Joe Jackson interview by Dr. Dot

#TBT a Cover story interview I did with Joe Jackson in 2008, in Berlin, Germany where Joe had a flat not far from mine. I was a columnist for the ExBerliner magazine for 14 years, my monthly column was called “Ask Dr. Dot” but they also paid me to sometimes interview Rock and Pop stars since I know them personally and speak fluent German and English. Here ya go:

‘Steppin’ Kraut

Sub:

Legendary British musician Joe Jackson confides in star columnist Dr Dot about his career and new Berlin home

You know Joe Jackson, the British singer, composer and musician, famed for hits such as ‘Steppin’ Out’, ‘Is She Really Going Out With Him?’ and ‘It’s Different For Girls’. He’s won a Grammy, written film music for Francis Ford Coppola, and collaborated with everyone from Marianne Faithful to William Shatner. Growing up in ordinary conditions in the south of England, with success he has become an urban cosmopolitan, with residences in London, New York and – since last year – in Berlin – where he is continuing his fight against the prohibitionists of the anti-smoking movement. Sexy sex-columnist and star masseuse Dr Dot invited Jackson to her Kreuzberg apartment for a confidential chat. .

Do you sometimes regret having moved to Berlin?

**Je ne regrette rien. I was living in London before, and it’s become a nasty place: expensive, hectic, horrible traffic, CCTV everywhere. Everyone is stressed out and when you go into a pub, people aren’t relaxing; they’re getting as drunk as possible and shouting at each other. Berlin is **so much more free and relaxed. At the same time, it’s so interesting. There’s great drama here, as you walk around you’re constantly reminded of momentous events.

Does the scene here have any influence on your own musical ideas?

The music scene isn’t my first priority, to be honest. London has more variety, and New York is better for jazz and Latin music. Then again, in Berlin I’ve discovered the Balkan Beats phenomenon, which I love – the wildness and the sort of un-cool coolness of it. As for influences, I feel like **everything is an influence. It all sinks in to the cooking pot of the unconscious and sort of bubbles away. Every now and then I dip a spoon into it and hopefully dish up something tasty. But at that point I can’t tell you any more which ingredient came from where.

In the bonus DVD for your new album **Rain, you give viewers an interesting inside view on this city by pointing out some odd places, like the Karl-Marx-Allee.

You thought that was interesting?! One German paper said it was ‘clichéd’ and it probably was. Sure I’ve found my own odd, quirky corners of Berlin, but I want to keep them to myself. So I end up saying predictable things like, ‘Isn’t it nice to sit by the Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg on a summer evening?’ But it **is nice.

Do you still think in terms of ‘East’ and ‘West’?

I can’t help it. I started coming to Berlin in 1979. It would usually be on a tour bus from Hamburg. You’d go through two checkpoints and then have to stay on this one road through the GDR. There was one truck stop where we’d always stop to buy East German vodka at, like, 50 cents a bottle. Finally this bus, knee-deep in clanking bottles, would arrive at the Wall and go through another two checkpoints. The West Germans were always mean, while the East Germans were easily bribed with a couple of audiocassettes and a T-shirt.

Anyway, finally you’d be in this intriguing, slightly sinister place. Oddly enough, even though it was a sort of island, enclosed by a wall, it had a sense of freedom and spaciousness. Now it has even more.

You’re an unapologetic smoker. Are you pleased about the Constitutional Court’s partial reversal of the smoking ban?

What I like is that it recognizes that bar owners have some rights, and also that bans hurt business – these things are denied in the UK. What I **don’t like is that it only addresses the issue of the ‘level playing field’. This was the phrase used in England to justify a total ban; they said it was the only way to be ‘fair’. Personally I don’t see how imposing a total ban on everyone is ‘fair’, but respecting the property rights of bar owners and freedom of choice for customers is not fair. But that’s the twisted logic of anti-tobacco for you. People have this naïve idea that they’re noble souls in white coats fighting to save the world … in fact they’re a prohibitionist movement who’ve worked themselves into a position of great wealth and power, and many of them are very nasty people. I mean, I’ve met them, and debated with them, and they’re not the sort of people you’d want to have a beer with.

In your fight to defend public smoking you even use the term ‘anti- smoking fascists’ for those who openly oppose your pleasures. Would you consider yourself a ‘pro-smoking fascist’?

