David James Ball (born 3 May 1959) is an English producer and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

musician, who has played in bands such as

Soft Cell Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of " Tainted Love" and their pla ...

and The Grid, and collaborated with other producers including Ingo Vauk and Chris Braide. He is usually called Dave Ball on record sleeves.

Life and career

Ball was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England, later adopted and brought up in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

.Soho Radio - ''Back to the Phuture'', interview with David Ball
(12 September 2018), Mixcloud He studied at Arnold School before studying art at Leeds Polytechnic, where he met

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. H ...

;Rimmer, Dave (2003) ''New Romantics: The Look'', Omnibus Press, , p. 110 they formed the synthpop duo

in 1978, the band lasting until 1984.Ruhlmann, William "

Dave Ball Biography Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, retrieved 22 January 2010 In 1983, while with the group, he released a solo album, ''In Strict Tempo'', which featured Gavin Friday,

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions art ...

and Virginia Astley.Neal, Charles (1987) ''Tape delay: confessions from the eighties underground'', SAF, Later he collaborated with P-Orridge on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the

West German film The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg became a household synonym for the early ...

'' Decoder'', which also featured other Some Bizzare artists. After Soft Cell disbanded, Ball formed a new band, Other People with his then-wife Gini Hewes"Blue Pyramid" by Virginia

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

(who previously worked with Almond in

Marc and the Mambas Marc and the Mambas were a New wave music, new wave group, formed by Marc Almond in 1982 as an offshoot project from Soft Cell. The band's line-up changed frequently, and included Matt Johnson (singer), Matt Johnson from and Anni Hogan, Annie ...

) and Andy Astle, but they released only one single, "Have a Nice Day".''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

,'' 6 December 1984
"Like Punk Never Happened - a Smash Hits archive"
by Brian McCloskey,

Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professiona ...

In the late 1980s, he formed another short-lived band, English Boy on the Loveranch, with Nick Sanderson and Jamie Jones, releasing two hi-NRG singles, "The Man in Your Life" and "Sex Vigilante".English Boy On The Loveranch - Discography

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

He also was part of Psychic TV, working on the compilation albums ''Jack the Tab'' and ''Tekno Acid 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. Ball reunited with Almond in Soft Cell in 2001, releasing new album ''

Cruelty Without Beauty ''Cruelty Without Beauty'' is the fourth studio album by Soft Cell. The album was released on 8 October 2002. It is Soft Cell's first album since 1984 in music, 1984's ''This Last Night in Sodom''. An expanded and remastered re-issue of the a ...

''.Flick, Larry (2002) "Almond's Joy", ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'', 29 October 2002, p. 64 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 Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His fat ...

. 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 their 40th anniversary since the duo was formed.Soft Cell to reunite for last ever show

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

(21 February 2018) 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 Rose McDowall (née Porter; born 21 October 1959) is a Scottish musician, forming Strawberry Switchblade with Jill Bryson in 1981. History McDowall was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959. Her first venture into music was in the Poems, an art-pun ...

side-project Ornamental in the 1980s, and later with

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

, Gavin Friday and Anni Hogan."Anni Hogan: the super solo collaborationist,"
by Robert Gourley, PleaseKillMe.com (11 November 2019) He also

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed for artists and bands such as

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

,Hoffman, Wayne (2002) "After Nearly 20 years, Soft Cell Returns With a New Set on SpinArt", ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', 12 October 2002, p. 13 Vanessa-Mae and Erasure (many remixes were also made with Norris as The Grid). Ball also worked with Friday on a cover of Suicide's " Ghost Rider" for the '' Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series''.Gavin Friday and Dave Ball single ‘Ghostrider’ – download now – Gavin Friday – Official Site
/ref> Ball lives in

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, south London.

Discography

* ''In Strict Tempo'' (1983, Some Bizzare, Phonogram) * ''Photosynthesis'' (with Jon Savage, 2016, Cold Spring)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, David 1959 births People educated at Arnold School English keyboardists English new wave musicians English electronic musicians English record producers People from Blackpool Alumni of Leeds Beckett University Living people British synth-pop new wave musicians Remixers Soft Cell members Some Bizzare Records artists