Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, 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 a year and a half of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo 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 album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
