Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit 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 classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," said 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 find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world 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 of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League 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 hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring 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 collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
