Dave Ball, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.
Together with singer Marc Almond, the duo achieved a worldwide hit with their version of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in 1984, and their debut album their initial full-length release is regarded as a classic of synth-pop.
He later founded the pioneering techno group The Grid, who achieved chart success with 1994's the hit Swamp Thing.
Ball passed away peacefully in his rest at his home in London on October 22, only a short time after playing a headline show with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Health Struggles
During that show, Ball performed in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, following a spate of ill-health.
"I ended up injure myself quite a bit," he commented in a recent interview. "I broke spinal bones in my spine and cracked about five ribs and broke my arm."
After contracting a lung infection and suffering from sepsis, he was put in an medically-induced sleep and remained in hospital for seven months.
However, he had been in "a great place mentally" over the warmer months, as he worked on a new album with Almond, called the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for publication next year.
"He was concentrated and very pleased with the latest project that we actually 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 heard the completed album and felt that it was a masterpiece."
Tributes
Almond described his bandmate as "a wonderfully brilliant creative mastermind", adding: "He was the heart and soul of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our legacy.
"Many thanks Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without your influence."
Richard Norris from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "endless laughter" and "unwavering friendship".
"Being in a duo with someone is distinct from being in a band, the connection is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We experienced so many extraordinary, incredible, life-affirming experiences as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a single-parent household in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months of age.
He was raised in Blackpool with his new family Donald and Brenda Ball, who changed his first name from his birth name to David, together with his sibling his sister, who was also adopted.
He met Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both learning art. Inspired by a mutual passion of Northern Soul, they formed Soft Cell the same year, and quickly produced an EP.
Musical Partnership
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved musician, hunched over his synthesizer, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and eye-liner; but they achieved a rare creative synergy.
Ball had cultivated a fascination with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and began to marry moody electronic sounds to the catchy tunes Almond was writing.
Their signature song became the UK's second biggest-selling single of the early 80s, shifting millions of units worldwide. Together with successful tracks by Gary Numan, contemporary bands and Ultravox, it contributed to cleared the way for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.
The track was also included on their full-length debut, their initial LP, which spawned two further top five singles: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They continued the album up with the separate release, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Career Highlights
Fame had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my initial property, having money and travelling, which makes me sound like a beauty queen," Ball not long ago told with a publication.
But it also presented challenges. "Sudden riches meant we could afford newfound drugs to relieve the boredom" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a valid cause, because it applies for so many bands."
Amidst the party-filled existence, the duo were also growing distant, but they succeeded to produce a follow-up memorable record - the wayward, tense and fittingly named The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another album, their 1984 release This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the band to concentrate on individual endeavors.
Almond went on 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 ambient pop over a long-lasting collaboration.
Later Work and Comebacks
Soft Cell reunited in the early 2000s, releasing the charting album Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they reappeared in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before staging what was intended to be a final performance at the O2 Arena on 30 September, 2018.
However, they remained active, recording their latest project, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball recently characterized the duo's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they frequented while recording their initial records.
He noted that his time in medical care had influenced the group's music.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of the hospital because I was on pain medication," he explained to a music magazine.
"Our latest tracks are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from those days.
"Simultaneously, it's about the times we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for release in the spring of 2026.
