Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away calmly in his sleep at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he commented in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about five ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was put in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called 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," 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 knowledge that he heard the completed album and believed that it was a great piece of work."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with 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".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to David, together with his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in 1977, where they were both studying fine arts. Inspired by a shared love of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all sparkle and makeup; but they attained a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with electronic instruments after viewing Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second most popular song of 1981, shifting millions of units globally. Together with hits by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it helped cleared the path for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their first album, their initial LP, which spawned two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in the following year.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my first home, having financial security and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to alleviate the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, 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 party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a follow-up memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more LP, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on 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 mixed dance music with ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, producing the Top 40 album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, releasing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a farewell show at the large venue on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed active, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's new album as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I experienced strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times me and Marc had in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
