One of Shaky's finest 7" vinyl cuts, Marie Marie was the follow up hit to Hot Dog which proved Shaky was no one hit wonder to Joe Public. It was early days in the Epic era (1980) and Shaky had just started his roll of hits for the label. After 3 singles had stalled with Epic (Treat Her Right / Spooky / Endless Sleep), the 4th was the one that broke into the chart reaching No.24. Hot Dog was Shaky's first hit and many many more were to follow...

The next single after Hot Dog was Hey Mae which didn't set the charts alight. It only made No.83 which was a shame as it was a cracking track. Maybe lack of airplay/publicity prevented it from reaching all the ears out there. Then after that came Marie Marie which did even better than Hot Dog and broke the Top 20 (No.19). Another great track, Shooting Gallery, stalled after that and only reached No.79 but then came the monster This Ole House and the rest is history.

If Marie Marie had hit the charts after This Ole House then i'm certain it would have been No.1 too. Thing is, Marie Marie is still remembered by Joe Public after all this time even though it was pre-This Ole House. This proves what a great track it was/is. The album 'Marie Marie' followed although it had a name change to This Ole House due to the smash hit of the same name. The Marie Marie album artwork was used for the 7" release in Spain.

The B-Side is the Shaky penned classic 'Baby If We Touch'. Another great cut that was featured in the movie 'Top Secret' (from the makers of Airplane! and The Naked Gun series).

Marie Marie was a cover version. It was originally by The Blasters and written by Dave Alvin. Dave's brother Phil now fronts the band to date. Also written by Dave Alvin and was recorded originally by The Blasters was another track which Shaky later recorded - the brilliant So Long Baby Goodbye.

It seems Shaky did the Blasters a big favour by recording one of their tracks as it raised their own profile! This statement is taken from The Blasters own biography... The band gained considerable notoriety from the album release in 1980. Shakin Stevens, a British hitmaker recorded Dave's original song "Marie Marie" and saw it hit #19 on the U.K. charts. Members of the rock group Queen caught a Blasters show and asked them to be their opening band on the western swing of their U.S. tour.

Marie Marie was produced by Stu Colman who also played Bass on the track. The late Mickey Gee played on the track and it has to be one of his most glorious Guitar picking moments to grace vinyl. That instrumental break is arguably the best ever featured on a Shaky single. That was the thing about Mickey, none of the 'breaks' were put into the tracks as fillers. They were carefully crafted and as important as the whole songs themselves.

HERE'S SOME CHART FACTS ABOUT MARIE MARIE...