The Unicorn by Foster and Allen

Video by James R. Yetman http://newfoundlandtreasures.com
YouTube Channel = http://www.youtube.com/user/NL....Treasure?feature=mhe


Foster and Allen began back in the 1970s when Foster and Allen were playing in country music bands around Ireland. In 1975, they formed a

small group and went over to the UK to work the Irish music venues on a short tour.

They had at this stage the idea of working together as a duo, playing easy listening music with traditional Irish instrumentals. When their UK

tour finished they decided to let the band return to Ireland whilst they stayed behind to try to break into the public eye. They played several

venues in the London area and the reaction was favourable; they decided to remain as a duo, and Foster and Allen was formed.

After a time working around the circuit in the UK and Ireland, they released their first single, "The Rambles of Spring". This made an impact on

the Irish market and Foster and Allen were soon in demand for cabaret venues all over Ireland and, to a lesser extent, the UK At the end of

1978, Foster and Allen released the single, "A Bunch of Thyme" in Ireland, and it entered the Irish chart and became their first #1 single. It is

also one of the first blues songs to become a hit in Ireland, and is a melodic cousin of "Careless Love" and "Worries on my Mind".

It was not until 1982 that this single was released in the UK. It was played by all the radio stations in Britain, and peaked at #18 in the UK

Singles Chart. At the time, Foster and Allen were in the United States on a tour. They were contacted and told to fly back to the UK to appear

on BBC Television's Top of the Pops.

Demand for Foster and Allen's services at venues all over Ireland and the UK increased at this point. They released another single, "Old

Flames", which peaked at #51 in the UK chart.They undertook their first concert tour of the UK in 1983, and this tour was boosted by the

release of another single "Maggie". This reached #27 in the UK Singles Chart,[1] and along with A Bunch Of Thyme, became the signature

tunes for the duo. Since then they have toured the UK twice each year.

In addition to the UK tours, Foster and Allen have toured the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They had five #1 hits in

Australia and New Zealand. They have also appeared on numerous TV shows in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as well as Australia,

US and Canada, and they have had their own TV series on RTE Television in Ireland.

In the early days, Mick Foster and Tony Allen 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 program. On the recording front, Foster and Allen have to date released twenty seven

albums, all of which entered the UK Albums Chart.

As well as the albums, they have released thirteen videos. The video "Souvenirs and Memories" reached #3 in the UK video chart around

Christmas 1991, the "By Request" video went straight into the #1 spot in 1993. Their latest DVD/Video release "After All These Years"

became Top 10 in the UK. To date, Foster and Allen have achieved album and video sales in excess of 19 million worldwide.

Foster and Allen celebrated their 30th Anniversary together in the music industry, with the release of their album, Foster and Allen Sing The

No. 1's, which was a Top 30 hit in the UK Albums Chart during Christmas 2005.This brought the sales of their last three albums in the UK and

Ireland to over 500,000 units.

The duo completed their 'World Concert Tour � 2005/2006' which took them on tour to the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, US

and Australia. The duo toured Australia again in June 2010.

In 2011, the High Court ruled they must pay around �3 million each to Revenue.