Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we actually completed 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 take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "an exceptionally talented musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his given name from Paul to David, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to marry moody electronic sounds to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular single of 1981, selling 21 million units globally. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued 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 travelling, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches meant we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a homage to the New York club scene they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories 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.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 80s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
