Northern Synth Soul Weekender (Sunday)

Day 2 of a non-stop erotic cabaret weekend, celebrating the genius of Dave Ball.
 

It's impossible to talk about Dave Ball without referring to Soft Cell and The Grid, and inevitably they both feature heavily in today's second selection of choice cuts from Dave's career.

Dave's work with Marc Almond and Richard Norris is incredible in it's span, not only in terms of commercial success, but also in it's ambition and longevity. However, it's not the only evidence of what, from the outside looking in, portrays Dave as a person that others wanted to work with and keep working with, time and time again.

I mentioned Psychic TV yesterday and Dave's involvement with Genesis P-Orridge in the late 1980s on the legendary 'acid house' albums Jack The Tab and Tekno Acid Beat.  I featured Joy, the lead single from the latter, on Saturday's selection. I also noted Genesis' appearance on Dave's solo album, In Strict Tempo, and today features Man In The Man, one the two songs they co-wrote.

Gavin Friday also appears on In Strict Tempo, and was another frequent flyer with Dave. Gavin co-wrote and sang on the (almost) title track in 1983; The Grid remixed Gavin's 1996 single You Me And World War Three. In 2009, Dave and Gavin recorded a cover of Ghostrider by Suicide, released on 10* vinyl the following year for Alan Vega's 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series. 

In 2019, another long-term friend and collaborator, Anni Hogan, released the album Lost In Blue, produced by Dave. The penultimate song, Angels Of Romance, features - you guessed it - Gavin. Last year, I was delighted that Gavin returned with a new solo album, Ecce Homo, with Dave joining him at the controls. The title track is an essential pick here.

The other significant 'duo' for me is Dave's work with Ingo Vauk, which often seems to be overlooked and understated. Ingo is credited as an engineer on The Grid's debut album Electric Head in 1990, the start of a songwriting and production partnership. 

Although Dave and Ingo never 'formed a band' and released their own music, you may be surprised at how many songs in your collection credit the pair. Kylie Minogue's 1998 single Breathe? They co-wrote and produced it. The 'Double Click' and 'Lost In Space' remixes of Hallo Spaceboy by David Bowie? That's them. Billie Ray Martin's 1999 single Honey? They produced it. In fact, Ingo was in the studio (as engineer) with Dave and Richard in 1993 for Billiie's sublime 4 Ambient Tales EP, which also features here. 

The point that all of the above is labouring is that Dave is repeatedly described as a lovely bloke and this is borne out by the number of people that continued to work with him throughout his career. 

In Marc Almond's 1999 autobiography, Tainted Life (which I really must read again), he recalls that

"When Dave Ball had walked into Leeds Polytechnic in the autumn of 1977, 

the first person he had bumped into was me. 

We couldn't have been more contrasting: 

Dave in a denim jacket, jeans and desert wellies, 

tall and stocky with black curly hair; 

me in gold-lamé trousers, a leopard skin T-shirt 

on a small skinny frame with a blond crop. 

He asked me the way to the art department, 

and I pointed him down the corridor. 

Neither of us then could have imagined the strange adventure 

we be embarking on in less than three years' time, 

nor even that this encounter would have any significance at all."

Richard Norris' 2024 autobiography, Strange Things Are Happening (also sitting on my bookshelf) recounts the making of the Jack The Tab album in 1987:

"On the Sunday, Gen brings along a friend to help with the proceedings - 

Soft Cell keyboard player Dave Ball. 

I'm a little intimidated. 

We've all been bopping about in the studio, mucking about, 

adding vocals and mad effects. 

A deranged nightclub meets laboratory experiment. 

Having Dave here makes things feel a little more professional. 

He's an actual pop star, after all. 

How is he going to fit in with these demented tracks 

featuring wolves howling, falsetto Tiny Tim samples and 

Gen and Paula's bedroom tapes?

Very well, it turns out."

I'd been meaning to get Dave Ball's autobiography, Electronic Boy, for some time. Sadly, it's taken his passing to give me the proverbial boot and order a copy. I'm looking forward to reading Dave's own recollections of this incredible life in music, albeit with a sadness that the last chapter has been written.

Dave's music endures, however, and today's selection once again provides the merest hint of how and why this is so.

I said yesterday that I would often buy a record solely because Dave's name was on it somewhere and there are a couple of examples here. I was never a huge fan of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine at the time (although I've since revised my opinion), yet seeing the words "Remixed by The Grid" on a promo 12" of 1994 single Glam Rock Cops was enough to make me buy, buy. buy. Three great remixes, titles inspired by The Sweeney and Kojak, I've picked the main extended version to open today's proceedings.

