{"id":72177,"date":"2025-10-23T12:18:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/dave-ball-synth-pop-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66-dave-ball\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T12:18:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:18:25","slug":"dave-ball-synth-pop-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66-dave-ball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/dave-ball-synth-pop-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66-dave-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Ball, synth-pop hitmaker as one half of Soft Cell, dies aged 66 | Dave Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Dave Ball, who as one half of Soft Cell brought dark, cutting-edge synth-pop to the masses, has died aged 66.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Representatives for the musician said he \u201cpassed away peacefully in his sleep at his London home on Wednesday\u201d. No cause of death was given.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">His partner in Soft Cell, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/marc-almond\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Marc Almond<\/a>, paid tribute, writing: \u201cHe was a wonderfully brilliant musical genius \u2026 Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn\u2019t be where I am without you\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Born in Chester in 1959 to a single mother and named Paul, he was adopted and given the name David Ball, and raised in Blackpool alongside an adopted sister, Susan. The resort town rubbed off on Ball who cited its \u201cshowbizzy\u201d side \u2013 \u201cthe funfairs and the craziness\u201d \u2013 as an influence on his music career, as well as his father\u2019s engineering background getting him interested in electronics. He cited hearing Kraftwerk\u2019s Autobahn in 1975 as a \u201cturning point\u201d in his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After his father died of cancer, he left Ball some money which he spent on a guitar, soon trading it in for a synthesiser. He moved to study art at Leeds Polytechnic \u2013 \u201cI was just desperate to get away and start my own life\u201d, he said \u2013 where the first person he met was Almond. \u201cThere was this one guy wandering around with a leopard-skin top, bleached hair and spandex trousers, and I thought, \u2018he\u2019s got to be in the art department, he\u2019s not an accountant\u2019, so I asked him, \u2018do you know where I enrol?\u2019\u201d, Ball later remembered.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"cca880c4-e678-40ae-9a19-8710f1dc61fd\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">\u2018We were a weird couple: Marc, this gay bloke in makeup; and me, a big guy who looked like a minder\u2019 \u2026 Ball (background) and Almond in 2002. <\/span> Photograph: Lex van Rossen\/MAI\/Redferns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">They formed the duo Soft Cell in 1979. The flamboyant frontman Almond was into pop-soul and 60s ballads, while the more reserved Ball had an interest in synths and \u201cmachine music\u201d, as he called it. \u201cWe were a weird couple: Marc, this gay bloke in makeup; and me, a big guy who looked like a minder,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2017\/mar\/20\/how-we-made-tainted-love-mark-almond-dave-ball-interview\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">he told the Guardian in 2017<\/a>, but this seeming disconnect resulted in a dynamic and striking kind of pop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Ball handed a copy of their debut EP to BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel who played it on his show, and the duo were signed to the label Some Bizzare. Their first singles A Man Could Get Lost and Memorabilia flopped, but their next was a sensation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Tainted Love was a cover of a song by American soul singer Gloria Jones, which had never had chart success but had become much-loved on the northern soul scene in the north of England; Almond has said he was influenced by another version, by English singer Ruth Swann. Soft Cell\u2019s 1981 cover version went to No 1 in the UK, and became the second-biggest seller that year after the Human League\u2019s Don\u2019t You Want Me. It also reached No 1 in 16 other countries, and was a US Top 10 hit. The success took Soft Cell by surprise: \u201cWe were living in a dodgy little housing association flat in Leeds and being flown about on Concorde,\u201d Ball said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"8f3179ca-cea4-4966-bac1-2d864190ad45\" data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-a2pvoh\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Marc Almond and Dave Ball in 1983.<\/span> Photograph: Eugene Adebari\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Tainted Love was the first of five UK Top 10 hits in a row, namely Bedsitter; Say Hello, Wave Goodbye; Torch, and What. Their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret went platinum in the UK, despite containing substantially edgier fare than Tainted Love, its lyrics nodding to S&amp;M, pornography and sexual frustration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The follow-up The Art of Falling Apart reached No 5, but the hard-partying duo amicably split in early 1984, and released an underperforming post-breakup album, This Last Night in Sodom. \u201cWe were taking too many dodgy substances and getting into weird nonsense,\u201d said Ball, who had become a father in his early 20s but found drug addiction was \u201ctearing me apart\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After Soft Cell, Ball toyed with short-lived groups Other People, Ornamental and English Boy on the Loveranch, and collaborated with Throbbing Gristle\u2019s Genesis P-Orridge on soundtracks to the films Decoder and Imagining October (the latter directed by Derek Jarman).