Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 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 first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with 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".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional 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 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation 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 died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
