Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover 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 innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also included 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 peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed 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 ending the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
