Shakin' Stevens

HITS such as This Ole House, Green Door, Oh Julie and Merry Christmas Everyone made Shakin’ Stevens a household name in the 80s. Shaky spoke to the Welwyn Hatfield Times ahead of his concert at the Alban Arena in St Albans.

I’M probably about to give away my age here, and older readers might hate me, but Shakin’ Stevens had his first hit before I was born.

Although not, I hasten to add, by very much. Which is news to me, because I’d always thought that “Shaky” had been belting out hits since long before my time, so firmly ensconced is the Welshman in national treasure status that I’d always assumed he’d been around since when my dad was a nipper.

But no, Shaky had his first UK hit as late as 1980 and I even say to the man himself that it surprises me he is only now celebrating 30 years since his breakthrough single Hot Dog, with a 19-date tour kicking off at the Alban Arena on Friday, February 4.

Fortunately, the seemingly ageless Stevens takes my comments in good humour.

“I take your point,” he laughs. “Time’s just flown by.”

There is, however, some justification in my assumption. Long before Stevens hit the big time with Hot Dog, he’d been plying his trade for more than a decade without any recognition.

“When I left school,” he says, “I started a band and I was the singer.

“We played in school halls, church halls, valley clubs and stuff like that. That was the late 60s.

“Then I was in Shakin’ Stevens and the Sunsets. We played with the likes of David Bowie and Chuck Berry, but we had no success. I then had a solo deal with Track Records, but no success.”

He admits there were times back in the 70s that he felt like giving up, but adds: “I believe I was put here to sing, so I just kept going.

“You don’t get anything without digging in, paying your dues and that.”

It wasn’t until a stint as Elvis in a West End musical brought him to the attention of Chris Brough from the CBS/Epic record label.

“Chris Brough came backstage and offered me a record contract and I said ‘yes please’,” Stevens recalls.

Hits followed – lots of them. Stevens is today the UK’s 16th highest selling artist in chart history, and shares with The Beatles and Elton John the distinction of being the most successful UK singles chart performer of a decade.

So his new tour is going to be an endless hit parade, right? Wrong.

Stevens cites a record he released two years ago, Now Listen, which was not released in the UK – but made number eight in Denmark – as a sign of how he’s continued to progress beyond his 80s heyday.

“I’m looking forward to doing it [the tour],” he says. “But people that remember me from Top of the Pops don’t realise I’ve moved on since then.

“Whether or not I get another hit I don’t know, but I’ll still be making music, I believe I’ve got a lot more to offer.”