Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit 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 electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
