Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad 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 finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
