Which British singer began his career with a skiffle group called The Spacemen in 1958?

It was in 1958, as Lonnie Donegan was ruling the charts with ‘Rock Island Line’, that Joe joined his first band, the Spacemen Skiffle Group, at the age of 17. Three years later he was the resident lead guitarist on producer Jack Good’s groundbreaking TV show 'Boy Meets Girls'. He found himself backing visiting American stars like Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Johnny Cash.

1960 was the year when The Spacemen became Joe Brown’s backing band The Bruvvers as the hits began to roll in, starting with ‘The Darktown Strutters Ball’ and reaching a crescendo in 1962/3 with ‘A Picture Of You’, ‘It Only Took A Minute’ and ‘That’s What Love Will Do’. During this time it was Joe who was headlining British tours that featured Del Shannon, Dion, the Crystals… and an up and coming band called the Beatles.

He starred in the long running West End musical “Charlie Girl” in 1965 and has since appeared in “Sleuth” and “Pump Boys And Dinettes” which in 1985 he directed and took on tour. And there were films “What A Crazy World”, “Three Hats For Lisa”, “Spike Milligan Meets Joe Brown” and “Mona Lisa” with Bob Hoskins. Not to mention his regular TV appearances which included three series of “The Joe Brown Show” on ITV and his Radio 2 stints either side of the new millennium including presenting “The Rock Island Line”, “Good Rockin’ Tonight”, “Let It Rock” and “Joe Brown’s Sunday Roast” which was a regular programme on BBC Berkshire.