Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died 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.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually 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 positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to 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 core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled 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 pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
