Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album 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 heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units globally. Together with 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 included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting hits: 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.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
