Shakin' Stevens
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| Shakin' Stevens | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Ely, Cardiff, Wales |
| Years active | 1970 - present |
| Genres | Rock 'n' roll Country blues |
| Labels | Epic Sony BMG |
Shakin' Stevens also known as 'Shaky' (born Michael Barrett, 4 March 1948, in Ely, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales) is a Welsh rock and roll singer, who has the distinction of being the top selling male UK singles artist of the 1980s.
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[edit] Career
He began his career fronting Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets, a 1950s influenced rock'n'roll outfit. An early break for the band arrived when they were given a support slot for The Rolling Stones in December 1969. Despite landing a recording contract with Parlophone Records the following year, the band found success hard to come by (at least in their native Great Britain, though they had hit singles in other countries). After seven years of constant touring and recording, Shaky left the band in 1977 and gained a lead role in Jack Good's "Elvis!" musical. This eventually led to a major record deal with Epic Records.
In 1981, he had his first UK number 1 with "This Ole House" and would have 10 more songs reach the top 5, including three number 1 hits with "Green Door", "Oh Julie" and "Merry Christmas Everyone", while "You Drive Me Crazy" and "A Love Worth Waiting For" reached number 2 in 1981 and 1984 respectively. The first of those number twos was covered two years later by Noddy Holder and Anna Ford. No fewer than 15 of his singles reached the Top 10.
Throughout the 1980s and into the first half of the 1990s Stevens had regular chart success, which also saw his album Shaky reach number 1.
His 1984 hit "Teardrops" featured Hank B. Marvin on guitar and Stevens has often featured famous musicians such as Albert Lee, Roger Taylor and Derek Guyler on his recordings.
In 1994 he quit recording, but continued to tour. In 1994, he topped the charts in Denmark with a compilation of his singles.
In 2002 he was banned from driving for two years for a drink-driving offence [1]
In 2004 he had a further platinum CD / DVD album in Denmark and a gold album in South Africa.
In the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, Stevens' fictional endorsement of Partridge's book Bouncing Back - in which he described it as "lovely stuff" - was supposedly critical to its success.
In 2005, he returned once again to the charts in the United Kingdom, with his greatest hits album The Collection, which reached the UK top 5. That year, he also appeared in the video to Tony Christie's and Peter Kay's #1 hit single "Is This The Way To Amarillo", alongside many other UK stars, including Ronnie Corbett, Jim Bowen, Michael Parkinson and Geoffrey Hayes. He was the winner on the reality television show, Hit Me Baby One More Time. This was quickly followed by a re-release of his cover and his own biggest hit sung in the show, ("Trouble" covering Pink's version) / "This Ole House"), which reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart in June 2005, his 33rd Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom.
Stevens is set to release a new single and a brand new studio album entitled Now Listen in 2007.
[edit] Politics
In the late 1960s Stevens was associated with the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the Communist Party of Great Britain - playing at YCL events. At the time the YCL was associated with several leading music industry figures, including Pete Townshend.
[edit] Discography
UK Releases only
[edit] Singles
- "Spirit Of Woodstock" (1970) Parlophone
- "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" (1972) Polydor
- "Honey Honey" (1973) Emerald
- "Jungle Rock" (1976) Mooncrest
- "Never" (1977) Track
- "Somebody Touched Me" (1977) Track
- "Justine" (1978) Track
- "Treat Her Right" (1978) Epic
- "Endless Sleep" (1979) Epic
- "Spooky" (1979) Epic
- "Hot Dog" (1980) Epic (UK #24)
- "Hey Mae" (1980) Epic
- "Marie Marie" (1980) Epic (UK #19)
- "Shooting Gallery" (1980) Epic
- "This Ole House" (1981) Epic (UK #1)
- "You Drive Me Crazy" (1981) Epic (UK #2)
- "Green Door" (1981) Epic (UK #1)
- "It's Raining" (1981) Epic (UK #10)
- "Oh Julie" (1982) Epic (UK #1)
- "Shirley" (1982) Epic (UK #6)
- "Give Me Your Heart Tonight" (1982) Epic (UK #11)
- "I'll Be Satisfied" (1982) Epic (UK #10)
- "The Shakin' Stevens EP" (1982) Epic (UK #2)
- "It's Late" (1983) Epic (UK #11)
- "Cry Just A Little Bit" (1983) Epic (UK #3 US #67)
- "A Rockin' Good Way" (1984) Epic (UK #5)
- "A Love Worth Waiting For" (1984) Epic (UK #2)
- "A Letter To You" (1984) Epic (UK #10)
- "Teardrops" (1984) Epic (UK #5)
- "Breaking Up My Heart" (1985) Epic (UK #14)
- "Lipstick Powder And Paint" (1985) Epic (UK #11)
- "Merry Christmas Everyone" (1985) Epic (UK #1)
- "Turning Away" (1986) Epic (UK #15)
- "Because I Love You" (1986) Epic (UK #14)
- "A Little Boogie Woogie (In The Back Of My Mind) (1987) Epic (UK #12)
- "Come See About Me" (1987) Epic (UK #24)
- "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For" (1987) Epic (UK #5)
- "Feel The Need In Me" (1988) Epic (UK #26)
- "How Many Tears Can You Hide" (1988) Epic (UK #47)
- "True Love" (1988) Epic (UK #23)
- "Jezebel" (1989) Epic (UK #58)
- "Love Attack" (1989) Epic (UK #28)
- "I Might" (1990) Epic (UK #18)
- "Yes I Do" (1990) Epic (UK #60)
- "Pink Champagne" (1990) Epic (UK #59)
- "My Cutie Cutie" (1990) Epic (UK #75)
- "The Best Christmas Of Them All" (1990) Epic (UK #19)
- "I'll Be Home This Christmas" (1991) Epic (UK #34)
- "Radio" (1992) Epic (UK #37)
- "Trouble"/"This Ole House" (2005) Sony/BMG (UK #20)
- "Now Listen" (2007) Sony/BMG
[edit] Albums
- A Legend (1970) Parlophone
- I'm No J.D. (1971) CBS
- Rockin' And Shakin' (1972) Contour
- Shakin' Stevens & The Sunsets (1973) Emerald
- Shakin' Stevens (1978) Track
- Take One (1980) Epic
- Marie Marie (1980) Epic
- This Ole House (1981) Epic
- Shaky (1981) Epic
- Hot Dog (1982) Epic
- Give Me Your Heart Tonight (1982) Epic
- The Bop Won't Stop (1983) Epic
- Greatest Hits (1984) Epic
- Lipstick Powder And Paint (1985) Epic
- Let's Boogie (1987) Epic
- A Whole Lotta Shaky (1988) Epic
- There's Two Kinds Of Music...Rock And Roll (1990) Telstar
- Merry Christmas Everyone (1991) Epic
- The Epic Years (1992) Epic
- The Collection (2005) Sony/BMG
- Now Listen (2007) Sony/BMG
