Cameron Allan

Cameron Beck Allan (July 9, 1955 – June, 2013) was an Australian-born American-based composer, record producer, filmmaker and former label owner. In September 1978 he co-founded the record label Regular Records with fellow filmmaker Martin Fabinyi. Their first signing was the new wave group Mental As Anything, and their second was the pub rock band Flowers. Allan produced both groups' early work. His TV and film music compositions include Stir, The Umbrella Woman (1987, The Good Wife) Kojak: Ariana (1989), and Kojak: Flowers for Matty (1990). In 1986 he relocated to the United States and in July 1992 he married Margaret Wertheim, a science writer. The couple had separated by 2007. Cameron Allan died of liver failure, after a transplant, aged 57.

Early life and education Cameron Beck Allan was born on July 9, 1955, in Melbourne but grew up in Sydney with a younger brother, Richard.

Career While at the conservatorium he became a member of David Ahern's AZ Music ensemble, which included fellow composers Alan Holley, Robert Irving, and Carl Vine.

In July 1973 Allan published a classical music composition, Madrigal for String Orchestra, for a four-piece ensemble: violin, viola, cello, and double bass. During 1974 he provided the music arrangements for three episodes of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) TV series Ten Australians, covering Fred Williams, The first artists they signed to the label was Mental As Anything, a Sydney-based new wave music group.

According to Fabinyi, "We had no experience in the record business. This didn't faze Cameron. He was obsessively optimistic once he committed to a project. A friend at EMI gave us some time to record the band while Cameron simultaneously learnt how to work the equipment."

Regular Records' second signing was the pub rock band Flowers (later renamed Icehouse); Allan co-produced their debut album, Icehouse (October 1980) with the group's leader, Iva Davies. At the TV Week / Countdown Music Awards for 1980 Allan was nominated for Best Australian Producer but lost out to Mark Opitz. Allan was the music director for the feature film Stir;

Allan produced the Sports' fourth studio album, Sondra, after their previous two were produced by Peter Solley. According to their guitarist, Martin Armiger, "Solley was an international producer, who jetted in, and there was always a deadline of three or four weeks. In that situation you can't walk out or have a big argument; there isn't time. With Cameron, we knew we could badger him to get what we wanted, if need be. We had more time to get the sound we wanted." In 1983 Allan visited the United States, "to test the waters". Later in that decade he relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked as a TV and film music composer, although he often returned to Australia.

Allan provided the music score for the Australian feature film The Umbrella Woman (February 1987, The Good Wife) and the associated soundtrack album. At the 1987 AFI Awards he received another nomination for Best Original Music Score but lost to Paul Schütze. His work in America included music composition for The Equalizer for season four (October 1988 to August 1989); Kojak: Ariana (November 1989) and Kojak: Flowers for Matty (January 1990), two TV movies for the Kojak series (see List of Kojak episodes: TV Movies).

Personal life and death Allan's second marriage was to Margaret Wertheim on July 21, 1992, in Minden, Nevada. Wertheim is an Australian-born American-based science writer. Allan composed its music and Wertheim was its writer.

After Allan was diagnosed with a liver disease, he received a transplant. He died in June 2013, aged 57. Broderick Smith (by Broderick Smith, produced by Cameron Allan) (June 1984)

Filmography

Ten Australians: Fred Williams (Cameron Allan as music arranger) (TV series, 1974) Ten Australians: Michael Taylor (Cameron Allan as music arranger) (TV series, 1974) Ten Australians: Ron Robertson-Swann (Cameron Allan as music arranger) (TV series, 1974) The Night the Prowler (Cameron Allan as music director) (feature film, June 1978) Stir (Cameron Allan as music director) (feature film, October 1980) Hoodwink (Cameron Allan as music director) (feature film, November 1981) Heatwave (Cameron Allan as music director) (feature film, 1982) Midnite Spares (Cameron Allan as music director) (feature film, 1983) Faith & Reason (by Ronald Bailey, Cameron Allan and Margaret Wertheim) (VHS documentary, 1998)