JO WALLACE

Jo first got into music watching Millie Small and Marvin Gaye on top Mod TV show Ready Steady Go in 1964. After listening to her brother’s blues LP collection including John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, she found herself lured into the beguiling world of black music. Inheriting a box full of Motown 45s in 1967, she began collecting vinyl seriously in 1969 and in 1973, she landed her dream job and started work in a record shop. A rival record shop recruited her in 1976 and Jo began selling import soul & funk 45’s and her illustrious DJ career started at the same time in a pub in Chatham… and it’s been downhill ever since!

Jo was offered her first DJ residency in ’81 and in 1983, Jo started work as a co-presenter on the Rod Lucas show on BBC Radio Kent from where the show was hijacked by commercial radio station, Invicta FM. After 4 years, Jo left the show to run the ska & rocksteady section during 87/88 in the major reggae record shop, Red Records in Brixton. In the early ‘90s, she co-presented a night time show on the legal version of KISS FM, ran her riotous ‘Immaculate Contraption’ gay nights for 9 years at Chatham’s infamous Ship public house as well as the gone but never forgotten ‘Baby Janes’ at the Hilltop Club, made guest appearances on Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’, Richard Searling’s Jazz FM show, DJ’d at the legendary 100 Club at the 6Ts Allnighters and Stuart Maconie’s Radio 2 show ‘All Singing, All Dancing’. Most recently, Jo was asked to host a 30 minute ‘Trunk of Funk’ on Craig Charles’ ‘BBC 6 Music ‘Funk and Soul’ show in December 2021.

While Head of Paper Archiving at Universal Music, Jo compiled and released the Motown CDs, Soul Satisfaction 2-5, Motown Floorshakers, Motown Northern and Motown Love as a sideline. During this time, she also curated ‘Island Records 50th Anniversary’ exhibition and put together the soundtracks for the Versace and Vivienne Westwood exhibitions at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Career highlights include DJing with Dennis Alcapone in 2016 & Big Youth in 2017 at Dreamland’s ‘Jamaican Independence Day’ celebrations, her 2015 performance at doing a six hour set at Festival No.6 on the Stone Boat Stage in 2015 with Ashley Beedle entitled ‘The History of Black Music’, closing Glastonbury after the Stones and Stevie Wonder, her residency at Snowboy’s ‘Good Foot’ nights @Madame JoJo’s, Tom Moulton remixing the Ramrock Blue 12” ‘Over Again’ by Mr Bird & Greg Blackman and co-hosting the small but perfectly formed London based Northern soul night ‘These Old Shoes’ for six years. Jo continues to DJ and broadcast; her two hour Totally Wired FM radio show ‘Run for Cover’ is broadcast every month. She also owns and runs five vinyl record labels, Ramrock, Ramrock Blue, Ramrock Red & Ramrock Retro and house label F*CLR. As part of the remix & production North Street West Collective, Jo works closely with her husband, dance music legend, Ashley Beedle and music maestro, Darren Morris on remixes for her Ramrock and F*CLR labels as well as for other artists.