Dave Ball of pioneering synth-pop duo Soft Cell has died aged 66

The group's cover of the 1981 classic "Testers Love" was a staple on MTV.

Dave Ball, Connum-pop menjual sel, E shoa ka 66

The band's cover of the 1981 classic "Being a regular presence" was a regular on MTV, turning the song into a global hit.

Dave Ball, producing part of the pioneer in the 1980s Synth-Pop duo Store cell, is best remembered for his cover of the 1981 new love "- died of natural causes on Wednesday. He was 66.

"He will always be loved by the Soft Cell fans who loved his music, and his music and memories will live on forever," frontman Marc Almond said in a statement."At any given time, somewhere in the world, someone will enjoy a Soft Cell song. Dave, thank you for being such a big part of my life and for the music you have given me. I wouldn't be here without you."

When the weak cells retired in the middle of 1980, the ball created the computer Music Group of the grid together with Rischard.Together they made the whole world "where it broke" in 1994.

"Dave has been a part of my musical life for many years," Norris said in a statement."Being in a duo is different from being in a band: The bond is so strong. And it's for all time, for endless laughs, for endless laughs, for endless laughs, for endless laughs, for endless laughs."laughter, for the eternal ancestors, for constant laughter.

Soft Cell surgiu quando Ball e Almond se conheceram como estudantes de arte na Leeds Polytechnic, em 1977. Antes de se tornarem amigos, Ball já conhecia a reputação de Almond no campus como um artista performático ousado. "A principal performance dele se chamava Mirror Fucking", contou Ball ao The Guardian em 2017. "Ele ficava nu diante de um espelho de corpo inteiro, se cobria de comida de gato e transava consigo mesmo. Isso provocava bastante reação. Ele me ouviu fazendo barulhos eletrônicos num sintetizador e pediu que eu criasse trilhas para suas performances. Essas trilhas acabaram virando canções de verdade. Todo mundo em Leeds estava fazendo coisas sombrias, mas a gente queria algo mais animado."

They played their first show at a warehouse in Leeds, where Almond worked in the left boot."It's our break," Ball said of the Yorkshire 2021 evening post.

Ball's mother loaned them £400 to record their debut EP, Mutant Moments, in 1980. They played the Futurama Festival at Queens Hall the same year.Backstage, Ball handed a copy of the EP to BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who played it on air shortly afterwards.They soon signed with independent record label Some Bizarre.“That's actually where it all started,” Ball recalls.“After that came a long and arduous road.”

A pivotal moment on the road occurred when Elman heard the DJ play "Love in Love."Ball and Allman decided to put their own spin on the song.When we started working on our version, it was a distortion and a weird sound."" It suits us. "And I'm a big man who looks like a security guard."

"Loved Love was executed a few weeks before DBU on Sunday summer of Divu-Comn's first operating earnings.

Os singles seguintes — "Bedsitter", "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", "Torn" e "What" — foram grandes sucessos na Inglaterra, mas tiveram pouco impacto nos Estados Unidos. Soft Cell entrou em hiato em 1984, após lançar apenas mais dois discos. Quatro anos depois, Ball formou o The Grid com Norris. O projeto o manteve ocupado durante os anos 1990, até que a onda de nostalgia dos anos 1980 levou à reconciliação com Almond e à reunião do Soft Cell em 2000.

The duo became a regular presence in the 80s events in Europe and the unimaginable without beauty (2002) does not include it (2022).Their last show took place on August 16, at the fast festival, in Henley-on Thames, England, ABC, and the big country.

Soft Cell also recently finished a new album."It's very sad, because 2026 would have been a year of great achievement for him, but I take some comfort in knowing that he heard the finished album and thought it was a great job," Almond said."Dave's music is better than ever. His melodies and choruses obviously remain Soft Cell, but he always takes everything to another level."

"He's a great musical genius and we've both been on this journey for almost 50 years," continued Almond.