Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo 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' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly 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 Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually 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 positive year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant part of my existence and for the songs you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who altered his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting 21 million units globally. Alongside hits by other artists, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at the second position in the following year.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring partnership.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period 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 publication.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
