Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
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 legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming moments together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
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 old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, 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 meant we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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 O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
