Tony Allan (22 September 1949 – 9 July 2004) was a British broadcaster and voice over artist. He broadcast almost exclusively on pirate radio stations and was highly regarded for his professionalism, his distinctive voice and clear diction, and for his ability to produce highly professional commercials and promotions.

Career

Allan was 17 years old when he first worked for the pirate radio station

Radio Scotland Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave (242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in ...

between 1966 and 1967. He had originally intended to work on another pirate station,

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...

, but was rejected due to his age. When the Marine Offences Broadcasting Act (1967) was passed, he was the last DJ to broadcast live from the ship before managing director Tommy Shields's pre-recorded closedown programme. He subsequently worked for

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

as a voice-over artist, and in Europe. In the 1970s Allan worked first on RNI Radio Northsea International and did go later to the revived Radio Caroline, finally fulfilling his original ambition. When the Dutch Marine Offences Act came into force on 1 September 1974 it was Allan who announced that Caroline would continue broadcasting (following in the footsteps of Johnnie Walker who had done the same when the British law was passed in 1967). When Caroline's owner Ronan O'Rahilly announced that the station was to begin promoting his philosophy of " Loving Awareness", Allan became one of its most enthusiastic advocates, producing some of the most professional and memorable promotional ads for it. Discussing Loving Awareness with fellow DJ Stuart Russell in 1977, Allan said: Allan worked on Caroline on and off between 1973 and 1979. During this time he also worked on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

-based, offshore radio station The

Voice of Peace Voice of Peace ( he, קול השלום, ''Kol HaShalom'') was an offshore radio station that broadcast in the Middle East for 20 years from the former Dutch cargo vessel ''MV Peace'' (formally ''MV Cito''), anchored off the Israeli coast i ...

which broadcast to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. In the late 1970s he went to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and worked for Big D and ARD, two of the first 24-hour land-based pirate stations in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He later also worked for Sunshine Radio, Chris Cary's Radio Nova and South Coast Radio in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, among others. He was also for a number of years the voice of the

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

commercials Worldwide. He returned to Britain in 1990 to work for the now re-launched satellite Radio Caroline but was already ill from cancer. Despite this, he kept working as long as he could attending pirate radio conventions and fundraising events for Caroline until he became too ill to do so.

References

External links

Tony Allan page
o
The Pirate Radio Hall of Fame

Offshore radio mp3 page featuring numerous Tony Allan recordings among others
– part of http://www.azanorak.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Tony Offshore radio broadcasters Pirate radio personalities 1949 births 2004 deaths British radio people