Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling millions of units globally. Together with hits by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, 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, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, 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 30 September, that year.
Yet, they remained active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
