Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He subsequently founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his sleep at his residence 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
At that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate 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 immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a duo with someone is different from being in a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences 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 put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"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 hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring 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 long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another break, they returned in recent years, 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 O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized 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 influenced the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
