Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track 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 pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"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 knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to 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.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting 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 upsides. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews 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 pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks 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, that year.
However, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
