Shakin' Stevens

Michael Barratt (aka Shakin’ Stevens) was born on 4 March 1948 in Ely, Cardiff. Stevens started on the road to stardom in 1968 with the formation of Shakin’ Stevens and the Sunsets. Fame and fortune were slightly less than forthcoming, though the band stayed together for a decade and released a couple of albums. The Sunsets lasted until 1977, when Shaky was offered the lead in Elvis, an award-winning West End musical that ran for 19 months. During this time he recorded a single ‘Justine’ from his self-titled album, which received moderate success.

The beginning of the 1980s was a major turning point in Stevens' career; he signed to Epic, releasing the Take One album and the single ‘Hot dog’, which reached number 24 in the charts. ‘Marie Marie’ followed, but it wasn’t until 1981's ‘This ole house’ single that Shakin’truly arrived. It was a number one smash, and made the singer hit international stardom.

‘This ole house’ was followed up by smashes including ‘Green door’, ‘Oh Julie’ and ‘Shirley’. Other notable releases include 1984's ‘A rockin’ good way’ (a duet with Bonnie Tyler), and 1985's ‘Merry Christmas everyone’. As his audiences grew bigger and increasingly diverse, the demand for Shakin' Stevens records grew. In the U.K. alone, he has had 38 hit singles, 36 of which were consecutive - accumulating more weeks in the U.K. chart than any other international recording artist in that decade. In one year he notched up 3 chart albums, including ‘Shaky’, a release that not only topped the U.K. charts but remained in the best-selling listings for 28 weeks.

Towards the end of the 80s, the hits may have been fewer and further between, but Shaky was still a top international live draw. And by the end of the decade he'd had more number ones than any other Welsh artist, and had scored 30 top 30 hits.

In 2002 Stevens received a Number One Gold Award from The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. In 2003 he headlined to an audience of 200,000 in Austria, and in 2004 topped the bill at the prestigious charity event of the Frankfurt Opera Ball, then appearing in the TV celebration to mark 50 Years Of Rock. Stevens has now been ranked as the 16th highest selling artist in the U.K., ever.

In May 2005 Shaky won the ITV comeback show Hit Me Baby One More Time, where he performed ‘This ole house’ and a cover of Pink's ‘Trouble’, beating competition from the likes of Tiffany, Shalamar and Chesney Hawkes. His victory coincided with the release of The Collection, a CD and DVD best of.

Countdown Appearances

• Show 319, 12th March 1982 – Guest hosted by Shakin’ Stevens and performed ‘You drive me crazy’ and ‘Green door’
• Show 291, 28th June 1981 – Molly interviews Shakin’ Stevens recorded in London.

 Links:
http://www.shakinstevens.com/