Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their first record their initial full-length release is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
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 stated in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
After catching a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and remained in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and so happy with the new album that we actually finished only a few days ago," said the singer in a heartfelt message.
"It's so sad as next year was completely planned to be such an positive year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he listened to the finished record and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", 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 significant part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a duo with someone is distinct from joining a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was given up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to his adopted name, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the same year, and promptly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they attained a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television program a popular series, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The track was also included on their first album, their initial LP, which produced two further high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its upsides. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently shared with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford substances to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to create a second classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful individual path, including the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a final performance at the large venue on September 30, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the noises in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
