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 an 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, ha ...

and

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

band

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () was a British anarcho-punk band who 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 Brit Awards 1998. Other singles include "Amnes ...

, 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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, 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 east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

and worked in a supermarket and as a postman. His parents were both primary-school teachers. He has three sisters: Anne, Helen, and Rachel.

Career

Together with his fellow members of Chimp Eats Banana, Midge (Michael Hartley) and Danbert Nobacon, Whalley moved from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in 1981, and studied at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. He dropped 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 now houses the Leeds Industrial ...

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

. Chumbawamba 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 a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

's government and the National Union of Mineworkers began protesting, Chumbawamba became even more politically active in equal rights and labour rights. Whalley 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 shop worker, newspaper delivery man, typesetter, and cartoonist. In 2013, Whalley 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 counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, 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 enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

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 four 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) * ''But: Life Isn't Like That, Is It?'' , stories of disruption and digression (2025)

References

1961 births Living people People from Burnley English anarchists English rock guitarists Chumbawamba members British fell runners Alumni of the University of Leeds 21st-century anarchists {{UK-guitarist-stub