David Ball of Soft Cell, whose delectably sleazy synth-pop arrangement drove that English duo’s 1981 hit “Tainted Love” to the top of the U.K. singles chart, died Wednesday.

Dave Ball, one half of the pioneering 1980s synth-pop band Soft Cell, has died at the age of 66.

But he was in good spirits recently, reportedly hard at work on a new album with Almond before he died.