David Ball (musician, 1959)

David "Dave" Ball (born May 3, 1959 in Blackpool , Lancashire ) is a British producer and musician. On record covers, David Ball is mostly referred to as Dave Ball.

Together with Marc Almond he founded the music group Soft Cell in September 1980 . Her great successes include a. Tainted Love (1981).

Together with his wife Gini Ball and Marc Almond, Ball also worked on the first LP of the British industrial cult band Psychic TV in 1982 .

Life

David Ball studied at Leeds Polytechnic Fine Arts University , now Leeds Metropolitan University , and experimented with electronic sound generation and synthesizers at the time . There he also met his fellow student Marc Almond, who, inspired by Ball's unique recordings of avant-garde electronically generated noises, asked Ball to help him develop the music for his artistic performances.

The two recorded - funded by Ball - a single called Mutant Moments with four pieces of music, which earned them a contract with the small label Some Bizzare Records . In collaboration with Almond, who was both the lead singer and the main songwriter at the time, the cover version of Gloria Jones ' Tainted Love was a huge success, which became a number 1 hit in 17 different countries , climbed to number 8 in the United States and stayed on the charts for 43 weeks. At the time, that was a record in the Guinness Book for a long and very high listing in the sales hit parade. In the UK, it was the best-selling single since 1980.

Soft Cell remained one of the most important and successful music groups in Great Britain, followed by a number of singles, all of which ended up in the UK Top 5. Two other albums arranged by Ball also became huge hits in the UK. The duo split in 1983 and began to pursue solo careers shortly before the release of their third album This Last Night in Sodom .

Ball soon prepared for the release of the solo album In Strict Tempo , in which he collaborated with Gavin Friday of the Virgin Prunes and Genesis P. Orridge of Throbbing Gristle . Then he devoted himself to electronic dance music together with the producer Ingo Vauk and his colleague Richard Norris , Ball formed together with Norris the techno group The Grid , which became successful with the millionaire hit Swamp Thing . The Grid also played remixes by such great artists as Brian Eno , Erasure , Depeche Mode , David Bowie , Happy Mondays , Carter USM , David Sylvian & Robert Fripp , Pet Shop Boys , Boy George , Sophie B. Hawkins and many others.

In 1991 Soft Cell found three tracks on the album Tenement Symphony under the name Marc Almond Feat. The grid together again. The Grid also played Billie Ray Martin's multi-million dollar single, Your Loving Arms . Norris worked with Joe Strummer of The Clash , while Ball wrote and produced songs for Kylie Minogue with his partner Ingo Vauk . Ball has remained loyal to songwriting, remixing and producing from artists such as B-52s, Depeche Mode, Man Parrish, Client, Soft Cell, Jackie Chan and currently works with Andy Smith of Portishead and Misty Woods of JuJu Babies.

In 2003 Soft Cell got together again and released the album Cruelty Without Beauty , again produced with Ingo Vauk.

Web links

• Dave Ball at Discogs (English)