Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in 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 Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed 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 truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they visited while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