Well, I’m not trying to force anyone to smoke, while they’re definitely trying to force me not to. And smoking in a bar is not ‘public smoking’. A bar is private property and it should be up to the owner. I can live with a choice of smoking and nonsmoking places, but the best solution is just to have a good modern ventilation system and encourage tolerance. The antismoking movement encourages intolerance.

Smokers and nonsmokers have co-existed for hundreds of years, and now they’ve driven this big wedge between us, divided people into the ‘normal’ group and a stigmatized group. This is certainly fascist. As for ‘secondhand smoke’: Dot, I know you don’t like smoke, but I promise you that if you really looked at the evidence, as I’ve done, you would have to come to the same conclusion. It’s nonsense. For every study that shows a tiny, unproven, hypothetical risk, there are six that can’t find anything. And many antismoking activists are well aware of this.

You just turned 54 in August, but look healthier and younger than most of your contemporaries. Is smoking a good recipe against aging?

I think it’s all about moderation and balance, but also about not denying yourself pleasure. I’m in pretty good shape. It could be the healthy diet and exercise – or drinking the blood of young virgins. Probably a bit of both.

Since your first hit single, nearly 30 years ago, you’ve sold millions of records, won a Grammy (for ‘Symphony No.1’), written music for Hollywood films (e.g. **Tucker) collaborated with Todd Rundgren, Ben Folds and Marianne Faithful, and even sang a duet with legendary actor William Shatner. Do you have more goals in life? Anything you would consider ‘a dream come true’?

I’ve always liked the idea of writing for the theatre, but could never see a way to do it that wouldn’t be cheesy. Hopefully our project on Bram Stoker is it and will actually get staged. I’ve been working with a writer and director for a couple of years about Stoker and how he became twisted enough to create **Dracula! It’s a really cool piece, not a Broadway musical, something quite strange and different. I have another project on the back burner, too, which is a tribute to Duke Ellington, with a lot of different people contributing – not necessarily jazz people. Beyond that, it’s all a great mystery. Which is nice.

In your autobiographical book **A Cure For Gravity, you wrote about your experiences before you became successful.

One thing that intrigued me when I was writing it was how horrible experiences, like gigs that were just so god-awful you wanted to die, become funny in retrospect. So I was wondering if I could do some really awful gigs and appreciate the humour then and there. Like, I play the drums a bit but I’m really bad. Maybe I could get a group of equally bad people together, and play some horrible dive somewhere and actually enjoy it this time around. So if anyone needs a really bad drummer, bear me in mind.

Special thanks to Joe, who is normally very private and too busy for interviews, and my friend Björn for his question contributions. Dr. Dot

Steppin’ Kraut

Sub:

Legendary British musician Joe Jackson confides in star columnist Dr Dot about his career and new Berlin home

You know Joe Jackson, the British singer, composer and musician, famed for hits such as ‘Steppin’ Out’, ‘Is She Really Going Out With Him?’ and ‘It’s Different For Girls’. He’s won a Grammy, written film music for Francis Ford Coppola, and collaborated with everyone from Marianne Faithful to William Shatner. Growing up in ordinary conditions in the south of England, with success he has become an urban cosmopolitan, with residences in London, New York and – since last year – in Berlin – where he is continuing his fight against the prohibitionists of the anti-smoking movement. Sexy sex-columnist and star masseuse Dr Dot invited Jackson to her Kreuzberg apartment for a confidential chat. .

Do you sometimes regret having moved to Berlin?

**Je ne regrette rien. I was living in London before, and it’s become a nasty place: expensive, hectic, horrible traffic, CCTV everywhere. Everyone is stressed out and when you go into a pub, people aren’t relaxing; they’re getting as drunk as possible and shouting at each other. Berlin is **so much more free and relaxed. At the same time, it’s so interesting. There’s great drama here, as you walk around you’re constantly reminded of momentous events.

Does the scene here have any influence on your own musical ideas?

The music scene isn’t my first priority, to be honest. London has more variety, and New York is better for jazz and Latin music. Then again, in Berlin I’ve discovered the Balkan Beats phenomenon, which I love – the wildness and the sort of un-cool coolness of it. As for influences, I feel like **everything is an influence. It all sinks in to the cooking pot of the unconscious and sort of bubbles away. Every now and then I dip a spoon into it and hopefully dish up something tasty. But at that point I can’t tell you any more which ingredient came from where.

In the bonus DVD for your new album **Rain, you give viewers an interesting inside view on this city by pointing out some odd places, like the Karl-Marx-Allee.

