Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version 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 later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist 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 heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital 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 explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
