Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "an exceptionally talented creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with 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".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. 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 a year and a half old.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the 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.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
