' HAPPY HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY JOE'
31st May 2024
Remembering Joe today on what would have been Joe’s 69th birthday. One of the UK’s greatest ever entertainers, ‘incomparable’ in ev...
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REMEMBERING JOE 4 YEARS ON
2nd August 2023
Tomorrow 3rd August 2023 very sadly marks four years since Joe passed on back in 2019. Warm and cherished memories live on forever with ever...
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26
Feb
Feb
AN AUDIENCE WITH JOE LONGTHORNE MBE~ HIPPODROME CASINO ~ PREMIERE OF 'JOE AT THE PALACE'
'An Audience with Joe Longthorne MBE' at The Hippodrome Casino on 29th March 2013, with an exclusive premiere of 'Joe at The Palace' and excerpts of Neil Sean’s “Be My Guest”, an extensive interview which Joe undertook with Neil on the day he received a MBE at Buckingham Palace in December 2012.
Neil will be on stage with Joe during the evening and there's the opportunity to put questions to Joe.
Neil Sean's 'Be My Guest' sees Joe discussing all aspects of his extraordinary life and career, the highs and the lows from sell out concerts around the globe,Royal Command performances,Gold and Platinum Discs and a long running ITV series to financial difficulties and a long running health battle with lymphoma and leukaemia which resulted in Joe undergoing a lifesaving but near fatal bone marrow transplant in 2005.
Joe Longthorne has not always had the easiest of paths through his 57 years but he is never a man to give up and with his gritty, determined resolve has always fought back and is now back in his rightful place as one of our top entertainers.
Joe Longthorne received a MBE from HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace in December 2012 for his services to charity.This honour comes after a career in show business so far spanning more than 40 years with a wealth of industry awards and accolades from his showbiz peers along the way including one such comment from Mr Tony Bennett who stated that Joe had a voice in a million.
Joe Longthorne MBE is one of showbiz’s hardest working entertainers and today performs concerts right around the United Kingdom every year together with shows around the world. He has more than earned his place in show business history.
Ticket prices are Booths £40,Stalls £35,Circle £30,Circle Stools £25.
Box Office Tel No: 0207-769-8866 Opening hours 10am to 8pm.
Book online http://www.hippodromecasino.com/live-at/504/an-audience-with-joe-longthorne
22
Feb
Feb
JOE LONGTHORNE " A TRUE SHOWMAN” ~ THE LANCASHIRE MAGAZINE MAR 2013
David Pearce talks to Joe Longthorne about fame, fortune and the MBE he recently received from Prince Charles…..
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and a childrens’ talent show was underway in the local park. The winner was a six-year-old boy whose rendition of ‘If You Knew Susie’ got the votes.
He chose a yellow plastic toy car for his prize and rejected the alternative – a pound note. That annoyed his sister who told him the family needed the cash.
But now, more than 50 years later, Joe Longthorne still remembers the feeling he experienced for the first time that day as the audience applauded him. It was the launch of a glittering show business career that’s taken him all over the world.
‘You may earn a lot of money but it’s about that feeling you get – the feedback from the audience,’ he says. ‘You give something in your performance and they give something back in reply. That’s the buzz for me.’
Joe has a large and loyal army of fans and they’re not all ladies of a certain age. ‘They are friends to me,’ says Joe who is currently working an eight date tour in America. We are a team because some people who like what I do on stage have been very generous towards the charities I have supported. It’s a great thing about show business that it gives us the chance to help good causes.’
He calls Blackpool his adopted home town and his latest charity focus is on providing equipment for a ward at the town’s Victoria Hospital, but Joe has also contributed a great deal to causes as diverse as medical research, a hospital in Nepal, and the Prince’s Trust which helps young people in this country get a better start in life.
So he was doubly pleased when it was Prince Charles who presented him with the MBE at Buckingham Palace last year. ‘I think of it as a great honour but a lot of other people have joined with me in working for charity and we’ll do more in the future.’
There was no silver spoon start in life for Joe. He was born in Hull where his 89-year-old mother, Teresa Longthorne, still lives. He grew up in a family of nine children in the Hessle Road area. His forebears had been travelling people and he enjoyed riding a horse and cart with his father, a general dealer, his mother processed fish.
‘My dad rescued an old upright piano on bonfire night. He could play very well by ear and I learned the same way. I can’t read music. My mother was a good singer and I was always singing. I told them at school I was going to be a singer. Mind you, I wasn’t there a lot. I used to go now and again to see if it was still there. I never pass a busker without giving something. My mum and dad did that to get money for the family.’
At 14 Joe won Yorkshire Television’s Junior Showtime and began to learn his craft as an entertainer in pubs and clubs across the North of England. In 1981 he won London Weekend Television’s Search for a Star with his blend of singing and impressions. In 1985 the Variety Club voted him the ‘Most Promising Artist of the Year.’
He found huge acclaim in Australia, played the London Palladium and featured in the Royal Command Performance.
It was a brilliant time. You have to have a bit of fun in life and I had plenty. Substantial amounts of money were coming in. I had a massive house near the Thames, a yellow Rolls Royce – it looked like a banana on wheels - all the trappings.
