Rest In Parade Stu Allan ...

One of the greatest influences in the music industry has passed away...

Born and bred in Manchester in 1962, Stu Allan was a definite legend.

More than a radio host and more than a DJ, he can easily described as an ultimate pioneer! A man who brought the Hip Hop to the North massive and also thrived many generations during his 4 decades of djing.

As my Northern friend Danny, told me: "We've been waiting every Sunday night for his show and the latest Hip Hop tunes, we recorded it on tapes then listening to all week to the walkmans, after that searching for the tunes while vinyl digging in the record stores."

Stu Allan was a phenomenal icon. He started djing in 1982 and worked at Key 103/Piccadilly Radio in Manchester. He was ranked No.3 DJ by DJ Mag in 1993, behind Alfredo and Aba Shanti-I. He used to run many shows such as a soul show called 'Souled Out' (archives) a Hip Hop show by the name 'Bus Diss' (archives).

There was also the 'Stu Allan presents the House Hour’, being part of his three hour show covering Hip Hop, Soul, and House, on Key 103 (archives).

One of the first who championed the Chicago House sound all around UK.

Productionwise he was involved in a Eurodance/Hip House group called Clock, which was a collaboration of him and Peter Pritchard and he was also known under the 150 Volts and Catch projects.

 

Suffice to say that I had the luck to meet this great man some years ago @ Unity In The Sun in Corfu. On a personal note, I can describe him as a GENT and maybe a bit more for a hero in the airwaves that had been paved all the way for 40 years and all different stages of Dance music.
The news of his loss on Thursday night shocked me and as I read afterwards he was in a big battle that finally relieved his soul in the parade.

His family stated on social media that "he is finally at peace" and there will be held a memorial event in his memory.

What I remember from him was his massive educational dj sets @ Unity In The Sun 2018. Among this, we had also an interview and I asked him couple of questions about his career, experience and the whole stages of music.

He admitted that his most favorite musical period had been around '86.

And when I asked him his opinion about the evolution of Hardcore he replied:

"It's something that's will never gonna go away. I'm glad to hear that. It something that evolves and it 's never gonna stay the same. I'm just thinking now that there's different sort of groups of people who like the Breakbeat Hardcore, they like Drum & Bass which is still Hardcore, you've got the Gabber, even now you got the 140 bpm but it's got the hard noises and sounds and that's Hardcore. There's a lot of different styles so that's gonna keep it busy for many many years. Even now I play the older tunes from 20 years ago anyway so it's never gonna go!" - STU ALLAN


Listen to the full interview with Stu Allan here
(Broadcasted on Kniteforce Radio in June 2018)

The deepest condolences to his family and may his soul rest in parade by the rhythms that he championed...