Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album 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 short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the music you gave 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 "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
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 grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show a popular series, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five hits: 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 exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful 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 ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
