Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we actually completed 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 fact that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described 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 legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, life-affirming experiences together. Thank you, 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 old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Together with hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago shared with a publication.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic restrictions.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their initial records.
He added that his period in hospital 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 music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
