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Shakin' Stevens music biography continued...

Michael Barrett on March 4, 1948, in Ely, Cardiff, Wales, Shaky was the youngest of 13 siblings. He started on the road to stardom in 1968 with the formation of Shakin' Stevens And The Sunsets, a band that struggled unsuccessfully to find fame and fortune for a decade and was even named Best Live Band by New Music Express in 1972. After a stellar run for nineteen months as Elvis in a West End musical, Shaky caught a break when he was signed to Epic Records in 1980. Soon after, he released the album Take One and the single Hot Dog, which reached number 24 in the charts. Marie Marie followed, but it wasn't until 1981's This Ole House single that Shaky truly arrived. It was a number one smash, and made the singer an internationally-recognized face. This Ole House was followed up by chartbusters including Green Door, Oh Julie and Shirley. Other notable releases include 1984's A Rockin' Good Way (a duet with Bonnie Tyler), and 1985's Merry Christmas Everyone. Though the hits began to dry up in the late 80s, Shaky continued to perform and record and by the end of the decade he'd had more number ones than any other Welsh artist, and had scored 30 top 30 hits.



In May 2005 Shaky won the British television comeback show Hit Me Baby One More Time, where he performed This Ole House and a cover of Pink's Trouble, beating competition from the likes of such popular U.K. performers as Tiffany, Shalamar and Chesney Hawkes. His victory coincided with the release of The Collection, a CD and DVD best-of. In May 2007, Stevens released a brand new album entitled Now Listen with the album being released first in Denmark. In December 2007, Stevens re-entered the UK charts with a re-issue of Merry Christmas Everyone twenty two years after its original launch, reaching a UK chart position of 22. A popular British radio station declared one week in March 2008 as 'Shaky Week' to celebrate the entertainer's 60th birthday. The enthusiastic listener response proved that Shaky is still very much beloved.