Dave Ball

I don't think this will be the only blog celebrating the life of Dave Ball today and marking his death (Wednesday, aged 66). Dave was a pioneering musician in many ways. He was born in Chester and grew up in Blackpool, surrounded by Northern Soul. His keyboard and arranging skills delivered in style with Soft Cell's cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love. Dave met Marc Almond while at Leeds Polytechnic and they became the archetypal 80s synth duo- attention grabbing frontman and psychotic looking synth player. Marc faced all kinds of threats from audiences and Dave would happily weigh into the crowd to deal with anyone who was going too far. Soft Cell wrote many fine singles and songs and were early adopters of the 12" mix, making great use of the extra running time. This 1982 single is a highpoint of the period and genre....

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (12" Extended Version)

Dave's Korg synth is central to the song, a lush and rich piece of synth pop coupled with some wonderfully mournful keyboard runs, woodwind, and Marc's bittersweet vocal, 'Standing in the door of the Pink Flamingo/ Crying in the rain'.

Bedsitter is stunning too, innovative and experimental pop, written from real life and creating mini- films with the music and words. 

Bedsitter (12" Extended Version)

Soft Cell embraced confrontation, Marc's stage presence a visible provocation to 80s homophobes. The pair thrived off it. Dave loved industrial music, a fan of Throbbing Gristle and Suicide, bands who forced you to pick a side. 

After Soft Cell split Dave moved on, playing with Genesis P. Orridge. He played with Psychic TV and through these connections met Richard Norris. They made the Jack The Tab album and at the end of the 80s they became acid house duo The Grid. Richard wrote a long, heartfelt post on social media about Dave yesterday. By coincidence The Grid recently re- released their 1990 single Floatation, a summer of 1990 ambient house classic (which gained a massive Andrew Weatherall remix, the Sonic Swing mix, which added John Squire's guitar from Waterfall to the end). 

To celebrate Floatation's thirty fifth birthday The Grid commissioned some remixes. This one, the Mark Barrott Ibiza Sunrise '90 Rework does exactly what it promises, Dave and Richard's 1990 music repurposed for 2025. 

The Grid had huge success with Swamp Thing and played around the world, a second bite at the cherry for Dave Ball. He produced, played and wrote with Kylie, Gavin Friday, Erasure and remixed David Bowie. Soft Cell reunited. The Grid played again this summer. He died in his sleep on Wednesday after some periods of ill health, one of modern music's unsung heroes, a man who in his words 'lurked in the background' but who did much more than that really. 

RIP Dave Ball.