Dave Ball, one half of the innovative 1980s synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with vocalist Marc Almond, the team scored a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' the classic track Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album their initial full-length release is considered a seminal work of electronic music.
He subsequently founded the pioneering electronic act The Grid, who secured chart success with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his home in London on October 22, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in the Thames-side town.
Health Struggles
At that show, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured lower vertebrae in my spine and cracked about multiple ribs and broke my wrist."
After catching pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is set for release next year.
"He was focused and so happy with the latest project that we actually finished only a short time ago," said the vocalist in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I find comfort from the knowledge that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm extremely pleased of our legacy.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense aspect of my life and for the songs you created with me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
Richard Norris from The Grid, shared his condolences, remembering Ball's "constant humor" and "steadfast support".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from being in a group, the connection is incredibly close," he continued.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable experiences together. Thank you, Dave."
Formative Years
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 grew up in Blackpool with adoptive parents his caregivers, who altered his first name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister his sister, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both studying art. Fuelled by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they established Soft Cell the very year, and quickly produced an extended play.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an unusual pairing: Ball was the reserved technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all sparkle and eye-liner; but they achieved a unique musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after viewing the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million copies globally. Together with successful tracks by other artists, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to paved 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 spawned two additional high-charting singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the record up with the separate release, Torch, which reached at the second position in 1982.
Career Highlights
Success had its benefits. "I enjoyed being able to afford my initial property, having money and exploring, which might seem like a Miss World," Ball not long ago shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches allowed we could purchase substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and TV performances, Ball said.
"I realize that's a common saying, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it works for so many musicians."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they managed to create a second memorable record - the unconventional, edgy and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They put out another album, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on individual endeavors.
Almond went on to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who combined acid house with ambient pop over a long-lasting partnership.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, releasing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another break, 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 final performance at the large venue on September 30, 2018.
However, they stayed active, creating their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the duo's new album as a tribute to the New York club scene they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his period in hospital had influenced the group's music.
"I had unusual memories 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 that time.
"In parallel, it's about the times we got up to in the 80s."
The last versions were finished only a short time before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in the spring of 2026.
