We are sorry to hear of the death of Julz Sale who was one of the founder members of the wonderful Delta 5.

The late seventies Leeds based band were one of the key post punk groups whose influence has grown over the years. With a then ground breaking male/female line up and two lead basses the band created a thrilling, jerky post punk dirty disco and brilliant sound that we can confirm was brilliant live. What was then considered underground would now be embraced as pop and the band’s influence has been enduring. After the band Julz remained on the front line working at Rough Trade.

Their late drummer, Kelvin Knight, wrote a great piece for Louder Than War about the band here  

An interesting article on how a Delta 5 song ended up on an iPhone advert can be found here.

RIP Julz.  Let’s remember her this way…

 

Cause of Death, Delta 5 Founder and Singer Julz Sale Has dead

With great sadness, we announced the loss of Julz Sale, the founder and singer of Delta 5, a post-punk show in Leeds. Delta 5 comes from the same scene, producing groundbreaking post-punk performances such as the Foursome and Macon, as well as Sale himself working for the Rough Trade label.

She recently turned to teaching English in Thailand.An early report by friend Pete Keeley indicated that Sale died of digestive cancer in Thailand. I asked Pete if he thinks people should know anything about Sale in particular, excluding her work in Delta 5.

Pete replied: “After Delta 5, Julz spent several years becoming one of the producers of the Rough Trade Distribution warehouse. Tick is a force that cannot be ignored. A few years ago, she moved to Thailand and married a local. And teach English there. This is very sad news.”

Of course, Delta 5 is best known for their single “Mind Your Own Business” released in 1979, because it was covered or mixed by many people including Chicks on Speed, Le Shok, Pigface (Chris Vrenna), Peter Hook, etc. (This song has even appeared in Apple iPhone commercials recently!) Delta 5’s duel bass guitar, dialogue/call and response type female voices (especially “you”), incorporate funk and dance beats into their tracks, and The Gang of Four-esque angular guitar style is the hallmark of the band’s influential sound.

The band’s lyrics and Sale’s singing reflect the sensitivity of feminism and socialism, and the band is active in the rock’s anti-racist community.

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