HE WAS HARDLY AN OVERNIGHT SUCCESS. IT WAS IN 1969, THAT THE FORMER MIKE BARRATT FIRST TURNED PROFESSIONAL AND, AS FRONTMAN WITH SHAKIN' STEVENS AND THE SUNSETS, RECORDED A SUPERB, DAVE EDMUNDS-PRODUCED ROCK'N'ROLL ALBUM. YEARS LATER, MELODY MAKER ADJUDGED IT AS "THE BEST REVIVALIST ALBUM EVER". MANY OTHER PUNDITS AGREED. THAT IT WAS TOTALLY IGNORED BY THE RECORD-BUYING PUBLIC DIDN'T LEAVE SHAKY DISILLUSIONED. HE WAS PLAYING PLENTY OF GIGS AND HAVING FUN, HONING HIS ONSTAGE ACT TO PERFECTION. "You GET A BUZZ OUT OF IT, YOU FEEL YOU'RE GIVING SOMETHING - AND THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT KEPT ME GOING," HE CONFIDED.

HE REALISED EARLY ON THAT FAME DIDN'T COME EASY. "I REALLY PAID MY DUES DURING THAT PERIOD," HE RECALLED. SUCH DUES-PAYING WOULD LAST A DECADE BEFORE A COVER OF BUCK OWENS' HOT DOG PROVIDED HIM WITH HIS FIRST UK Top 30 HIT, WITH ALBERT LEE ON LEAD GUITAR. MOVING ON, HE WAS LINKED, BY PRODUCER STUART COLMAN, WITH SOME OF THE MOST ASTUTE ROCK AND COUNTRY BLUES-AWARE SESSION MUSICIANS IN BRITAIN. THE RESULT WAS A SOUND THAT WAS GLOSSY ENOUGH TO APPEAL TO THOSE WEANED ON SMASH HITS BUT ONE THAT RETAINED ENOUGH OF ROCK'S BASIC ENERGY TO GAIN THE ATTENTION OF AN ADULT AUDIENCE WHO COULD RELATE TO HIS MUSIC.

WHEN, LATER IN 1980, MARIE MARIE BROUGHT SHAKY HIS FIRST MAJOR EUROPEAN SUCCESS, THE MEDIA DUBBED HIM 'THE NEW ELVIS'. THE ANALOGY WASN'T ALL THAT EXTREME. FOR THE CARDIFFFBORN ROCKER HAD PORTRAYED PRESLEY AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREER IN JACK GOOD'S 1977 AWARD-WINNING WEST END MUSICAL "ELVIS" AND ONSTAGE HE HAD SOME OF THE KING'S MOVES - PLUS MANY MORE OF HIS OWN. BUT SHAKY HATED BEING DUBBED A ROCK'N'ROLL REVIVALIST. "I HATE THE WORD 'REVIVAL' HE PROTESTED. "ROCK 'N' ROLL IS LIKE BEETHOVEN; YOU CAN'T REVIVE WHAT'S NEVER GONE AWAY."

BUT IT WAS A COVER OF A CLASSIC SONG THAT PROVIDED THE REAL BREAKTHROUGH, EARLY IN 1981, WHEN SHAKY'S REWORKING OF THIS OLE HOUSE TOPPED THE UK CHART, WHICH BECAME A HUGE INTERNATIONAL HIT. ORIGINALLY PENNED BY SINGER/SONGWRITER STUART HAMBLEN AFTER FINDING THE DEAD BODY OF AN OLD PROSPECTOR IN A TUMBLEDOWN SHACK, THE SONG HAD BEEN A MILLION-SELLER FOR ROSEMARY CLOONEY IN 1954. "I HADN'T HEARD IT BEFORE" SHAKY EXPLAINED LATER. 'WE JUST WENT THROUGH SOME RECORDS AND TAPES AND THERE IT WAS." IT WAS THE RECORDING BY THE US BAND NRBQ, WHICH FIRST BROUGHT THE SONG TO HIS ATTENTION. THE RECORD TAPPED SEVERAL AUDIENCES. THOSE WHO REMEMBERED IT FROM THE FIRST TIME AROUND, THOSE WHO REGARDED IT AS A NEW SONG, PLUS THE THEN EMERGING WAVE OF NEW ROCKABILLIES WHO PERCEIVED IT AS THEIR KIND OF MATERIAL.

