Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
At that show, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and remained in the hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a short time ago," stated the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
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.
"Many thanks 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."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second most popular single of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase substances to alleviate the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
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 ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He added that his period in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going 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 that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
