Dave Ball, a key member of the groundbreaking 1980s electronic music duo Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside vocalist Marc Almond, the team achieved a global success with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their first record Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later founded the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's Swamp Thing.
Ball died calmly in his rest at his residence in London on October 22, only a short time after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
At that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I fractured spinal bones in my back and fractured about multiple ribs and broke my arm."
Following contracting a lung infection and developing blood poisoning, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in hospital for half a year.
Nevertheless, he had been in "high spirits mentally" during the summer, as he worked on a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we actually completed only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's truly heartbreaking as next year was all set to be such an positive year for him, and I find comfort from the fact that he heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond referred to 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 significant part of my life and for the music you created with me. I wouldn't be where I am without your influence."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, shared his condolences, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a partnership with someone is distinct 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 together. Many thanks, Dave."
Early Life
Brought into the world into a single-parent household in the city of Chester in 1959, Ball was put up for adoption when he was a year and a half of age.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his given name from Paul to his adopted name, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was also adopted.
He encountered Almond at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977, where they were both learning fine arts. Inspired by a mutual passion of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the quiet technician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant showman, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare musical alchemy.
Ball had cultivated a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on a television science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was composing.
Their signature song became the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling millions of units globally. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the electronic music style of the 1980s.
The song was also included on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two additional top five hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which reached at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to purchase my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball recently told with a music magazine.
But it also caused challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the monotony" of media interviews and TV performances, Ball explained.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it applies for so many musicians."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also drifting apart, but they managed to produce a follow-up classic album - the unconventional, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released one more album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before dissolving the group to focus on other projects.
Almond proceeded to have a prosperous individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball formed The Grid, who mixed dance music with melodic sounds over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell reunited in 2001, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After a further hiatus, they reappeared in 2018, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a final performance at the large venue on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained together, creating their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently described the band's upcoming release as a tribute to the NYC nightlife they visited while making their initial records.
He noted that his period in hospital had shaped the band's sound.
"I experienced unusual memories when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he explained to a publication.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my mind from that time.
"Simultaneously, it's about the experiences we got up to in the 1980s."
The last versions were completed only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