AS HIS AUDIENCES GREW BIGGER AND INCREASINGLY DIVERSE, THE DEMAND FOR SHAKIN' STEVENS' RECORDS GREW. AND SHAKY CONTINUALLY RANG THE CHANGES AS, DURING THE '80s, HE NOTCHED 15 Top 10 SINGLES, PLUS NUMEROUS CHART HIGHHFLYERS AND A MULTITUDE OF INTERNATIONAL AWARDS. NEW ARRANGEMENTS OF CLASSIC SONGS, BIG JOE TURNER'S LIPSTICK, POWDER AND PAINT, RICKY NELSON'S IT'S LATE, JOHN FRED'S SHIRLEY, IRMA THOMAS' IT'S RAINING, AND AN INFECTIOUS VERSION OF BROOK BENTON AND DINAH WASHINGTON'S A ROCKIN' GOOD WAY (A DUET WITH BONNIE TYLER) AND A BOOGIE-DRIVEN TAKE ON JIM LOWE'S 1956 No. 1 GREEN DOOR, RUBBED SHOULDERS WITH THE MANY NEW SONGS HE ALSO TOOK INTO THE CHARTS, ORIGINALS LIKE A LOVE WORTH WAITING FOR, YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY AND TEARDROPS (WHICH FEATURED HANK MARVIN ON LEAD GUITAR). ADDITIONALLY AND-THER ASPECT OF THE WELSHMAN'S TALENTS BECAME APPARENT, WHEN OH JULIE, A STEVENS ORIGINAL, WAS NOMINATED FOR AN IVOR NOVELLO AWARD. A FURTHER INDICATION OF THE SONG'S QUALITY CAME WHEN BARRY MANILOW COVERED SHAKY'S CREATION AND WAS REWARDED WITH A US HIT. STEVENS FURTHER INFLUENCED THE US CHARTS WHEN HIS ORIGINAL RELEASES OF A LETTER To You AND CRY JUST A LITTLE BIT WERE COVERED BY EDDIE RAVEN AND SYLVIA, TAKING THE SONGS TO # 1 AND #9 IN THE NASHVILLE CHARTS.

DURING 1985, WHEN PROMOTING BREAKING UP My HEART, SHAKY ACHIEVED ANOTHER DISTINCTION, BECOMING THE FIRST RECORDING STAR TO APPEAR FIFTY TIMES ON Top OF THE POPS. BUT PROVIDING HIT SINGLES WASN'T WHAT SHAKIN' STEVENS WAS ALL ABOUT. THE DIVERSITY OF HIS MUSIC MEANT THAT HE ADDITIONALLY ATTRACTED AN ALBUM BUYING PUBLIC. IN 1981 ALONE HE NOTCHED THREE CHART ALBUMS, INCLUDING SHAKY, A RELEASE THAT NOT ONLY TOPPED THE UK CHARTS BUT REMAINED IN THE BEST-SELLING LISTINGS FOR 28 WEEKS. THIS SUCCESS WAS MIRRORED THROUGH-OUT EUROPE AND INTERNATIONALLY. ALTHOUGH HE HAD HITS INTO THE EARLY 90s, IN '93 HE STOPPED RECORDING. NEVERTHELESS, SHAKY'S FANS STILL FOUND MUCH TO CELEBRATE. DURING 1992, HIS SINGLE RADIO, WAS FEATURED ON MTV - ROGER TAYLOR OF QUEEN AND ROD ARGENT OF ARGENT, APPEARED BOTH ON THE RECORD AND VIDEO.

TOURS AND APPEARANCES AT FESTIVALS ACROSS EUROPE HAVE SINCE PROVIDED ADDITIONAL ENTRIES ON SHAKY'S EVER IMPRESSIVE CV. TOURS OF THE UK IN 1999 AND 2000 WERE JOINED BY AN INVITATION TO PERFORM AT THE HISTORIC LAUNCH OF THE WELSH ASSEMBLY, WHILE HE ENTERED THE NEW MILLENNIUM BY HEADLINING AT AN OPEN-AIR CONCERT IN HIS CARDIFF HOMETOWN THAT ATTRACTED A MASSIVE AUDIENCE IN EXCESS OF 100,000. THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER HIGHLIGHTS SINCE INCLUDING AN 18 SONG SET, TOPPING THE BILL BEFORE A 200,000 CROWD AT VIENNA'S DANUBE FESTIVAL IN 2003, AND A NUMBER 1, PLATINUM ALBUM IN DENMARK IN 2004 - AND SHAKY'S CAREER ONCE MORE SEEMS READY TO MOVE UP A STEP. "ALL I KNOW IS THAT I'M ENJOYING IT," HE ONCE ENTHUSED, THINKING BACK OVER HIS ACHIEVEMENTS "AND I COULD GO ON FOREVER."

THIS COMPILATION, FORMED ENTIRELY FROM MAJOR HITS, PROVIDES MORE THAN TWO DOZEN REASONS WHY THE UK's MOST SUCCESSFUL SINGLES CHART PERFORMER OF THE 80s IS CERTAIN TO BE AROUND FOR MANY YEARS TO COME AND LIKELY TO ACHIEVE ANY AMBITION HE SETS HIMSELF.
FRED DELLAR, mojo