You Don't Need a Dick to DJ

Before she became Smokin Jo - the most famous and visible of the first generation of ''superstar DJs'' - Joanne Joseph was a young girl growing up in a children''s home with her sister. Until her mother returned and whisked the siblings away just before secondary school to a flat on the Portobello Road, her life was devoid of music: the home didn''t allow it, apart from hymns and carols at Christmas.

As she entered the turbulent years of adolescence, Jo found herself pulled towards Soho and the burgeoning underground acid house scene, instantly finding herself at home amongst other artists, musicians and misfits who breathed and survived on dance music and ecstasy. Within a couple of years, in a lightning-fast ascent, Jo claimed her permanent place as one of England''s most exciting and revered DJs of the British rave scene. In 1992, Jo was awarded DJ of the Year in DJ Magazine''s list of Top 100 DJ''s. To this day she is still the only woman to achieve this accolade.<