit AIDS charities. We would like to dedicate this release to all those suffering from HIV related illnesses, to their friends and families, and most of all, to those people who continue to care for them
[...] 'Tainted Love,' 1985, directed by the Coil, music by the Coil.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link){{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)