It’s high Thyme you heard Irish folk stars
THE story of Foster & Allen began back in the 70s when Mick and Tony were playing in country music bands around Ireland.
In 1975 they got together a small group and went over to the UK to work the Irish music venues on a short tour.
However, Mick and Tony had the idea of working together as a duo, playing ‘easy listening’ music with a touch of traditional Irish instrumentals.
When their UK tour finished they decided to let the band return to Ireland while they stayed behind and, after a favourable reaction, Foster & Allen was formed.
Their first single The Rambles Of Spring made an impact in Ireland and they followed it with their first No. 1 single A Bunch Of Thyme in 1978, which stayed in the Irish charts for 40 consecutive weeks, re-entering for a further 13 weeks.
However, at this stage this was only in Ireland, and it wasn’t until 1982 that this single was released in the UK, climbing to the top half of the Top 20.
At the time, Mick and Tony were in the USA on a tour and it came as a great shock to them when they were told to fly back to Britain immediately as they were required to appear on Top Of The Pops.
Their fame grew and they released another single Old Flames which also got into the UK charts and Foster & Allen were on their way to stardom.
They did their first concert tour of the UK in 1983 and this tour was boosted even more by the release of another mega hit single Maggie.
Since then Mick & Tony have toured the UK twice each year playing to sellout concerts wherever they went.
In addition, Foster & Allen have toured the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.
Their first tour of Australia took place in 1984 and in February of the same year, their single Maggie went No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand charts.
They have subsequently toured Down Under 19 times.
On their last sell-out tour of New Zea- ● land in 2015, their album After All These Years – The Very Best Of Foster & Allen, reached No. 2 in the New Zealand music charts, ahead of superstar Ed Sheeran at No. 3.
They have appeared on numerous TV shows in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales as well as Australia, USA and Canada and they have even had their own TV series on RTE Television in Ireland.
In the early days Mick and Tony performed on stage as a duo, but in 1982 (when the concert tours started) they added a band to their show thus giving a much fuller sound to their programme.
On the recording front, Foster & Allen have to date released more than 30 albums, all of which have gone into the British charts.
This is a great achievement for a middle-of-the-road ‘easy listening’ act, album sales being a very accurate reflection of the true popularity of any stage performance.
As well as the albums, they have released 14 videos/DVDs, and their latest DVD/video release is We Owe It All To You – 40 Years On.
In 2015 they celebrated 40 years together in the music business with the release of Celebration album which reached Top 30 in UK album charts.
Their most recent release in 2017 The Gold Collection also made it into the UK Top 40 album charts featuring new recordings, including Mrs Brown’s Boys.
To date, Foster and Allen have achieved album and video sales in excess of 20 million worldwide.
Foster & Allen’s style and easy listening sound remains as fresh and exciting as ever.
Foster & Allen will perform at The Brindley Theatre, Runcorn, on October 31.
To find out more or to book tickets go to www.thebrindley.org.uk or call 0151 907 8360.