Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, 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 significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" 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 works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
