Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence 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".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments as a team. 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 the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, 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 large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
