Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the warmer months, as he was developing a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant 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, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Alongside hits by Gary Numan, 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 full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché 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 produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving 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 combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
