A legendary DJ, famous on London’s gay scene and who later pioneered wheelchair discos at a Jewish elderly care home, has died aged 104.
Jo Purvis, a resident at Nightingale in south-west London, was born in 1922 and grew up in London’s East End.
The self-professed “free spirit” had an initial calling to be a doctor until her stepfather decreed otherwise, so she left school and worked as a receptionist with British Airways. There, she began promoting West End club nights, acquiring customers from British Airways and Fortnum and Mason.
The club was soon hosting three-piece bands and drag queens, and later, after the resident DJ’s absence, Jo began to DJ.
“I didn’t know what to do but Jack [the club manager] said: ‘Just press this and press that,’ and that’s how I became a DJ,’” she recalled to Amanda Weinberg, who wrote an article for Nightingale Hammerson.
Named by QX Magazine as a “living legend of the gay scene” despite the rarity of female DJs, Jo quickly acquired a dedicated following.
She was prolific in underground gay culture, running her famous tea dances. Her DJing was fondly remembered by drag queens and by fellow DJ Tallulah, who was also iconic on the capital’s gay cultural scene.
“I used to go around with my friend Rose…and we learnt to speak Polari – ‘Gayspeak’ – so other people didn’t know what we were talking about [when homosexuality was illegal],” Jo later told Mister Magazine.
To secure venues for gay club nights, she claimed to be holding parties for staff of Thomas Cook, for whom she later worked.
Jo continued DJing well into old age. “When I did my discos with vinyl, I used to carry a case…in my 80s,” she explained. “I didn’t look my age, so no one offered to help me.” At 99, she was still DJing in her local pub.
Jo told Weinberg that it was an ideal profession for elderly people “as you are hidden on a stage, behind a box and nobody sees you”.
Moving to Nightingale House in 2022, Jo ran wheelchair discos, based on her intuition of what music she thought the residents would like.
“I used to play Kylie [Minogue] and Madonna at the wheelchair discos, and they would all be dancing in their wheelchairs,” Jo reminisced. “Then I’d suddenly stop and play the Blue Danube, and everyone would laugh.”
“It was an absolute privilege to have been able to get to know Jo over the last three years,” said Jenny Pattinson, CEO of Nightingale Hammerson. “When we finally got the 100th birthday card [from the King]…she told me: ‘What do I want that for?’ And after a second or two’s thought: ‘Actually, I quite like Camila…Pop it on my shelf behind the cat picture. She was sharp, funny and fiercely independent.”
Purvis’ life – as an ally, rebel and DJ – is further detailed in the 2024 short film Purvette, directed by Alex Eisenberg and supported by Nightingale Hammerson, which premiered at the UK Jewish Film Festival.
“I am so pleased we were able to capture just a few minutes of a life well lived,” said Pattinson. “I will miss her dearly.”
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