Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting 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 musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling millions of units worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: 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 benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" 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 applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded 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 combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they remained active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told 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 had in the 80s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
