Dave Ball, one half of the groundbreaking 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the pair scored a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is considered a seminal work of synth-pop.
He subsequently formed the innovative techno group The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully 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
During that performance, Ball performed in a mobility chair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I managed to injure myself significantly," he stated in a recent interview. "I broke lower vertebrae in my spine and fractured about multiple ribs and fractured my arm."
Following catching a lung infection and suffering from blood poisoning, he was placed in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we literally 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 uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the completed album and believed that it was a masterpiece."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", stating: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a group, the bond is very tight," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many extraordinary, extraordinary, memorable experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Brought into the world 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 grew up in the seaside town with adoptive parents his caregivers, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The duo were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a charismatic performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk perform on a television program a popular series, and started to marry dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting 21 million copies globally. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it helped paved the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also featured on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which produced two additional top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the record up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at the second position in the following year.
Career Highlights
Success had its upsides. "I enjoyed being able to purchase my initial property, having financial security and travelling, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Newfound wealth meant we could purchase newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of media interviews and television shows, Ball said.
"I realize that's a cliché, but it's a truism for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the hedonistic lifestyle, the pair were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a second classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond proceeded to have a successful solo career, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with melodic sounds over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, producing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, they returned in recent years, issuing the original singles Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
Ball lately characterized the duo's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their initial records.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was in and out of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he told a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the noises in my head from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences me and Marc got up to in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is due for launch in the spring of 2026.
