Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks 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 mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking 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 finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator 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 immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first 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 1977, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit 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, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
