Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
