Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single 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 music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"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 completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life 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, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," 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 times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
