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The Latest Breaking News from Soft Cell

Thursday news quiz: Dachshunds, Dave Ball, drag acts and data disasters

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

The Guardian - UK

Dave Ball obituary

One half of the synth-pop duo Soft Cell best known for its No 1 single Tainted Love

The Guardian - UK

Dave Ball of Soft Cell Duo Dead at 66; When Will His Last Album be Released?

Soft Cell's Dave Ball, who helped define 1980s synth-pop, dies aged 66. His final album, 'Danceteria', will be released after his death.

International Business Times UK

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Dave Ball of Soft Cell Dies 'Peacefully in His Sleep' at Age 66, Cause of Death Remains Undisclosed

Dave Ball, one-half of synth-pop duo Soft Cell, has died peacefully at age 66. Tributes from Marc Almond and collaborators highlight his lasting impact on pop and electronic music ahead of the band's upcoming 'Danceteria' album.

International Business Times UK

Dave Ball, 66, Dies Peacefully in His Sleep Less Than Two Months After Final Performance

Dave Ball, Soft Cell's synth-pop pioneer and remembered for 'Tainted Love', dies at 66 after his final performance less than two months ago.

International Business Times UK

Dave Ball was not some bloke in the background of Soft Cell – he drove their startling, subversive sound

Far more than a mute foil to Marc Almond, Ball brought his love of northern soul and strange electronics to bear on some of Britain’s most uncompromising pop

The Guardian - UK

Classic Interview: Soft Cell’s Dave Ball – “To my mind, Kraftwerk are as influential as The Beatles”

The late synth-pop veteran on synths, production and keeping things simple

MusicRadar

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"He will always be loved by fans who loved his music": Dave Ball, founder of Soft Cell and The Grid, has died aged 66

Ball had recently finished work on a new Soft Cell album alongside bandmate Marc Almond

MusicRadar

Soft Cell co-founder died days after finishing album

IN FULL

The Independent UK

Soft Cell's Dave Ball dead at 66

Soft Cell's Dave Ball has passed away at the age of 66.

BANG Premier

Soft Cell’s Dave Ball dies aged 66: Marc Almond pays emotional tribute to ‘brilliant musical genius’

‘It is hard to write this, let alone process it, as Dave was in such a great place emotionally’ - Marc Almond

Evening Standard

‘Musical genius’ and synth pop pioneer dies aged 66

Soft Cell co-founder Marc Almond confirmed the news on Thursday

The Independent UK

Dave Ball, synth-pop hitmaker as one half of Soft Cell, dies aged 66

Synth player and producer had huge success with Tainted Love and other Soft Cell hits, and later returned to UK Top 10 with dance project the Grid

The Guardian - UK

Stephen Luscombe obituary

Keyboardist and songwriter for idiosyncratic synth-pop duo Blancmange, who enjoyed UK chart success in the early 80s

The Guardian - UK

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The Guardian - UK

Where Oasis, the Killers and Noddy Holder raised hell: Britpop’s debauched HQ, the Columbia hotel

Noel Gallagher named a song after it, Marc Almond practically moved in and the Killers had a bathtub reserved for puking in – but was it rock’n’roll, or just a bit tragic?

The Guardian - UK

I brought my daughter to Southport last week to see my beloved home town. Then it was torn apart by violence

It was far from a post-racist utopia when I was growing up, but the far right got it very wrong when it targeted Merseyside, says academic Kojo Koram

The Independent UK

Marc Almond: I feel much more at one with who I am as an artist

The Soft Cell frontman reflects on how and the music industry has evolved throughout his 45-year career.

The Guardian - UK

‘We knew a banjo house record would annoy the techno bores’: how the Grid made Swamp Thing

‘It was a smash in loads of countries. When we played it at London’s Ministry of Sound club, there was a girl staring at Roger’s banjo like she’d never seen one before’

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Salon

How "Fast Car" travels our divides

There's a reason many of us were moved by Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs harmonizing on her hit at the Grammys

The Guardian - UK

The Guide #102: What was your first single? Here’s what you told us

Last week we asked for the first record you bought – from Sarah Brightman to Elvis and Bart Simpson, it was a mix of the historic and the horrendous …

The Independent UK

Soft Cell review, Heritage Live: Synth-pop stars are in fine form

Soft Cell are joined by Heaven 17 and OMD in the rather grand setting of a Jacobean manor

Louder

Forget Manchester: Leeds was the REAL home of 80s alternative music

Often derided as ‘Goth City’, Leeds defined the independent music scene of the 80s from post-punk to weird-pop and dark electronica. No Leeds, no Trent Reznor

Louder

"I’d seen this wild-eyed, crazy-haired guy and my parents were horrified!" Marc Almond's lifelong passion for Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson

Soft Cell singer cherishes memory of performing Thick As A Brick with the man who wrote it

Leeds Live

Let's Rock Leeds 2023 set times with Soft Cell and Tony Hadley set to headline at Temple Newsam

OMD, Midge Ure and The Farm are some of the other acts appearing at Let's Rock Leeds 2023

Daily Mirror

Marc Almond revels in 42 years of Tainted Love success - from Rihanna to TikTok craze

The Soft Cell hit Tainted Love has never been off the airwaves since its 1981 release - with Rihanna and even TikTok ensuring its popularity remains high

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