You thought that was interesting?! One German paper said it was ‘clichéd’ and it probably was. Sure I’ve found my own odd, quirky corners of Berlin, but I want to keep them to myself. So I end up saying predictable things like, ‘Isn’t it nice to sit by the Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg on a summer evening?’ But it **is nice.

Do you still think in terms of ‘East’ and ‘West’?

I can’t help it. I started coming to Berlin in 1979. It would usually be on a tour bus from Hamburg. You’d go through two checkpoints and then have to stay on this one road through the GDR. There was one truck stop where we’d always stop to buy East German vodka at, like, 50 cents a bottle. Finally this bus, knee-deep in clanking bottles, would arrive at the Wall and go through another two checkpoints. The West Germans were always mean, while the East Germans were easily bribed with a couple of audiocassettes and a T-shirt.

Anyway, finally you’d be in this intriguing, slightly sinister place. Oddly enough, even though it was a sort of island, enclosed by a wall, it had a sense of freedom and spaciousness. Now it has even more.

You’re an unapologetic smoker. Are you pleased about the Constitutional Court’s partial reversal of the smoking ban?

What I like is that it recognizes that bar owners have some rights, and also that bans hurt business – these things are denied in the UK. What I **don’t like is that it only addresses the issue of the ‘level playing field’. This was the phrase used in England to justify a total ban; they said it was the only way to be ‘fair’. Personally I don’t see how imposing a total ban on everyone is ‘fair’, but respecting the property rights of bar owners and freedom of choice for customers is not fair. But that’s the twisted logic of anti-tobacco for you. People have this naïve idea that they’re noble souls in white coats fighting to save the world … in fact they’re a prohibitionist movement who’ve worked themselves into a position of great wealth and power, and many of them are very nasty people. I mean, I’ve met them, and debated with them, and they’re not the sort of people you’d want to have a beer with.

In your fight to defend public smoking you even use the term ‘anti- smoking fascists’ for those who openly oppose your pleasures. Would you consider yourself a ‘pro-smoking fascist’?

Well, I’m not trying to force anyone to smoke, while they’re definitely trying to force me not to. And smoking in a bar is not ‘public smoking’. A bar is private property and it should be up to the owner. I can live with a choice of smoking and nonsmoking places, but the best solution is just to have a good modern ventilation system and encourage tolerance. The antismoking movement encourages intolerance.

Smokers and nonsmokers have co-existed for hundreds of years, and now they’ve driven this big wedge between us, divided people into the ‘normal’ group and a stigmatized group. This is certainly fascist. As for ‘secondhand smoke’: Dot, I know you don’t like smoke, but I promise you that if you really looked at the evidence, as I’ve done, you would have to come to the same conclusion. It’s nonsense. For every study that shows a tiny, unproven, hypothetical risk, there are six that can’t find anything. And many antismoking activists are well aware of this.

You just turned 54 in August, but look healthier and younger than most of your contemporaries. Is smoking a good recipe against aging?

I think it’s all about moderation and balance, but also about not denying yourself pleasure. I’m in pretty good shape. It could be the healthy diet and exercise – or drinking the blood of young virgins. Probably a bit of both.

Since your first hit single, nearly 30 years ago, you’ve sold millions of records, won a Grammy (for ‘Symphony No.1’), written music for Hollywood films (e.g. **Tucker) collaborated with Todd Rundgren, Ben Folds and Marianne Faithful, and even sang a duet with legendary actor William Shatner. Do you have more goals in life? Anything you would consider ‘a dream come true’?

I’ve always liked the idea of writing for the theatre, but could never see a way to do it that wouldn’t be cheesy. Hopefully our project on Bram Stoker is it and will actually get staged. I’ve been working with a writer and director for a couple of years about Stoker and how he became twisted enough to create **Dracula! It’s a really cool piece, not a Broadway musical, something quite strange and different. I have another project on the back burner, too, which is a tribute to Duke Ellington, with a lot of different people contributing – not necessarily jazz people. Beyond that, it’s all a great mystery. Which is nice.

In your autobiographical book **A Cure For Gravity, you wrote about your experiences before you became successful.

One thing that intrigued me when I was writing it was how horrible experiences, like gigs that were just so god-awful you wanted to die, become funny in retrospect. So I was wondering if I could do some really awful gigs and appreciate the humour then and there. Like, I play the drums a bit but I’m really bad. Maybe I could get a group of equally bad people together, and play some horrible dive somewhere and actually enjoy it this time around. So if anyone needs a really bad drummer, bear me in mind.

