Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put 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, called Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an positive time for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "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 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 "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is very tight," he added.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both studying fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with hits by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The song was also included on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the top 10 hit Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined dance music with melodic sounds over a long-lasting collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, 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 large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I had 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 digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
