Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a global success with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who secured popular acclaim with 1994's 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 headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival 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 period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished 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 heard the finished record and believed that it was a masterpiece."
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 legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an significant aspect of my existence and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is distinct from being in a group, the connection is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from Paul to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both learning art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to combine moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, shifting 21 million copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, 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 peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its upsides. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which might seem like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford substances to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, 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 managed to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded 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 ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the Top 40 record Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further break, they returned in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
Yet, they remained together, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He added that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in Spring 2026.
