Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop band 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' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking 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 felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on BBC program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of copies globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, 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 managed to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in recent years, 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 September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
