Tony Allan (22 September 1949 – 9 July 2004) was a British broadcaster and

voice over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non-d ...

artist. He broadcast almost exclusively on

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

stations and was highly regarded for his professionalism, his distinctive voice and clear diction, and for his ability to produce highly professional

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

s 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 ...

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 Allan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopol ...

, but was rejected due to his age. When the

Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or Marine Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wirel ...

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 (TV network), 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 on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

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 Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

who had done the same when the British law was passed in 1967). When Caroline's owner

Ronan O'Rahilly Aodogán Ronan O'Rahilly (21 May 1940 – 20 April 2020) was an Irish businessman best known for the creation of the offshore radio station, Radio Caroline. He also became manager of George Lazenby, who played James Bond in one film. Biography ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

-based, offshore radio station The

Voice of Peace Voice of Peace (, ''Kol HaShalom'') was an offshore radio, 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 in the E ...

which broadcast to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. In the late 1970s he went to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. 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 ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

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

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

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 1949 births 2004 deaths British radio people Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom Offshore radio broadcasters Pirate radio personalities