Stu Allan (6 February 1962 – 22 September 2022) was a British
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
DJ and
producer
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
who worked for
Piccadilly Radio and
Key 103
''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.''
Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
in the 1980s and 1990s. His
hip hop,
hardcore techno
Hardcore (also known as hardcore techno or hardcore house) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in the early 1990s. It is distinguished by faster tempos and a distorte ...
and
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...
mixes ranked him the world's No. 3 DJ by ''
DJ Magazine
''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...
'' in 1993 and his performances influenced significantly the music scene during this period.
Allan continued to remain a major contributor within the UK hardcore scene..
Biography
Born and raised in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a Local government in Wales, principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strai ...
, Wales, he moved to Manchester in 1982 and took up
DJing. Between 1984 and 1986, his mixes/remixes were featured on Piccadilly Radio, Manchester on various shows including those of Timmy Mallet, Chris Evans, and Tim Grundy.
In July 1986, he was given his own show on Piccadilly Radio. He was originally filling in for the regular DJ on a 6-week holiday, but the reaction was so great from listeners that he was signed on permanently. He began featuring hip-hop and house. "
Love Can't Turn Around" by Farley Jackmaster Funk was the first record Allan played on the radio. This track got the attention of the people in charge of the station and Allan was asked to explain why he was playing this "music". He said he believed this was what listeners really wanted to hear (having seen clubbers going wild to tunes like "
Jack Your Body", "Jack the Groove" and many other underground Chicago label tunes at his gigs), and convinced them that his choice of music was right when the station's ratings improved massively. During this period, Allan produced a soul show called "Souled Out" and a hip-hop show called "Bus 'Diss". He would also have a house hour which would feature the seamless mixing he is known for.
Allan was a big attraction at Bowlers in Trafford Park, Manchester. His choice of high energy old school music made him a favourite on the
rave scene in the 1990s. Frequently misspelled as Stu Allen, even on promotional flyers. Allan was also a regular DJ on the Vibealite rave scene, performing at many of their events across the north of England.
He died on 22 September 2022, aged 60, after suffering a rare
GIST.
Clock
Between 1993 and 1999, he was one half of the production team behind
Eurodance
Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. Thi ...
act
Clock
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
. As well as having commercial success in the group, their songs were also released as hardcore remixes under the pseudonym Visa and were hits on the underground.
Radio
In 1999–2000,
Kiss 100 approached him to mix and produce the now legendary "Kiss Mix" (Mon–Sat evenings) which became the most listened to shows at that time in London for 14 to 24-year-olds.
In 2005, he had a show named "Hardcore Nation" on
Pure Dance. As of September 2012, Allan broadcast on Unity Radio 92.8FM in Manchester. He hosted "Oldskool Nation" on Sundays from 9pm to 11pm.
Since departing from Unity Radio, Allan broadcast with OSN Radio doing his show Old Skool Nation on Friday nights.
Compilation albums
*''Hardcore Nation'' (2005)
*''Hardcore Nation 2'' (2005)
*''Hardcore Nation 3'' (2006)
*''Hardcore Nation Classic'' (2007)
*''Hardcore Adrenaline'' (2007)
*''Hardcore Adrenaline 2'' (2007)
*''Hardcore Adrenaline 3'' (2007)
*''Hardcore Nation'' (2009)
References
External links
Brave Music Agency Bio*New Hardcore compilation C
Hardcore Adrenaline*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Stu
1962 births
2022 deaths
English radio DJs
English DJs
English record producers
Musicians from Manchester
People from Anglesey
Deaths from stomach cancer
Electronic dance music DJs