Hugo Duncan

Hugo Duncan, also known as Hugh Anthony Duncan and nicknamed “the wee man from Strabane,” is a singer and BBC broadcaster from Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He is associated with country and Irish music, and he builds a career that combines live performance, radio presenting and television appearances.

Early life and musical beginnings

Duncan is born on 26 March 1950 in Strabane. He shows an interest in performing from a young age and takes part in set dancing, recitations, church choir singing and the local pantomime as a child. After leaving school, he works in a local factory.

In the early 1970s he is spotted on an RTÉ television talent show and signed by Release Records. He later forms his own group, Hugo Duncan and the Tall Men, by the time he is 21. The band achieves a number one hit in the Irish charts with “Dear God”.

Broadcasting career

Duncan joins Radio Foyle in the 1980s, initially doing holiday cover before being given his own weekly programme. He also presents a show on Radio Foyle every Sunday from 14:00 to 16:00. In October 1998 he begins presenting Hugo Duncan's Country Afternoon on Radio Ulster, airing each weekday from 13:30 to 15:00.

His BBC Radio Ulster show uses “Rocky Top” as its theme tune, and he ends each programme with “Yakety Sax,” also known as the theme from The Benny Hill Show. The programme becomes one of the most listened to locally, and it establishes him as a major entertainer in Northern Ireland.

Television and other appearances

In 2001 Duncan appears with Eamonn Holmes in episode two of the first season of the BBC NI comedy Give My Head Peace, where both characters are kidnapped by Ma. He is also part of BBC Northern Ireland’s team for its annual Children In Need appeal.

In 2006 he dresses as Britney Spears and performs “...Baby One More Time.” He keeps the costume and wears it on stage when singing the song at concerts.

Publication

In 2008, Blackstaff Press in Belfast publishes Uncle Hugo: The Story Of The Wee Man From Strabane, an unauthorised biography written by Paul Evans. Duncan is unhappy about the book’s publication and spends time arguing with the author over its contents.