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson is a phenomenally talented violin player and in 1990s had a similar impact in popularising the instrument - and classical music in general - as Nigel Kennedy had in the previous decade. Dave and Ingo did a couple of remixes for a USA-only 12" single in 1995; the version of Classical Gas featured here arrived in the UK in 1997 as a bonus track on the CD single of I Feel Love. 

The aforementioned Breathe by Kylie Minogue was featured on her album Impossible Princess, before Lady Di's death caused the record to be pulled and reissued as a self-titled album. The single featured remixes by Todd Terry and Sash! though neither come close to the original production by Dave Ball and Ingo Vauk. I'll commit myself to saying it's my favourite Kylie single ever.

Vicious Pink Phenomena (later just Vicious Pink) aka Josie Warden and Brian Moss, started out as backing vocalists for Soft Cell. Dave Ball produced their debut single in 1982 and reappeared (albeit uncredited) on their unexpected 2024 album called, er, Unexpected.

Billie Ray Martin is rarely far away from my playlist, having initially come to my attention with Electribe 101 then via a continuing solo career. The latter launched with a cover of Persuasion by Throbbing Gristle then followed up with the 4 Ambient Tales EP, produced by Dave Ball and Richard Norris as The Grid. It's a beautiful, beautiful quartet of songs and essential listening. 

Hifi Sean is very popular around these parts and his (currently three) albums with David McAlmont are magical, to say the least. In 2016, Sean released his first 'solo' album, Ft., which as the title suggests features collaborations with David, Fred Schneider, Maggie DuMonde and Yoko Ono. On Ultratheque, Sean pairs with Dave Ball and delivers a club classic that nods to the past whilst embracing the future. Great stuff.

Soft Cell and The Grid inevitably remain present throughout the selection. The Grid's follow up to Floatation, also featuring Sacha Souter, is A Beat Called Love. It got to #64 in the UK charts in September 1990. Criminal. It should have been a number one.

The remix of Loving You, Hating Me added here appeared on a promo 12" single in 1983 and is about a minute longer and very different from the version that appeared on the official 12" single and subsequent compilations. 

Last Chance appeared on Soft Cell's 2002 'comeback' Cruelty Without Beauty, which again deserved better than it got at the time. I was thrilled that Dave and Marc were back together and, unlike so many reunions, they remained true to Soft Cell's identity and mission statement without trying to recreate the past.

And there you have it. I struggled a lot with shortlisting a selection of Dave's music, because every single second of it was up for inclusion. I'm happy with the two 12-song selections that I've presented this weekend, in the hope that you'll be inspired by songs you know - and those you don't - to play even more, now and for years to come.

The electronic boy done good.

Thanks Dave, for the light, the shade, the darkness, the joy, the dancing and so many utterly fantastic tunes.

1) Glam Rock Cops (Regan & Carter Mix By The Grid): Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (1994)

2) A Beat Called Love (Album Version): The Grid ft. Sacha Souter (1990)

3) Loving You, Hating Me (Special Mix By Soft Cell & Mike Thorne): Soft Cell (1983)

4) Breathe (Radio Edit By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Kylie Minogue (1998)

5) Classical Gas (Stradosphere Mix By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Vanessa-Mae (1995)

6) Ghostrider (Cover of Suicide): Gavin Friday & Dave Ball (2009)

7) Man In The Man: Dave Ball ft. Genesis P-Orridge (1983)

8) My Private Tokyo (Remix By Dave Ball): Vicious Pink Phenomena (1982)

9) Planet Of The Blue (Single Version By The Grid): Billie Ray Martin (1993)

10) Ultratheque (Album Version): Hifi Sean ft. Dave Ball (2016)

11) Ecce Homo (Album Version By Dave Ball & Michael Heffernan): Gavin Friday (2024)

12) Last Chance (Album Version By Dave Ball & Ingo Vauk): Soft Cell (2002)

1982: My Private Tokyo EP: 8

1983: In Strict Tempo: 7

1983: Loving You, Hating Me EP: 3

1990: Electric Head: 2

1993: 4 Ambient Tales EP: 9

1994: Glam Rock Cops EP: 1

1995: Classical Gas EP: 5

1998: Breathe EP: 4

2002: Cruelty Without Beauty: 12

2010: Ghostrider EP: 6

2016: Ft.: 10

2024: Ecce Homo: 11

Northern Synth Soul Weekender (Sunday) (1:02:08) (GD) (M)