I can just about get my head around stars of the 60s passing away. Even those who were big in the 70s, especially the ones who've had a hard paper round. But whenever we lose someone from the 80s... I feel like the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is walking over my grave.
Quite often, on my way to work, I pass the blue plaque below, and every time I do, one particular tune pops into my head...
You probably think it's this one, but it's not.
Although there's no denying that's a top notch cover version, and one of the defining pop songs of the 1980s.
Oh, and it's not this one either...
I know what you think of me. It's OK.
But have you seen my records? This Heat, Pere Ubu, Outsiders, Nation of Ulysses, Mars, The Trojans, The Black Dice, Todd Terry, The Germs, Section 25, Sexual Harrassment, a-ha, Pere Ubu, Dorothy Ashby, PIL, the Fania All-Stars, the Bar-Kays, The Human League, the Normal, Lou Reed, Scott Walker, Joy Division, 10cc, Eric B. and Rakim, Index, Basic Channel, Soulsonic Force ("just hit me"!), Juan Atkins, David Axelrod, Electric Prunes, Gil! Scott! Heron!, the Slits, Faust, Mantronix, Pharaoh Sanders and the Fire Engines, the Swans, the Soft Cell, The Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics, the Sonics...
So it's over
You're lying in a coffin of clutter
Your father and your sister, your drummer
Are sorting through your Soft Cell tapes
And lifesaver collection
And you wonder
You wonder if you could've done better
You wonder if you should've surrendered
Before you learned that
Nobody actually wants a fucking martyr
Dave Ball died earlier this week, aged just 66, after just completing a new Soft Cell album with Marc Almond. In his own heartbroken tribute, Almond said, "It's so sad as 2026 was all set to be such an uplifting year for him, and I take some solace from the fact that he heard the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Of course, Dave Ball will be remembered not just as the less flamboyant one in Soft Cell. But I'll let those who know more about dance music comment on his other projects. Although I will say that I always quite liked this one back in the day... the banjos did it for me, as well as the reference to a classic DC comics character...
Rest in peace, Dave. You're gone far too soon.
Oh, and that song which always pops into my head when I see the blue plaque?
This one, of course...
A wonderful tribute, Rol. I just wish it weren’t necessary.
ReplyDeleteI’ve posted a prelude of sorts today as I was struggling to get my head around it and find the words.
I love The Grid as much as I love Soft Cell, and even these two mammoth partnerships only scratch the surface of this deeply talented man (and lovely bloke, by all accounts)
It’s fair to say that I would pretty much buy anything that had Dave Ball’s name on it, whether as writer, performer, producer or remixer. He was really that consistently brilliant.