Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born 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 changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, that year.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
