Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to 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 a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set 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 masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from joining a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned 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 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to relieve the monotony" 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 party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