But there was a dark side to Joe’s life. In 1989 he was diagnosed with lymphoma, a form of cancer affecting the blood. Not a man to quit easily, Joe soldiered on.
He admits: ‘I am no saint and my slate hasn’t always been clean. Drinking a lot got me into trouble when I was younger. I started smoking when I was 18 and I still do. Maybe I’ll quit this year, but I would never encourage anyone else to smoke.’
Working in America, Joe went back to his family roots and travelled widely in motor homes and caravans. ‘I always found that a very relaxing way of life.’
He enjoyed gambling. One night in Atlantic City there was a pot of 35,000 dollars on the card table. ‘I carried on playing but I also started drinking during the game. It all went.’
In the Nineties, financial problems loomed and Joe became bankrupt. ‘I had some so called advisers who had all been to the same school. When you are earning a lot you soon find people who want to tell you what to do with the money. I didn’t get the best advice.’
In 2006, cancer struck again and Joe received a bone marrow transplant which saved his life when leukaemia – another form of blood disorder – was diagnosed. The following year the Variety Club gave him a lifetime achievement award so that he joined the elite ranks of performers like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.
He’s made albums and music videos and received gold and platinum discs, although you won’t find them on show at his home, a rambling old detached house in the heart of Blackpool where chickens share the garden with his Labrador dog.
‘I’ve always been a people person. When I was kid I used to play and sing for senior citizens and I used to take my dog with me. They liked that. I never looked for a medal or a reward for it.’
At 57, Joe admits: ‘I have been foolish, sometimes, in my life. But I would not change any of it. My health is good and I have no intention of retiring. I’m optimistic about myself and the future.’
Watching a showbusiness legend.....this from Journalist Robin Duke, former entertainments editor of The Gazette, Blackpool, who spent nearly 40 years writing about the numerous stars who have appeared in the resort,a confirmed Joe Longthorne fan, he writes: I first saw Joe Longthorne on the opening night of his North Pier Theatre debut many years ago. It was the first time a summer season headliner had received a spontaneous standing ovation from the entire audience and it was easy to see why he received one with his then unique and remarkable ability to perform vocal impressions of dozens of performers - including his now famous Shirley Bassey/Tom Jones duet.
Since that night I have seen him perform enough times to be considered almost a JL groupie. I’ve seen him perform in huge venues eg Blackpool Opera House), social clubs like Layton Institute, cafe bars and cabaret outlets and he always - in sickness and in health - gives his all.
His legion of fans have stuck with him through thick and thin, not exactly throwing their underwear but always on hand with bunches of flowers, boxes of chocolates, bottles of champagne and stronger stuff, even shoes and suits. In return they are treated as friends of the family.
Today’s JL show features his own voice as much as his impressions and again it’s one of the best in the business - not always easy to explain to a generation which finds it difficult to comprehend that anyone outside of the ‘X Factor’ or ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ can have both an X factor and talent to spare. I’ve had the privilege to see him fronting a full orchestra and also to see him singing solo behind a piano. There aren’t many legends left but he’s one of them.”
This interview reproduced here with the kind permission of The Lancashire and North West Magazine first published in March 2013 edition,photograph by Peter Owen.
14
Feb
Feb
JOE LONGTHORNE MBE LIVE AT VIVA BLACKPOOL 2013
Joe Longthorne MBE will be appearing at VIVA Blackpool in a series of headline shows throughout 2013.
Joe with his full band plus supporting show will be performing 21 dates at VIVA on select Sundays on 31st March, 5th May and 26th May and then every Sunday from 7th July right through till 3rd November.
This is a perfect way to see and enjoy Joe up close and personal in the beautiful cabaret lounge style surroundings of VIVA Blackpool.
Tickets for all the dates are now on sale and can be booked by calling VIVA's box office on Tel No: 01253-297297 or on line at www.vivablackpool.com.
There are various prices on seating as follows:
Platinum(Front Row) £24.90
Gold Circle Seats: £22.90
Silver Circle Seats £17.90
Diamond Seats £14.90
To complete a special evening out a Carvery Meal is available at £14.95 for 3 courses and £11.95 for 2 courses, there are also other food options on offer.
07
Feb
Feb
JOE LONGTHORNE "BE MY GUEST" NEW DVD RELEASED
We are pleased to announce the release of "Be My Guest" the brand new DVD from Joe Longthorne MBE. This features a lengthy and in depth interview with Joe and Neil Sean at the Westminster Live studios, filmed immediately after Joe received his MBE from HRH Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. Joe chats at length with Neil and discusses every aspect of his extraordinary life and career in great depth.
The DVD is available now from TM Promotions, Joe's merchandise store, please click on the tab on the Home page here. All pre orders are currently being despatched.
TM Promotions stock a wide range of merchandise,CDs,DVDs, and much more, currently there are a few of the 2013 A3 Limited Edition Joe Longthorne Calendars remaining but the stocks are low now so please order before they are all gone, these calendars are high quality with excellent photography and plenty of space for all those important dates right through the year.
