Dave Ball

Life and career Ball was born on 3 May 1959 in Chester, Cheshire, England; he was later adopted and brought up in Blackpool. He studied at Arnold School before studying art at Leeds Polytechnic, where he met Marc Almond. They formed the synth-pop duo Soft Cell in 1978; the band initially lasted until 1984, but subsequently reunited a few times after long gaps. In 1983, while with Soft Cell, he released a solo album, In Strict Tempo, which featured Gavin Friday, Genesis P-Orridge and Virginia Astley. Later he collaborated with P-Orridge on the soundtrack for the West German film Decoder, which also featured other Some Bizzare artists.

After Soft Cell disbanded, Ball formed a new band, Other People, with Gini Hewes, his wife at the time, (she previously worked with Almond in Marc and the Mambas), and Andy Astle, but they released only one single, "Have a Nice Day". In the late 1980s, he formed another short-lived band, English Boy on the Loveranch, with Nick Sanderson and Jamie Fry, releasing two hi-NRG singles, "The Man in Your Life" and "Sex Vigilante". He also was part of Psychic TV, working on the compilation albums Jack the Tab, Tekno Acid Beat, Towards Thee Infinite Beat and Beyond Thee Infinite Beat , where he met Richard Norris (they recorded the track "Meet Every Situation Head On" together as M.E.S.H.) and with whom he later formed the Grid with singles like "Floatation", "A Beat Called Love" and "Swamp Thing". In 2010, he formed the band Nitewreckage with Celine Hispiche, Rick Mulhall and Terry Neale. Their debut album, Take Your Money and Run, was released on Alaska Sounds on 6 June 2011, with the single "Solarcoaster" preceding it. The album was co-produced and mixed by Martin Rushent. In 2016, Ball and classical pianist Jon Savage collaborated on the experimental electronic album Photosynthesis. In 2018, Soft Cell saw another reunion for a final live show, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the duo being formed. Ball and Almond finished their album Danceteria just before Ball's death in October 2025.

Ball also worked as a producer, with Vicious Pink Phenomena (who started as a backing duo for early Soft Cell), the Virgin Prunes and the Rose McDowall side-project Ornamental in the 1980s, He also remixed for artists and bands such as David Bowie, Vanessa-Mae and Erasure. Many remixes were also made with Norris as the Grid. Ball worked with Friday on a cover of Suicide's "Ghost Rider" for the Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series.

After suffering from poor health for several years, Ball died in his sleep at his home on 22 October 2025, at the age of 66.

Discography In Strict Tempo (1983), Some Bizzare, Phonogram