Foster and Allen End South African Tour at ABSA KKNK in Oudsthoorn on 7 April

The well known Irish Duo, Foster and Allen, are currently visiting South Africa with their GOLD AND SILVER DAYS WORLD TOUR. They are well known internationally for hits like "Maggie", "When You Were Sweet Sixteen", "Edelweiss" and "Danny Boy". Foster and Allen will end their SA tour at the Musiekplaas at this year's ABSA KKNK in Oudtshoorn on 7 April at 19:00, following the penultimate show on 6 April at the Heartfelt Theatre in Pretoria.

The story of Foster and Allen began back in the seventies when Mick Foster and Tony Allen were playing in country music bands around Ireland. In 1975, they got together a small group and went over to the United Kingdom to work the Irish music venues on a short tour. At this stage, the pair had the idea of working together as a duo, playing 'easy listening' music with a touch of traditional Irish instrumentals. When their tour finished, they decided to let the band return to Ireland whilst they stayed behind to try out their new act on the public. They played several venues in the London area and the reaction was very favourable, so much so that they decided to remain a duo form Foster and Allen.

It was difficult at the beginning and after a time working around the circuit in the United Kingdom and Ireland, they released their first single record "The Rambles of Spring". This made a good impact on the Irish market and Foster and Allen were soon in demand for cabaret venues all over Ireland and the United Kingdom.

At the end of 1978, Foster and Allen released the single "A Bunch of Thyme" in Ireland, which entered the Irish charts and became their first top-selling No. 1 single. It stayed in the Irish Charts for 40 consecutive weeks, re-entering for a further 13 weeks. It was not until 1982 that this single was released in the United Kingdom, at which point it was played by all the radio stations in Britain and was soon in the pop music charts. It climbed rapidly to the top half of the British Top 20. At the time, Foster and Allen were on tour in the the United States of America 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 television's TOP OF THE POPS.

Things then started to happen very fast for Foster and Allen, and the demand for their services at venues all over Ireland and the United Kingdom increased immensely. They released another single, "Old Flames", which also made its way into the charts and the duo was on its way to stardom. Foster and Allen did their first concert tour of the United Kingdom in 1983 and this tour was boosted even more by the release of another mega hit single "Maggie". This proved to be a very popular song and has become a signature tune for Foster and Allen. Since then, the duo has toured the United Kingdom twice each year playing to sell-out concerts wherever they went. Foster and Allen has toured Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. They had five No. 1 hits in Australia and New Zealand and have appeared on numerous television shows around the world.

On the recording front, Foster and Allen has released a total of 30 albums to date, 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 thirteen videos and DVDs, all of which have also entered the British charts. SOUVENIRS AND MEMORIES reached No. 3 in the charts in Christmas 1991, BY REQUEST went straight into the No. 1 spot in 1993 and their latest release AROUND THE WORLD WITH FOSTER AND ALLEN was a Top 10 Chart Release in the United Kingdom. To date, Foster and Allen have achieved album and video sales in excess of 19 million worldwide.

Foster and Allen's style and easy listening sound remains as fresh and exciting as ever. They really enjoy the business they are in, especially the live concerts. In the early days, Foster and Allen performed on stage as a duo, but in 1982 they added a band to their show thus giving a much fuller sound to their program.

South Africans have been enjoying a wonderful concert tour by Foster and Allen, with a full band and excellent sound and lighting. Bookings for the final shows can be done at Computicket, with group bookings of 10 or more persons at discounted rates through Lefra Productions on (011) 815 3000.

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