RIP Stu Allan

I have been reflecting on the passing of Stu Allan for the last few days. Like pretty much anyone of my generation within a 30-40 mile radius of Manchester (and much further via tapes) his Radio shows from ’86-91 or so were essential listening for hordes of us out-of touch/out of town teenagers, hungry for their latest dose of upfront dance music.

Taking over from another Manchester legend Mike Shaft, his early shows on Piccadilly 261 were a mix of the newest soul/hip hop & house music (I remember a demo of T Coy ‘Cariño’ being played next to the first ever Public Enemy tune). His ‘All Night Beat’ shows with Chris Buckley covered some older & occasionally more commercial material, often dipping in to early 80’s Soul/Boogie, as he also did on his occasional ‘A-Z of Soul’ bank holiday sessions. However, it was when he came with his Bus’ Diss/Souled Out/House Hour Trilogy that things really resonated. A 3 hour Sunday night show, with an hour each of the latest Hip Hop, Soul/Dance & House was absolutely essential listening. Each hour had a different top 10 of the biggest sellers from Spin Inn records. We would tape every show, and then head to Spin Inn with a list way bigger than our £5 weekly paper round money could afford.

There were very few tunes that didn’t get caught in Stu’s musical net, and regular listeners were really on the ball with new releases. He also had some incredible guest mixes, mostly from locals such as Chad Jackson, Owen D, Johnny J, Mr. Spin, DBN, Paul Mulhearn, KA/Dolby D and others. He gave us a real taste of the Manchester underground club scene, when many of his listeners were too young to go.

His musical direction veered in a more hardcore/rave direction in the early 1990’s, and I know that during his long involvement in that scene, he has been a massive influence that will be felt and reflected on by the many people who were involved over the last 30 years.

The 6 or 7 years of listening to Stu Allan had an incredible influence on my own approach to music, DJing and production. I can 100% say that the music & DJs that Stu introduced me to via his shows gave me and many others a very strong foundation and a sense of musical direction. The fact that anyone who liked upfront black music also listened to his show meant that he was the common bond between so many music lovers in the area.

Stu Allan put me on to literally 1000s of new releases. Here are three top 10s off the top of my head, purely included because of how fast they made me run to Spin Inn after hearing them.

Bus’ Diss

Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause
Most Wanted - Calm Down
MC Shan - The Bridge
Stetsasonic - On Fire
Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader
Sugar Sugar - New Girl In Town
Just-Ice - Cold Gettin’ Dumb
Demon Boyz - Recognition
BDP - Criminal Minded
EPMD - Strictly Business

Souled Out

Marie Malloy - I Surrender
D Train - Misunderstanding
Projection - Lovestruck
Rosaline Joyce - No Questions No Answers
Sade - Make Some Room
Bobby Womack - How Could You Break My Heart
The Controllers - Stay
My Forte - Sometime Lover
Chandra Simmons - Never Gonna Let You Go
BB&Q - Dreamer

House Hour

Model 500 - No UFOs
Rique III - Essence Of Dream
Adonis - Lost In Sound
Legend - The Journey
Nitro Deluxe - Lets Get Brutal
Hotline - Rock This House
Precious - Definition Of A Track
Liz Torres - Can’t Get Enough
Masters At Work - Alright Alright
Jaquarius - Love Is Happiness

I also have to mention two people who have worked hard to make sure that Stu’s contribution was acknowledged.

Greg Wilson did this fantastic interview with the notoriously interview-shy Stu back in 2004. https://electrofunkroots.co.uk/interviews/stu_allan.html

And Mr. Spin (who’s own mixes were featured on Stu’s show) has pretty much every show recorded in an archive, and many of them can be found here. https://mixes.cloud/mrspin/

https://groovement.co.uk/2021/07/stu-allan-souled-out-bus-diss-radio-show-by-mr-spin/

https://mixes.cloud/kevin-lyon/piccadilly-radio-stu-allan-chris-buckley-all-night-beat-mix-hour-dmc-megamixes-1987/

https://www.mixcloud.com/stuallandj/best-of-1989-hip-hop-mixed-by-stu-allan/

Rest in Peace Stu Allan, Manchester would be a very different place if you weren’t around x