You can't keep an old rocker down, as the TV show Baby One More Time has proved. Shakin' Stevens will be more than familiar to anyone who possessed ears during the 1980s. And even though the songs were retro even then, now they've become standards in their own right.
Tracklisting
- This Ole House
- Cry Just A Little Bit
- Lipstick Powder & Paint
- Green Door
- A Love Worth Waiting For
- What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For
- A Rockin' Good Way
- Marie, Marie
- Teardrops
- Turning Away
- ...
Shaky was the first performer to appear 50 times on Top Of The Pops. He duetted with Bonnie Tyler, and worked with the likes of Dave Edmunds, Roger Taylor, Albert Lee and Hank Marvin.
The Collection brings together 25 of his best-known songs, and a bonus DVD will provide handy instructions for any would-be hip-swiveller (bizarrely, the video to What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For features an appearance from the then-unknown Vic Reeves).
From his breakthrough hit This Ole House to the seasonal staple Merry Christmas Everyone, Shakin' Stevens successfully reintroduced rock 'n' roll to the charts at a time when the New Romantics were only just discovering lipstick, powder and paint.
This remastered collection should deservedly revive the fortunes of one of Wales' most fondly remembered and successful singers.
Words: Joe Goodden