Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "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 gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo 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 remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put 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 altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional 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 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the new tracks 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, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
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 explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
