Shakin´all over the World


Gained his first No 1 with This ole house, Shakin´Stevens has gone on to grab a sizeable chunk of the world´s record market. His hits have swept through his way from Germany, Belgium, France, Scandiavia and all over the continent. In Sweden he became the first non-swede to collect a double platinum award for Oh Julie. And in Germany he was the first artist ever to have four singles Shakin All Over The World simultaneously in the national chart´s top 30. Not even the Beatles managed that feat!! While he became the biggest selling solo rock singer in Europe, Shaky began to make an impact in other parts of the world. Canada and australia have already fallen for the Shakin´Stevens magic and his appearance on stage in South America received critical acclaim. Whe he toured ´Down Under´ he was almost pulled off the stage by girls in Sydney. Part of the arm of that famous denim jacket was ripped as Shaky just stopped himself from being dragged into the audience. So far it seems that my records heve given me hits all over the world! except in the U.S.A. And naturally it is the States which is the bigone for any rock performer. But I´m not to worried about that American hit being a long time coming. After all it has happened for me in Canada, which is just next door to the U.S.A, so the American thing could happen when the time is right. Timing is crucial. After all look at Cliff Richard. He´s been an international success for years but the American charts have never really been such a successful arena for him.

Conquering the continents

Spending time on the sun kissed Copacabana beach in Brazil sounds like almost everyone's dream come true. But it didn't quite work out that way when Shaky went to South America for a series of TV dates and concerts in February 1983. Soon after arriving in Brazil's former capital, Rio De Janeiro, Shaky paid a visit to the famous golden beach. I was warned about the dangers of exposing myself to too much sun, and so at first I took it very easy,he said. But everyone on the beach looked so bronzed and healthy that I was determined to get a suntan. So on the morning of Saturday February 5th I lay on the beach for about three hours ... and that was much too long in the sun. My body was lobster red from top to bottom and I actually was quite badly sun burned. Despite feeling distinctly uncomfortable, Shaky proceeded with the next hase of his South American and flew to Chile, for two oncerts in front of crowds of 15,000 at Vina Del Mar. When I came offstage that night I was totally dry, and normally I am dripping with sweat after a performance. But because I was suffering from mild sunstroke I was too dehydrated to sweat at all. The next day I felt so bad that I remained in bed.


Afterwards I felt slightly better but I was still red and blistered. So all that I remember from Chile - apart from being on stage was being in my sick bed! Despite his sunbathing stint that went wrong, Shaky regards his lightning South American trip as a great success. His Chilean concerts were both televised and were broadcast to 110 million viewers and in Mexico his appearance on the Siempre En Domingo TV show went so well that he taped 13 songs. It was a great experience; even though I suffered sunstroke in Brazil and a nasty stomach upset in Mexico. I hope to go back to South America early in 1984 for more TV appearances and concerts.

Shaky Car

During the Spring of 1983 Shaky embarked on another European tour... playing 25 dates in just 29 days.There were some interesting challenges on that tour. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland the audiences were quite incredible, really enthusiastic and noisy. But in Scandinavia the audiences were rather subdued. It took until I'd performed four or five numbers before I really won them over. It's good though to have that kind of tour, where the audiences are always different. It keeps you on your toes. Touring today is very different from those years when Shaky travelled in a beaten up old van and was lucky at the end of a performance, he had a proper bed for the night. Now it's jet planes and good hotels, and a tour itinerary which is planned like a battle campaign. Yes, things are a lot better organised and more comfortable, but touring is just as tiring as it always was. But that's not a bad thing, I actually enjoy the work. I'm fortunate that the people who work with me also work very, very hard. It's all a business of having mutual respect. But anybody who doesn't pull their weight on a tour simply won't find themselves there a year later." Touring is now a vital part of Shaky’s annual programme. In 1982 he had concerts all over Europe, the UK and Australia. A year later he.visited South America, and Europe and finished the year with a comprehensive list of British dates. Strangely enough though I find that I have more time off than ever before. Although I'm still kept very busy my schedule isn't quite as hectic as it was in the days when I was fighting to establish myself. During 1983 there were a couple of hiccups in the otherwise smooth running Shakin' Stevens success story. He parted company with his producer, Stuart Colman and their last single together, was Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night. The song was Shaky During Shirley released to tie in with Shaky's 1983 European tour, and it was a hit in Denmark, Germany and Belgium. I just wasn't happy with the way the record finished up. But every singer even Frank Sinatra has songs which don't work out quite as well as they had hoped. There aren't any plans to issue that single in Britain so I suppose it'll go onto become a collector's item in this country. The end of the Shakin'Stevens and Stuart Colman partnership means also the end of a recording era and the start of a new sound for Shaky.

Stuart and I are still friends though, and I have the utmost respect for him. But it was just time to move on to something fresh. So I've been working with producers like Chris Neil (who has worked with Sheena Easton) and Richard Hewson (who has produced Cliff Richard). And I've been dabbling in production myself. The last time I did any producing was on Hot Dog which I co-produced with B. J. Cole, and I find this kind of work fascinating. But I don't think that you really can be in a studio, singing with a band, and do your own producing.There's just too much work involved. For his tours in 1983, Shaky was on the road with an impressive bunch of musicians He was backed by his fivepiece band - Chris Wyles (drums), Gavin Povey (piano), Roger McKew (rhythm/lead), Les Davidson (lead) and Dick Bland (bass) plus the four strong Rumour Brass Section who are... Dick Hanson, Chris Cower, John Irish; Earle, and Ray Beavis. The only way that you can know that a band is right for you is by touring together, and when we did all those European dates it was obvious that the mixture was just right. When he returned from the European tour Shaky discovered that one of his songs, Baby If We Touch,was going to be featured on a film soundtrack. It's going to be in the movie Top Secret, which is being made by the team who created the Airplane films. So far Shaky has got half a dozen new songs together. They include... Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night, Love Me Tonight, It's Good For You Baby, Diddle I, Brand New Man, A Love Worth Waiting For and It's Late. Love Me Tonight and GoTo 'The other side' It's Good For You Baby are Shaky compositions and A Love Worth Waiting For is the first song that he had recorded with STRINGS! There's a 16 piece string section which gives the song a Latin American feel. It just seemed that the song was perfectly suited for strings. But this doesn't mean that I'm about to turn my back on Rock & Roll. A lot of good rock numbers have used strings and I'm still true to my Rock & Roll roots. I'd never want to do any other kind of music anyway.