Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of synth-pop.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an significant aspect of my life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they attained a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with electronic instruments after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional high-charting hits: 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
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford newfound drugs to alleviate 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."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.
