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 team scored 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 innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence 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 appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming 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 few days ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, 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 old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program a popular series, and started to marry 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, selling millions of copies globally. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" 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 musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, 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 large venue on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
