Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place emotionally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," stated the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to 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 body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television program Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared 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 hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded 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 combined acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
