Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following 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 mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence 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 created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, 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 of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, releasing 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 stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head 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 passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
