(1981 to date) – Douglas Pierce (guitar / vocals / percussion / keyboards), Patrick Leagas (drums / vocals / drum machine/ keyboards / trumpet) and Tony Wakeford (bass / vocals)
Formed out of the ashes of Crisis in 1981 with Pierce, Leagas and Wakeford were joined by, founder member of Psychic TV, Christ TV shortly after. Their first gig, supporting The Birthday Party, was at City of London Polytechnic on 20 November ’81. By ’83, with the release of ‘The Guilty Have No Pride’ mini LP, which reached 13th in the MRIB chart and received a four star review in Sounds and was well received by Melody Maker, their European folk sound was coming to the fore. Tension over direction lead to Wakeford being asked to leave in January ’84 and he went on to post-punk Above the Ruins and formed Sol Invictus.
March ’85 saw the release of “NADA”, a 10 track LP including “The Honour of Silence”, “The Calling”, “Leper Lord” and “She Said Destroy”, which Sounds’ Sandy Robertson raved over when released as a single in ’84, securing Single of the Week; closing with “Crush My Soul” which Soundscene’s reviewer described as sounding “like an innocent musical box, but one which opens to reveal a dancing razor blade in a tu-tu. Magnifico stuff”. “Born Again” was released as a 12″ shortly after “NADA” hit the racks, with “The Calling (MkII)” and “Carousel (Bolt Mix)” on the flipside. The band were then off to Paris then a short tour of Italy..
Leagas departed abruptly in April 1985 after the Italian tour, resulting in many cancelled shows in the UK and Europe due to follow that tour. Leagas, who began calling himself Patrick O-Kill, went on to formed Sixth Comm. So it was that in 1985 Pierce, who was originally from St. Johns, became the sole constant member of Death in June, with rotating guest musicians serving as collaborators and live band members. Pearce continues working under the Death in June moniker to this day.
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