Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team 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 later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep 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 appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
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. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, tense 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 concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded 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 combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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 large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
