Born on May 3: Dave Ball (Soft Cell), always on the ball but in the shadows

He grew up in the seaside town of Blackpool in 1959 and remains in the shadow of Marc Almond.

Dave Ball began his studies at the Leeds Polytechnic and discovered the first "portable" and affordable synthesizers such as the Moog. This was an essential first encounter for his future career. There, he also met Marc Almond, as extroverted as he could be reserved. It's the second pivot for the future artist...

Together, they formed the duo Soft Cell as early as 1978. Their first appearance was on the compilation "A Some Bizzare Album" with the strange "The Girl With The Patent Leather Face". At the beginning, none of their tracks featured any analogue instrument. Rather than with their original compositions, they reached the top with unrecognisable covers of old dusty classics such as "Tainted Love" by Ed Cobo, first popularised by Gloria Jones in 1964 or, of course, "Where Did Our Love Go?" composed by the famous trio Lamont-Dozier-Holland for the Supremes also in 1964. Like many, swept up by the whirlwind of success, Dave Ball unfortunately succumbed to excessive consumption for many years, not only of alcohol but also far more addictive substances.

Even before Soft Cell first split in 1984, he produced the ambitious "In Strict Tempo" (1983) with some atmospheres such as "Mirrors" recalling a potential sequel soundtrack to Albert Hitchcock's "Psycho."

Whether for his sporadic solo recordings or his numerous short-lived collaborations, Dave Ball almost always opts for often abrupt alternative paths. Whether Other People (with his wife Gini), English Boy On The Loveranch or his brief stint with Psychic TV, the projects he associates his name with only last for a time.

Since the sporadic reunification of Soft Cell in 2001, Dave Ball hasn't abandoned his often fleeting experiments. He set up Nltewreckage from scratch in 2011 but the band seems to have sunk after their first album "Take Your Money And Run". He also recorded the highly experimental "Photosynthesis" with pianist Jon Savage in 2016.

Always alongside Marc Almond, currently on tour with Soft Cell in Australia, Dave Ball still prefers the shadows to the spotlight in which his lifelong partner loves to revel...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Dave Ball with Soft Cell on stage at the Manhattan in Leuven (Belgium) on 11 March 1983