Joy Marshall

Emerging Indie Pop Songstress

Joy Marshall was born in 1936 (real name: Joan Pipkins King), and - having lived in San Francisco and New York - came to London in 1961. She got married to Pete King (Ronnie Scott's partner) in 1962, perhaps as a visa scam, but they separated quite quickly. In 1963 she took over from Cleo Laine in Johnny Dankworth's band, but was apparently hot-headed and tricky to work with. After that she became a popular London nightclub singer, and appeared in the documentary London In The Raw in 1964, as well as issuing several 45s and one rather bland LP. In the mid-60s she embarked on a mutually destructive affair with Tubby Hayes (there's a track for her on Mexican Green called A Dedication To Joy). She starred in the West End musical Maggie May, but accidentally overdosed on booze and pills in the autumn of 1968 in her flat in Hammersmith.