Dave Ball, a key member of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died 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 Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, following a period of ill-health.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching pneumonia and developing blood poisoning, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the new album that we actually completed only a few days ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an positive time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That was the case 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 given up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents Donald and Brenda Ball, 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 an art college in 1977, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and promptly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive pairing: Ball was the quiet musician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after watching Kraftwerk perform on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second most popular single of 1981, shifting 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by other artists, Human League and Ultravox, it helped paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which spawned 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 benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball explained.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up classic album - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in the early 2000s, 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 final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while making their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences me and Marc had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is due for release in Spring 2026.
