Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved 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 additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
