Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing 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 previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described 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 significant part of my existence and for the music you gave me. I wouldn'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 duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of copies globally. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" 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 works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 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, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc 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.
