Soft Cell's Dave Ball Dies at 66

"Raised in Blackpool, England, after his adoption into a working-class family, Ball grew up a budding artist with a penchant for the Northern soul craze then sweeping the north of England, obsessively collecting Tamla and Stax singles. He moved to Leeds to study fine art in his late teens and met fellow student Almond, a lamé-clad performance artist. The pair bonded over punk and electronic music and cult films;"

"They named the duo Soft Cell, punning on what they called "consumerist nightmares and suburban insanity," and made songs amalgamating an unlikely trinity of Kraftwerk, Suicide, and cabaret. They made their live debut "at a college Christmas show two short months after they met, performing ramshackle, anticonsumerist songs against a backdrop of Super 8 films of destroyed radios and industrial landscapes," Pitchfork's Eric Torres wrote in his review of the band's debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. "The art-punk spark was lit.""

Dave Ball died peacefully at his London home on October 22 at age 66. He was raised in Blackpool after adoption and became an avid collector of Tamla and Stax singles during the Northern soul craze. Ball moved to Leeds to study fine art, where he met Marc Almond and bonded over punk, electronic music, and cult films. The two formed Soft Cell and named the duo to reflect consumerist nightmares and suburban insanity. Their music blended influences such as Kraftwerk, Suicide, and cabaret, debuting live with artful visuals and early singles including "Memorabilia."

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