Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed 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 fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence 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 "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
