Folk duo together more than 40 years

Folk's favourite duo Foster and Allen will be performing at the Lowther Pavilion on October 31.
Foster and AllenFoster and Allen
Foster and Allen

The story of Foster and Allen began back in the Seventies 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.

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Mick and Tony had, at this stage, the idea of working together as a duo, playing easy listening music with a touch of traditional Irish instrumentals.

When their first UK tour finished, they decided to let the band return to Ireland whilst they stayed behind to try out as a duo.

It was difficult at the beginning and after a time working around the circuit, they released their first single The Rambles of Spring.

At the end of 1978 Foster and Allen released the single A Bunch of Thyme which entered the Irish charts and became their first number one hit, staying in the Irish charts for nearly a year.

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It was not until 1982 that the single was released in the UK.

It was played by all the radio stations in Britain and was soon in the pop charts.

It climbed rapidly to the top 10.

A t the time, Mick and Tony were in the USA on a tour and it came as a great shock to them both when they were contacted and told to fly back to Britain immediately as they were required to appear on Top of the Pops.

Since then Mick and Tony have toured the UK twice each year playing to sell-out concerts wherever they went.

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In addition to the UK tours, Foster and Allen have toured the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.

Foster and Allen have to date released more than 30 albums, all of which have gone into the British charts.

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.

To date Foster and Allen have achieved album and video sales in excess of 20 million worldwide.

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