Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Recent Health Challenges
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a period of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"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 fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the music you created with 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 duo with someone is different from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable moments as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a one-parent family 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 first name from Paul to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk perform on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started 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 millions of units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a good reason, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in 2018, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a publication.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
