British rock star who burst onto the international scene in the
1970s with the
hit "
Is She Really Going Out With Him?" Also had hits with "
Steppin' Out", "
Right And Wrong", "
Different For Girls", "
Nineteen Forever", etc.
His career has been very eclectic, starting as New Wave and compared with fellow "Angry Young Men" Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, with diversions into swing in 1981 (long before it was cool,) salsa, orchestral music and movie scores. His current interests are what he calls "post-pop"--music that has pop, classical, jazz, and rock influences.
One of the best live music performers I have ever seen.
His real first name is David, but he hasn't gone by that in a long time.
Went to the Royal Academy of Music with Annie Lennox.
His favorite bass player is Graham Maby, whose sister helped Joe lose his virginity.
Last year wrote an autobiography called A Cure For Gravity that is a touching, intelligent, and funny look at the music business, rock and roll, and how music touches our soul. It also contained the virginity information above, so it's not like I've spilled the beans on some great secret that I learned in confidence. The book is great if you like any sort of music.
Joe is one of the most consistently good musicians out there. He's never been a darling of the critics if for nothing else than he simply doesn't listen to them. They also insist on saying "Well, he's okay, but not as good as Elvis Costello. Now, I like Elvis Costello a lot, but Joe has a better signing voice, more musical training, much more depth of style--and Elvis didn't start working with string quartets and opera singers until years after Joe did.
I've chosen to give more details about Joe's history and music through the writeups for his albums below.
Joe's albums are the following: