Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative 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 residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called 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," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"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 fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
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 legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
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 formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named 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 other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences 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.
