Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection 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 emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the singer 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 knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
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 album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, including 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 enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"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 digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
