Set for take-off: remembering Stu Allan

There have been many famous radio DJs. There was John Peel, there was that Moyles one, and, er, someone called Dave probably. But for us Mancunians, the name that speeds up our heartbeats-per-minute is Piccadilly Radio DJ Stu Allan.

Stu Allan, or "Stoooo Allan" if you're the American voice doing his jingle, was legendary in the North West of England. He championed rave, electro and house music before it had properly broken through to the mainstream. He was a counter-cultural force as embedded into Manchester culture as Coronation Street cobbles, Tony Wilson's ego and Bez's quivering maracas.

I'm Gen-X so I grew up without the internet. A shocking thought, I know. I relied on the radio to learn about all the cool new bops. Mainstream radio was pretty tofu, with ballads, AOR and pop factory piffle. Allan's riotous shows on Key 103 felt like a portal into something subversive, as if it was a private broadcast of all the stuff you weren't allowed to listen to.

Allan was one of the first UK DJs to play Chicago house music. It was the clattering rave tunes I remember best; this would have been my first exposure to it. Offensive beats, breath-taking energy, and a liberal sprinkling of hardcore daftness. All listened through a gauze of fuzz because our radio equipment was naff back then.

And there's more. We have Allan to thank for Voodoo Ray legend A Guy Called Gerald. Allan used to welcome Gerald 'Guy' Simpson onto his radio show as "a guy called Gerald from Hulme", and the nickname stuck.

"Stu was so important to 808 State when we were starting out," remembers Graham Massey on Twitter. "He was the first person we delivered our test pressings to. I remember me and Gerald taking a copy of Newbuild there on a Sunday night, and Gerald had been on his show earlier than that giving him his moniker."

The tributes continue: "He introduced me to more amazing music than I can remember," said Justin 'Lionrock' Robertson at the time of his passing. "His Bus Diss [Piccadilly Radio show] and his seamless house shows were my introduction to the sound of hip hop and house."

I should have written this tribute following his sad passing, which was three years ago today. But any time is a good time to ping his name back into the internetosphere, and to remember the legacy of a lad who started off my listening to John Peel play Grandmaster Flash at his childhood home on Anglesey, and ended up soundtracking a generation of ravers.

I would finish by posting a video by Clock, the Euro dance outfit formed by Allan, and whose best-known single is Whoomp! (There It Is). But even the earlier, slightly clubbier stuff is naff. Instead, I implore you to jump over to YouTube and search 'Stu Allan mix'. There's a tonne of his DJ stuff, and it's pretty fun.

Maybe the last word should go to Suddi Raval from Hardcore Uproar hitmakers Together. He posted the following on Twitter:

"I was only nine years old when my older brother played me Numbers by Kraftwerk! By ten, I'd heard so many incredible new romantic records, oblivious this music affecting me. At 12, New Order, electro & Herbie Hancock’s Rockit, then by 15, Stu Allen gave me house music and I was set for take off."

And that's how it works. Stu Allan the rocket man, propelling others into a universe of musical discovery. Never forgotten.

Further Fats: A massive cry-baby remembers John Peel (2010)

Further Fats: Fader strokers unite – some recommended compilation albums (2011)