Special thanks to Joe, who is normally very private and too busy for interviews, and my friend Björn for his question contributions. Dr. Dot’

#TBT Rosenstolz in Berlin

April 12, 2006 I was called to the Columbiahalle to massage a “very famous German duo” called Rosenstolz. I didn’t know who they were but was suprised how super friendly Peter was. Not my type of music but they were very kind, generous and polite. Peter was very grateful and happy about my sports massage to pep him up before his show.

“Rosenstolz was a German pop duo from Berlin that was active between 1991 and 2012 and had chart hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The duo consisted of singer AnNa R. and musician Peter Plate, who occasionally provided vocals. “

Massage Delivery service in Berlin, Germany

Book me: email me at bookings@drdot.com and write “Benjamin/Berlin” in the subject line

Hi! My name is Benjamin. I am a fully trained and qualified Massage Therapist based in Berlin.
I started working in an orthopedic practice in 2015.

In 2018 I started to work independently as a massage therapist.

I have diplomas in classical massage, fascia & triggerpoint management and Thai massage level I.

When I heard about Dr. Dot I instantly wrote her an e-mail asking to be a part of the team.
I am open-minded massage therapist with 4 years of professional experience and training. My work is highly professional, yet friendly and comfortable. I am very happy to conjure up a smile on your lips.
I help to release blockages and tension in the deep tissue. My massage is used to treat chronic, as well as injury-related pain, as well. I have successfully treated clients from all ranges of life, including sporting professionals.
My goals are to provide a massage session that is specific to you and your needs.
So if you’re in Berlin and looking for a great massage, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Looking forward to see you soon! Benjamin

Massage and Yoga Delivery service in Berlin, Germany

Book me: email me at bookings@drdot.com and write “Cornelia/Berlin” in the subject line

Since 2009 I am educated in traditional Thai Massage in Thailand.

I was formally trained from 2005-2008 in Yoga, Voice and Body work in performing art school in Berlin which compliments my knowledge in practicing holistic massages.
Since 2010-2012 I worked as the Massage Therapist in “Badeschiff Berlin”

Since 2013 I have been working in most five star hotels in Berlin.
I have lots of experience with vip clients/ artists

Massage Delivery service in Berlin, Germany

Marcella_Berlin

Book me: email me at bookings@drdot.com and write “Marcella/Berlin” in the subject line

Why me?
Since I took a course at the Alchemy of Touch and Transformation Academy,
I am passionated about giving my power to re-balance yourself.

Why Marcella’s Re-Balance-Massage?
My technique is a mix of deep tissue, shiatsu, holistic massage, yoga stretching
and the liquid touch, shaking your body to create a good energy flow.
I will stretch your shoulders to create space
and work on all your tension points.

Why Berlin?
After a long time in amsterdam it was time to move to Berlin and now I massage
in 5 star hotels, clubs, festivals and I have a lovely home studio.
I speak english, dutch, german and a few words of spanish.

Book your Re-Balance-Massage with me
and re-power yourself to be fit on tour.

See you soon,
Marcella

Massage Delivery Service in Berlin, Germany 24 hours per day

Augustin_Berlin

Contact me: bookings@drdot.com and write “Augustin/Berlin” in subject line 🙂
I am an Argentinian certified Massage Therapist based in Berlin, so I am fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, and I´m learning german. As I am also an actor (clown, pantomime) and contact dancer, my interest has always been in Physical language and bodywork as well as exploring different techniques, such as Californian massage, Aromatherapy, reflexology and Joint Release.
My focus is to let blockages dissolve and make my clients be more aware of their own bodies and the pleasure of beeing touched. People have thoroughly enjoyed my massages because of the warm athmosphere, healing energy and trustworthy feeling throughout the session.
I was mostly giving mobile massages in Argentina and Spain. Here in Berlin I was part of the wellness team of the gym “Friends and fitness”. I also worked with Afino company that was managing the Spa areas of several hotels, such as Raddisson Blue, Estrel, Park Inn, Anders and Novotel. As travelling is one of my passions, I´m able to join on the backstage of the tours.
ESPAÑOL
Soy un masajista certificado argentino viviendo en Berlin. Además de español materno, hablo de forma fluida inglés, italiano y estoy estudiando alemán.
Como soy también actor (clown, mimo) y bailo “contact improvisation”, el lenguaje físico es mi pasión. Mi masaje se nutrió de técnicas como el masaje californiano, drenaje linfático, “joint release” la reflexología y aromaterapia así como de todos los masajes dados y recibidos entre colegas artistas y masajistas. Mi foco está en ampliar la conciencia corporal de mis clientes y disolver bloqueos, generando una atmósfera cálida para que puedan con toda confianza entregarse a sentirse a sí mismos a través de mi trabajo.
Trabajé en Argentina y España como masajista autónomo, y en Berlin en el Gym “Friends & Fitness” y con la compañía “Afino Centro”, en los Spa y Wellnes Area de los hoteles Park Inn, Radisson Blue, Estrel, Novotel y Ander´s. Viajar es una de mis pasiones, por lo tanto estoy disponible para trabajar en tours y giras.

