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 plat ...

and

The Grid The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...

, and collaborated with other producers including Ingo Vauk and

Chris Braide Christopher Braide (born 1973) is an English songwriter, record producer and singer, formerly based in Malibu, Los Angeles, California, United States. Braide is known for being a pianist. First signed as a solo artist by David A. Stewart in t ...

. He is usually called Dave Ball on

record sleeve A record sleeve is the outer covering of a vinyl record. Alternative terms are ''dust sleeve'', ''album liner'' and ''liner''. The term is also used to denominate the outermost cardboard covering of a record, i.e. the ''record jacket'' or ''album ...

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 county t ...

, England, later adopted and brought up in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

.Soho Radio - ''Back to the Phuture'', interview with David Ball
(12 September 2018),

Mixcloud Mixcloud is a popular British online music streaming service that allows for the listening and distribution of radio shows, DJ mixes and podcasts, which are crowdsourced by its registered users. In April 2018, Mixcloud announced that it raised ...

He studied at

Arnold School Arnold School was an independent school in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, established on the Fylde coast in 1896 during the Victorian expansion of public boarding schools in England. The school was in the United Church Schools Trust group o ...

before studying art at

Leeds Polytechnic Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The unive ...

, 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. ...

;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,

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 databas ...

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

Gavin Friday Gavin Friday (born Fionán Martin Hanvey, 8 October 1959) is an Irish singer and songwriter, composer, actor and painter, best known as a founding member of the post-punk group The Virgin Prunes. Early life Friday was born in Dublin and attend ...

, Genesis P-Orridge and

Virginia Astley Virginia Astley (born 26 September 1959) is an English singer-songwriter most active during the 1980s and 1990s. Her songwriting career started in 1980. Her classical training influenced her as did a desire to be experimental with her music. Alt ...

.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 ''

Decoder Decoder may refer to: Technology * Audio decoder converts digital audio to analog form * Binary decoder, digital circuits such as 1-of-N and seven-segment decoders * Decompress (compression decoder), converts compressed data (e.g., audio/video/i ...

'', which also featured other

Some Bizzare Some Bizzare Records was a British independent record label owned by Stevo Pearce. The label was founded in 1981, with the release of '' Some Bizzare Album'', a compilation of unsigned bands including Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, the The, Neu E ...

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 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 from and Annie Hogan, with whom Almond worked later in his solo ...

) 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 fo ...

,'' 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 professional ...

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 Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

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 The Grid is an English electronic dance group, consisting of David Ball (formerly of Soft Cell) and Richard Norris, with guest contributions from other musicians. They are best known for the hits "Swamp Thing", "Texas Cowboys", "Crystal Cle ...

. 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's ''This Last Night in Sodom''. An expanded and remastered re-issue of the album was releas ...

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

. 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. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(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 Virgin Prunes were an Irish post-punk band formed in 1977 in Dublin, Ireland. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1991. History The Vir ...

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 ...

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 advertise ...

'', 12 October 2002, p. 13

Vanessa-Mae Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...

and

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

(many remixes were also made with Norris as The Grid). Ball also worked with Friday on a cover of Suicide's "

Ghost Rider Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider. The first s ...

" for the ''

Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series ''Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series'' is a series of eight EPs with contributions from various artists paying tribute to Alan Vega and his band Suicide. The individual 10" vinyl EPs were pressed in limited quantities and released t ...

''.Gavin Friday and Dave Ball single ‘Ghostrider’ – download now – Gavin Friday – Official Site
/ref> Ball lives in Kennington, south London.

Discography

* ''In Strict Tempo'' (1983,

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phone ...

) * ''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