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He then had a successful and sustained collaboration with musician Richard Norris, as the Grid, formed in 1988. The duo, supplemented by guest musicians, were born out of the acid house era and created pumping rave tracks touched with cosmic psychedelia. By 1993 they had reached the Top 30 in the UK with the singles Crystal Clear and Texas Cowboys. Their next track Swamp Thing \u2013 powered by a high-speed banjo line \u2013 became an international smash and reached No 3 in the UK charts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Norris also paid tribute, writing: \u201cBeing in a duo with someone is different from being in a band: the bond is very tight. That\u2019s how it was with us \u2026 Thanks for the good times, the endless laughter, your unwavering friendship. Most of all, thank you for the music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">During the 1990s Ball also worked as a producer for other artists, including Kylie Minogue, working on tracks for her 1997 album Impossible Princess including the Top 20 single Breathe.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"de8a6073-610b-47ff-ab56-8cdbd7e6e9ad\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-fd61eq\"><span class=\"dcr-1inf02i\"><svg width=\"18\" height=\"13\" viewbox=\"0 0 18 13\"><path d=\"M18 3.5v8l-1.5 1.5h-15l-1.5-1.5v-8l1.5-1.5h3.5l2-2h4l2 2h3.5l1.5 1.5zm-9 7.5c1.9 0 3.5-1.6 3.5-3.5s-1.6-3.5-3.5-3.5-3.5 1.6-3.5 3.5 1.6 3.5 3.5 3.5z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">The duo performing at the O2 Arena, London, in 2018. <\/span> Photograph: Jim Dyson\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Soft Cell reformed in 2000 for live dates, then released a new album Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002; another northern soul cover, of the Four Seasons\u2019 The Night, took them back to the Top 40. Almond said in his tribute: \u201cWhenever we came back together after long periods apart there was always that warmth and chemistry. There was a deep mutual respect that gave our combined songwriting its unique power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">After more than 15 years away, Soft Cell again returned to recording in 2018 with two new songs, and released another album in 2022, Happiness Not Included, which reached No 7 in the UK album chart. It was followed in 2024 by Happiness Now Completed.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"e0eb3cc4-6cac-4774-91fd-793a27e453c1\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\"><gu-island name=\"RichLinkComponent\" priority=\"feature\" deferuntil=\"idle\" props=\"{&quot;richLinkIndex&quot;:19,&quot;element&quot;:{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement&quot;,&quot;prefix&quot;:&quot;Related: &quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Soft Cell: \u2018One day you\u2019re smearing your naked body with cat food, the next you\u2019re at the garden centre\u2019&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;e0eb3cc4-6cac-4774-91fd-793a27e453c1&quot;,&quot;role&quot;:&quot;richLink&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2023\/may\/04\/soft-cell-one-day-youre-smearing-your-naked-body-with-cat-food-the-next-youre-at-the-garden-centre&quot;},&quot;ajaxUrl&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/api.nextgen.guardianapps.co.uk&quot;,&quot;format&quot;:{&quot;design&quot;:0,&quot;display&quot;:0,&quot;theme&quot;:3}}\"\/><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Ball published his memoir Electronic Boy: My Life in and Out of Soft Cell in 2020. He sustained numerous fractures in a fall down some stairs in 2022, and subsequently contracted pneumonia and sepsis, spending seven months in hospital including time in an induced coma.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Almond added that he and Ball had recently completed a new Soft Cell album entitled Danceteria, named after the fabled New York nightclub which they visited at the height of their fame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cDave was in such a great place emotionally,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was focused and so happy with the new album that we completed only a few days ago. It\u2019s so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work. Dave\u2019s music is better than ever. His tunes and hooks are still unmistakably Soft Cell, yet he always took it to the next level, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Also paying tribute was Daniel Miller, founder of Mute records and a music producer, who worked with Soft Cell in their early years. \u201cI was extremely impressed with Dave\u2019s vision and his musicality \u2026 We have lost a true original,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2025\/oct\/23\/dave-ball-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66\">Source link <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dave Ball, who as one half of Soft Cell brought dark, cutting-edge synth-pop to the masses, has died aged 66. Representatives for the musician said he \u201cpassed away peacefully in his sleep at his London home on Wednesday\u201d. No cause of death was given. His partner in Soft Cell, Marc Almond, paid tribute, writing: \u201cHe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow2JLhCw:productID":"","_gspb_post_css":"","maa_idioma":"","maa_pais":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4109,4103,4107,4102,4108,4105,4106,4104],"class_list":["post-72177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brasil","tag-aged","tag-ball","tag-cell","tag-dave","tag-dies","tag-hitmaker","tag-soft","tag-synthpop"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dave Ball, synth-pop hitmaker as one half of Soft Cell, dies aged 66 | Dave Ball - Ubirat\u00e3 Online Not\u00edcias - A realidade ao seu alcance!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dave Ball, who as one half of Soft Cell brought dark, cutting-edge synth-pop to the masses, has died aged 66.Representatives for the musician said he\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/dave-ball-synth-pop-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66-dave-ball\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dave Ball, synth-pop hitmaker as one half of Soft Cell, dies aged 66 | Dave Ball\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dave Ball, who as one half of Soft Cell brought dark, cutting-edge synth-pop to the masses, has died aged 66.Representatives for the musician said he\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/dave-ball-synth-pop-hitmaker-as-one-half-of-soft-cell-dies-aged-66-dave-ball\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ubirat\u00e3 Online Not\u00edcias - 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