Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the duo scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently formed the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his sleep at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a period of ill-health.
"I managed to damage myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my back and cracked about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and developing sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in the hospital for seven months.
Nevertheless, he had been in "a great place mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a fresh record with Almond, called Danceteria, which is set for publication 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 tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was completely planned to be such an uplifting time for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described 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 life and for the music you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is incredibly close," he continued.
"That was the case with us. We went through so many extraordinary, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half old.
He was raised in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his given name from his birth name to David, together with his younger sister his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in the late 70s, where they were both learning fine arts. Fuelled by a shared love of a music genre, they established Soft Cell the very year, and promptly produced an extended play.
Musical Partnership
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a charismatic showman, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC program Tomorrow's World, and began to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of 1981, shifting millions of copies worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the path for the electronic music style of the 80s.
The song was also featured on their first album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently told with a publication.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the duo were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a second classic album - the unconventional, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
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 long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
Following a further hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was supposed to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on September 30, that year.
However, they remained together, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He noted that his period in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had unusual memories when I was in and out of hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 80s."
The final mixes were completed only a short time before Ball died. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
