Delta 5 was an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

band from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Career

Delta 5 was formed from the same art school scene at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

as Gang of Four and

The Mekons The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of ...

. The original members of Delta 5, Julz Sale (vocals/guitar), Ros Allen (bass) and Bethan Peters (bass), formed the band "on a lark", but soon became a part of the thriving Leeds post-punk scene, and later added Kelvin Knight on drums and Alan Riggs on guitar, both of whom also played in Dead Beats. Combining feminist politics with a two-bass funk-punk sound (much in the style of another, more famous Leeds band, Gang of Four), they released their debut single "Mind Your Own Business" in 1979. The members of Delta 5 were important figures in the

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movement and were the subject of a highly publicised assault at the hands of a right-wing group affiliated with rival movement

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. After the release of second single "You", the band went on a successful tour of the United States, and soon thereafter left Rough Trade for

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

imprint Pre. They recorded their debut album ''See the Whirl'', which suffered from overly clean production and received low marks both critically and commercially. Due to the commercial disappointment of the album, the group disbanded.

Post-breakup

Apart from bassist Bethan Peters playing on

Fun Boy Three Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio/ref> band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seve ...

's second album ''

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'' and performing with them live to support its release, the members of Delta 5 were mostly musically inactive. Meanwhile, Delta 5's recorded output was finding a posthumous fan base internationally. The band

Shonen Knife Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional l ...

recorded a cover version of "You" with Japanese lyrics and renamed "Saboten" ("Cactus") for their 1982 debut album ''

Minna Tanoshiku ''Minna Tanoshiku'' or ''Everybody Happy'' is the first release by the Japanese rock band Shonen Knife. It was released in cassette-format only in 1982 in the band's native Japan. The first 50 copies were released by the band themselves, and the ...

''. In 2006,

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...

released a compilation of early Delta 5 material titled '' Singles & Sessions 1979-1981'', capitalising on the re-emerging popularity of post-punk bands such as Gang of Four and

Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...

. The set included unreleased material, along with BBC radio sessions and live cuts. Delta 5 drummer Kelvin Knight died on 2 December 2015 from liver and kidney failure at the age of 56. Singer and guitarist Julz Sale died from cancer in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

on 20 September 2021.

Legacy

Long after Delta 5's existence, "Mind Your Own Business" has remained the band's most enduring song, having been covered by

Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status t ...

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, R. Stevie Moore,

Pigface Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin. History Pigface was formed from Ministry's ''The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste'' tour, which produced the '' In Case You Didn't Feel ...

and

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. The song was featured in episode 5 of the series ''

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'' in January 2019, an episode of the 2020 BBC TV series '' The A Word'', and in an

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

commercial in 2021.

Discography

Albums

* '' See the Whirl'' (1981)

Compilation albums

* '' Singles & Sessions 1979-1981'' (

; CD; (2006)

Singles

* "Mind Your Own Business" / "Now That You're Gone" (1979, Rough Trade Records) * "Anticipation" / "You" (1980, Rough Trade Records) * "Try" / "Colour" (1980, Rough Trade Records) * "Shadow" / "Leaving" (1981) *''6'' (12" EP, first three singles) (1981, Base Records) * "Powerlines" / "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" (1982)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 English new wave musical groups Political music groups Post-punk groups from Leeds Rough Trade Records artists Charisma Records artists 1979 establishments in England 1981 disestablishments in England