Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the pair achieved a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a classic of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the innovative electronic act 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, just weeks after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the last two years, after a period of health issues.
"I managed to damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and cracked about multiple ribs and fractured my wrist."
Following contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and stayed in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and so happy with the latest project that we literally finished only a few days ago," stated the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond referred to his collaborator 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.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I wouldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Being in a partnership with someone is different from being in a band, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We experienced so many remarkable, extraordinary, life-affirming moments together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a one-parent family in the city of Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Fuelled 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 combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk perform on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling single of 1981, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and Ultravox, it helped cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further top five 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.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my first home, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth allowed we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve 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."
During the hedonistic lifestyle, the duo were also drifting apart, but they succeeded to create a second memorable record - the wayward, tense and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate 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 formed The Grid, who mixed acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following another hiatus, they returned in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was supposed to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
Yet, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 restrictions.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they frequented while recording their first two albums.
He noted that his time in hospital had shaped the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the sounds in my mind from those days.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were completed only days before Ball died. It is due for release in the spring of 2026.
