Obituary: Dave Ball, musician

As pop stars go Dave Ball was nothing much; quietly hunched over his keyboards pushing buttons, he was far from histrionic. However his musical partner, Marc Almond, more than made up for Ball’s lack of flamboyance and the former Leeds art school colleagues ended up topping charts the world over in the 1980s as Soft Cell. Ball, who grew up in Blackpool, bonded with Almond over a shared love of Northern Soul. Their second single, a cover of Gloria Jones’ Tainted Love, sold a million copies in Britain alone and went number 1 there and Australia and hit 2 in New Zealand. In all, Soft Cell had 12 top 40 hits and four top 20 albums before splitting. Ball was in various short-lived bands until in the late ’80s he met DJ Richard Norris. The synth pop hero turned dance floor hero as their duo, The Grid, emerged just as rave culture hit the mainstream. Their 1993 single Swamp Thing was another big hit for Ball, who moved on to become an acclaimed producer and remixer. He also reformed Soft Cell with Almond, and the pair had completed a new album just before Ball’s death. The keyboardist had suffered from ill health for several years, and had taken to performing in a wheelchair. He died on October 22, aged 66. — Agencies/Allied Media