Allan Mark "Boff" Whalley (born 1 January 1961) is an English musician and writer. Formerly the lead guitarist for the

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

band

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

, he is now a playwright and the founder of Commoners Choir who released their first album in March 2017.

Early life and education

Whalley was born Allan Mark Whalley in 1961 in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, Lancashire. Before joining Chumbawamba he attended Art College in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

and worked in a supermarket and as a postman. His parents were both primary school teachers. He has a sister named Annie.

Career

Together with his fellow members of Chimp Eats Banana; Midge (Michael Hartley) and

Danbert Nobacon Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include " Amnesia", " Enou ...

, he moved from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in 1981, and studied at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, dropping out after a year before moving into the South View House squat in

Armley Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the Industrial Revolution and had several mills, one of which houses now the Leeds Industrial ...

. It was at this squat that he was part of an Anarchist collective that later became the band

. The band in the early 1980s, was a hardcore punk band in the style of DC Punk, or LA Punk. In 1984, when the British coal mining industry was privatised by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

's government and the National Union of Mineworkers began protesting, Chumbawamba became even more politically active in equal rights and labour rights. He became a guitarist despite describing himself as being of "limited ability". He continued to play guitar and sing while doing a series of other jobs such as shopworker, newspaper delivery man, typesetter, and cartoonist. In 2013, he wrote a musical drama "Wrong 'Un" which was performed in Norwich. It was based on the life of suffragette Grace Marcon.

Fell running

Beyond his musical career, Whalley has been prominent in the

fell running Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

scene, particularly in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, running at a relatively high standard. Touring and recording commitments have influenced the extent to which he has been able to pursue this activity. He was instrumental in the production of the ''Fellternative'' fell running

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

in the early 1990s. Whalley recorded a song called "Stud Marks on the Summits", inspired by a chance meeting with legendary fell runner Bill Smith. Whalley took up fell running as a result. He was paraphrased as having said Smith "encapsulated the ethos of the sport – its emphasis on self-reliance and nature and its history."

Books

Whalley has published three books: * ''Footnote*'', autobiography (2004) * ''Run Wild'', an account of his experiences as a fell runner (2012) * ''Faster! Louder!'', an account of how a punk rocker from Yorkshire became British Champion Fell Runner (2021)

References

1961 births Living people People from Burnley English anarchists English rock guitarists Chumbawamba members British fell runners {{UK-guitarist-stub