Hamburg, Germany, Massage Delivery Service, 24 hours per day

Ganzseitiges Foto

Email me at: bookings@drdot.com and write “Astrid/Hamburg” in subject line please
Hello my name is Astrid and I guess with my height of 6ft 4in, I am one of the tallest female massage therapist on this planet! I live at the Baltic Coast and I am covering massage treatments for Hamburg, Lübeck, Kiel and bay of Lübeck. Since many years I am working in the Spa-Management and I did educations as Wellness-Practioner for different Massage styles, Ayurveda-Practioner and Beautician/Visagistic.  I do classic massages, like full-half body, head and face, neck-back-shoulder, deep-pressure, hand and foot massages. As well I offer Ayurvedic massages known as, Abhyanga (fullbody 90min), Mukabhyanga (head 60min), Padabhyanga (feet 60min), Upanahasveda (back 60min). I do Shiatsu (90min), Detox-Scrubs with massage gloves.
I am fascinated of the world of Wellness/Spa/Health and love to work with different cultures, training staff, writing Spa-Menus, set up new-openings for Spa`s. At the moment I am Supervisor in one of the most beautiful Thai-Day Spas of Europe.
Before I entered the Spa business I was working in Gastronomy and Hospitality in different countries and parts of Germany. Next to my casual jobs I loved the modelling and did that specially for Tall woman section as leg/hand model in the US and UK.
So far, the facts about me. I would love to get booked by you, to provide you with my credo for a soothing, rejuvenation break. EnJOY!

24 hour Massage Delivery Service in Berlin

Dot by_Eric_Weiss_headShot

Email: bookings@drdot.com and write “Dr. Dot/Berlin” to book me

My name is Dr. Dot Stein and I have 912!! Massage therapists and Chiropractors working for me, world wide. I reside in Berlin, Germany and also from time to time, Hoboken, NJ.

I love to massage people and my clients all say I have the strongest hands in the world.

If you give me ample notice, I can come to you and heal you. I bring a massage table, linens and of course, oils. My hands have massaged some of the worlds most famous

people. Why? Because hands down, I am the best at what I do.

Looking forward to kicking  your ass.

 

ps.
Please, only serious requests, as we do not reply to jokesters or any
erotica requests. We do NOT offer such massages and we DO drape.
Just making everything clear so we are all on the same page 🙂

Dr_Dot_Flyer_German

 

 

Massage Delivery Service in Stuttgart Germany 24/7

Rene_Stuttgart_Heidelberg

To book me please email bookings@drdot.com and write “Rene/Stuttgart/Germany“ in the subject line 🙂

Hi, my name is René,

 I am physiotherapist since 2005. In my family there are many therapists, so I have that certain something in my blood.
I am specialized in the static as well as on the spine of the human body. For me it is important to treat the body holistically. For this reason, I offer a variety of different treatment methods like:

  • Classical massage 
  • Acupoint massage 
  • Deep tissue 
  • Lomi Lomi Nui 
  • Hot Stone 
  • Reiki 
  • and the total regeneration of the spine (a special way to bring the spine in the balance) 

In addition, I am also a teacher of some of these methods. I teach people how they can treat themselves.

My clients appreciate my quiet nature as well as my hands so they get into new dimensions of deep relaxation.

see you soon!
René 

 

24 hour massage service Berlin, Germany

Kerstin_Berlin

 Book me:info@drdot.com and write: “Kerstin/Berlin” in subject line 🙂
Hello!  My name is Kerstin and I am a massage therapist based in Berlin.

Your personal treatment might contain elements of Classical Massage,  Deep Tissue Massage, Anti Ageing Massage, Touch for Health, Ayurvedic, Shiatsu and Cranio Sacral Massage –
Whatever is needed to help you feeling relaxed, free of pain and happy.