Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks 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 last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Many thanks 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."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" 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 went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world 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 was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring 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 enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
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 performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period 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 music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
