James Allan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth name | James Allan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | 21 September 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Origin | Dalmarnock, Glasgow, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genres | Indie rock [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Singer-songwriter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years active | 2003 – present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Labels | Columbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of | Glasvegas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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James Allan (born 21 September 1979) is the lead singer and guitarist of the Scottish rock band Glasvegas, and a former footballer.
Born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, he attended the city's St Mungo's Academy. [2] His sister Denise is the band's co-manager. [3] Their cousin is Glasvegas bandmate/guitarist Rab Allan.[ citation needed ]
Allan played as a winger for Falkirk, Cowdenbeath, East Fife, Queen's Park, Gretna, Stirling Albion and Dumbarton, [4] making 116 appearances in the Scottish Football League. [5] He was part of the Cowdenbeath squad that won promotion as runners up in the 2000–01 Scottish Third Division.
During his football career, Allan decided to write songs and form a band. After touring Scotland for several years Glasvegas released four singles, before eventually being signed to Columbia. His songs deal with social issues such as psychopathic fathers ("Daddy's Gone"), murder ("Flowers & Football Tops") and the challenges of social work ("Geraldine"). He also wrote about homosexuality ("I Feel Wrong"). [6]
On 8 September 2009, a Tuesday, bandmates Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue announced that James Allan had been missing since the previous Friday, which resulted in a no-show at the Mercury Prize awards ceremony. [7] However, he made a call to the band's manager on 9 September 2009 that he was safe and well in New York, [8] where Glasvegas were about to embark upon a US tour supporting Kings of Leon. It is thought that the lack of communication sourced from Allan being without a mobile phone for six months, according to bandmates. [9]
Allan cites Elvis Presley and Phil Spector as his main influences. [10] He also says that Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen is one of his inspirations. [11]