Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence 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 music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further top five hits: 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 loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs 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 works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the band's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
